NEWS

2018 saw over 1 million tonnes of ground limestone spread on Irish farms, an increase of 38% on 2017 levels. While weather conditions obviously played their part in this increase, it is clear that Irish famers, acting on strong advice from Teagasc, are increasingly utilising the benefits of lime to unlock soil fertility on their [...]

When planning the farm’s annual fertiliser programme, it is essential to factor in the land’s lime requirements. Correcting soil acidity is the first step in fertiliser planning and goes hand in hand with efficient management of fertiliser and manure applications. In order to put together a fertiliser plan, farmers should first soil sample the farm [...]

The Fertilizer Association of Ireland in association with Teagasc launched a Technical Bulletin booklet entitled “Soil pH and Lime” on the 19th October 2016. The booklet highlights the importance of adopting and putting in place a liming plan for grassland and tillage farms and presents the latest research findings on the agronomic and economic benefits [...]

In July 2016 Teagasc updated its publication - Advice on Liming. The leaflet highlights topics such as, the Benefits of Liming, the Importance of Soil pH for Grass Production and Return on Investment from Ground Limestone Usage.  This leaflet also gives advice on the spreading of lime and how much lime to spread, when to do [...]

Farmers working off high derogation levels should soil test every year, according to the Head of Grassland Science in Teagasc Moorepark, Michael O’Donovan. “Without annual soil tests and reacting to them, you probably would be working in the dark. If you are working off high derogation levels, you should be testing your soils every year,” [...]

In February 2016, Teagasc produced and launched a new YouTube video on the benefits of lime for soil pH and soil fertility in Irish soils. The video features an interview with Mark Plunkett, Soil Nutrition Specialist with Teagasc. In the interview, Mark addresses the importance of soil pH, the need to control soil acidity, the [...]

According to Teagasc, overall soil test results for 2015 show that about 90% of samples have sub-optimal fertility status (soil pH<6.3, P&K index 1 or 2). Currently 64% of grassland soils and 45% of tillage soils have below the optimum soil pH. Optimum soil pH is 6.3 for grassland and 6.5 for tillage. Mark Plunkett, [...]

In the January to October 2015 period, a total of 877,374 tonnes of agricultural lime were sold to farmers throughout Ireland.  This was a very strong performance with sales exceeding 2014 figures by 10%.  The excellent weather experienced across the country in October contributed to sales of 157,000 tonnes during that month alone, which was [...]