Limestone and Tillage
When discussing the Growers Program with potential new customers, sales representatives tell the new prospects that it is best to physically mix limestone applications into the soil with a tillage operation. The type of tillage operation is entirely the option of the farmer. The company's experience over almost 70 years has shown that the limestone will improve the soil microbiological life more quickly with any type of physical disturbance to the soil. The introduction of oxygen (O₂) with the disturbance is the most likely physical event that allows the limestone to react faster.
With some farm operations, the use of tillage is considered not an acceptable practice. This usually arises from certain agricultural establishment recommendations. As a company, we do not try to tell the farmer which type of tillage, or no tillage, is best for their operation. We have just seen quicker response to the limestone application with some tillage. A farmer may see quick limestone responses on hay and pasture fields in some cases, but normally an air introduction to soil speeds up the limestone response.
In some discussions, certain representatives of the agricultural establishment are very negative against any type of tillage and that can give farmers a doubt about using limestone and examining the Growers Program. For the farmers who have reservations about using any tillage, the article about Marion Calmer drew our interest. The article, "Soil Sleuth: No-Till Icon Investigates Tillage's Impact on Nutrient Stratification," appeared on March 8, 2023, on www.agweb.com. In the article, Calmer, CEO of Calmer Corn Heads, described a mold board plow test plot on his farm where the soil had been no-tilled for 30 years. The test plot showed a 9-bushel yield increase for the mold board plot over his no-tilled plot. Having no-tilled for 30 years, Calmer was very surprised by the result. Soil specialists in the article from the University of Nebraska suggested in this article that occasional strategic tillage-once every 5 to 10 years-will not destroy the no-till influence and could help with element stratification in the soil.
We bring this article to the table so prospective farmers won't disregard trying limestone with some tillage. Your local GMS sales team member can give a farmer the best guidance in limestone response.
This is an excerpt from the Early Fall Growers Solution (2023) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
Signup for our newsletter to stay in the loop
