High Calcium Lime: “Farmer’s White Gold”
It was a farmer friend of Dr. Tiedjens from Elgin, Illinois that coined the phrase "White Gold" in describing his high calcium lime applied to his alfalfa field. Overwhelmed by the results, he said, "It must be gold, and cheap gold at that. It only cost $.75 a ton!"
Dr. Tiedjens' book "More Food From Soil Science" is the go-to book for understanding lime. "The use of liming materials in the production of horticultural and field crops is an ancient practice that dates back to the Roman Empire." The Founding Fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin knew how important agriculture and, more importantly, sustainable agriculture, was to the success of America. Benjamin Franklin bought a New Jersey farm, managing it like a miniature experiment station, carrying out projects in liming, fertilization, crop rotations, and drainage. He realized the benefits of liming and is believed to be the first in the colonies to utilize it.
In modern agriculture, lime has been used primarily as a corrective for soil acidity, which may account for the misunderstanding of the benefits of a correctly limed field. Recently, in the early 1960's, Brazil's vast inland cerrado region was unfit for farming because the soil was too acidic and poor in nutrients. They spread huge quantities of lime and continued well into the 1990's, applying a total of around 18 million tons to reduce the acidity. In 2003 and 2004, they applied over 30 million tons for a total of 3 tons per acre. The result: Brazil has become the world's second leading soybean exporter, and the biggest exporter of beef and poultry in the world (a).
By 1955, Dr. Tiedjens perfected the Growers Mineral Program after thirty plus years of research, test plots, and hard work. As he states in his book, "A soil that has the amount of Calcium prescribed by the active clay and organic matter it contains produces the most nutritious food." The Growers Mineral Pogram is designed to show farmers how they can increase their crop yields and reduce their production costs with balanced soil from proper calcium base saturation and targeted fertility technology applying Growers 1955 VOLUME 36 ISSUE 4 Mineral Solution directly on the seed at planting time, using it as a transplanting solution surrounding the young plant's roots, 2x2, and foliar feeding. The program has helped farmers for almost 70 years now to grow high quality crops, raise superior livestock, and provide the farmer with a positive return on investment (ROI).
Twelve years ago, Keith Shutt, Growers Mineral District Manager in North Dakota, realized an opportunity with the heavy black Fargo clay soil to start his lime spreading business, Shuttski's Ag Service. Over the years, Keith has convinced the local Red River Valley farmers of the importance and benefits of applying lime to their fields. Benefits include balancing the high pH in the area, increasing phosphorus availability, boosting the effectiveness of fertilizers and herbicides, improving nitrogen efficiency in plants, increasing pore space for roots to grow, decreasing changes for soil compaction, and bettering water movement in the soil to name a few. With better soilconditions, the farm can now tap into the available nutrients provided by Mother Nature and use less fertility input, therefore providing an environment to be profitable and increase their standard of living along with-when the day comes-passing along a sustainable farm to his family.
Keith has embraced lime both lime literally and liberally. Last year alone, his spreading business applied over 80,000 tons in the Red River Valley area fields. This year, he added a third lime spreader to his fleet and plans to spread more than 100,000 tons! Keith's lime source is the by-product of the local sugar beet processing plant. The limestone rock is used in the process to separate the sugar from the molasses, and the resulting by-product is a high calcium lime (36%) with a low magnesium (1%) content, readily available and inexpensive. Keith charges between $130 to $150 per acre for a 10-ton application trucked and spread. The average return on investment (ROI) from applying the lime is three times the investment in the first year, or around $500 per acre. The calcium should last around 8 to 10 years. Truly "White Gold!"
Determining the correct amount of calcium a field needs can be difficult with the standard pH soil test because you are trying to determine biology with a chemical test. What about the success of the COVID test using a chemical test to determine biology? Growers Mineral has a calcium test we provide for our customers and potential customers at no cost. The results of our test will provide a good starting point on the quantity needed to obtain base saturation of at least 80% required for optimal crop growth and production.
Keith has used another way-more biological and accurate-to determine the calcium needs: a simple bucket (or cup) test. Fill three five-gallon buckets with soil from the field in question (34 filled). Then add 1½ pound of high calcium lime (5 tons per acre ratio) and mix well. Do the same with the other two buckets, but only add 14 pound of high calcium limestone to one bucket, and no calcium in the third bucket. Then place crop seed (corn, beans, etc.) in each bucket and add water as needed. Allow the seed to germinate and grow. Determine from the growth the appropriate amount of calcium to add to your field. This can be done with smaller containers (cups, bowls, etc.).
When a farmer analyzes his fertility input costs, he must look at his return on investment (ROI), the benefit to his soil, and, of course, the crop yield and quality to determine what is best for his farm and family. Unfortunately, the farmer in most cases has allowed the local "expert" to determine what is best for his farm and family.
Dr. Tiedjens says it well: "We can make a few mistakes, but without adequate amounts of calcium, almost anything we do can be a mistake!"
References:
"More Food From Soil Science: The Natural Chemistry of Lime in Agriculture," V.A. Tiedjens
(a) The Economist: Brazil agriculture "The miracle of the cerrado"
This is an excerpt from the Early Fall Growers Solution (2023) written by Chris Kohls, National Sales Manager.
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