Lime Question

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i was told carthage tn. has some of the best lime in middle tn.
When they closed the Treadway zinc mine, they offered my father-in-law a job (he worked at the treadway mine) at that zinc mine which he did not go. That should be some good lime also.
 
I could start a new thread if need be but I also have a lime question. Since the spreading is the expensive part where im at as well, and i was able to get one ton sacks for pretty cheap, I thought id mix in 5-10 tons in my bed pack this winter, and then when i spread manure in the spring id essentially be spreading lime at roughly 1-2 tons/acre ( I have soil pH high 5s). Should this work? Any concerns?
 
I could start a new thread if need be but I also have a lime question. Since the spreading is the expensive part where im at as well, and i was able to get one ton sacks for pretty cheap, I thought id mix in 5-10 tons in my bed pack this winter, and then when i spread manure in the spring id essentially be spreading lime at roughly 1-2 tons/acre ( I have soil pH high 5s). Should this work? Any concerns?
High 5's is pretty low. I see no reason it shouldn't work if spread evenly. Test again in a couple years and probably add 2 more tons per acre.
 
Yeah my goal is to get the 0-0-60 spread within a few weeks and then bush hog the field. Would that be best practice or should I bush hog then apply?
Round here they use to not spread a field with standing dry broomsedge, too much of a fire risk off the trucks exhaust.
 
Everyone rents it from the local ag office. It will hold around 8 ton or so. Yeah it's definitely not ideal but we don't have many options around here.
 
When they closed the Treadway zinc mine, they offered my father-in-law a job (he worked at the treadway mine)
Paul Tripuka the manager of the mine, was my uncle. He was Frank Tripuka's brother and Kelly Tripuka's uncle (to you younger kids, look them up). He was from NJ and after my aunt, his wife, died his family wanted him to come back to NJ. He said no, he wanted his kids raised in Hancock County. They were and are all still here. He was a good man and a good friend.
 
Paul Tripuka the manager of the mine, was my uncle. He was Frank Tripuka's brother and Kelly Tripuka's uncle (to you younger kids, look them up). He was from NJ and after my aunt, his wife, died his family wanted him to come back to NJ. He said no, he wanted his kids raised in Hancock County. They were and are all still here. He was a good man and a good friend.
Were you as talented as them?
 
Paul Tripuka the manager of the mine, was my uncle. He was Frank Tripuka's brother and Kelly Tripuka's uncle (to you younger kids, look them up). He was from NJ and after my aunt, his wife, died his family wanted him to come back to NJ. He said no, he wanted his kids raised in Hancock County. They were and are all still here. He was a good man and a good friend.
Pretty impressive family tree, as I remember Kelly well playing for ND and the Pistons.
 
Not all lime is created equal, as with most things. Bottom line is you are looking for it's ability to neutralize the acidity of the soil and raise it to somewhat close to neutral, which is a pH of 7.0. Your one field is above that so this field is actually somewhat alkaline. This field has a lot of broomsedge. Lack of lime or low pH is not the cause for the broom to be here. More on that in a second. Lime's ability to neutralize is evaluated with calcium carbonate equivalents, with 1, or 100, being fully effective. Lime with lower numbers, <1 or <100 will require more lime to raise the soil pH to the same level as a lime with 1 or 100 as the equivalent. Some lime amendments have calcium carbonate equivalents that are >1 or >100 and will require less quantity of the amendment.

Magnesium balance in your soil is something you should consider as well and high mag lime may be something for you to consider. The best help you can get in calculating if you need high mag lime or how much lime to apply is going to come from your extension agent. A note about the quantity of lime to apply: You do not want to apply more than 2 tons of material per acre in the form of a top dressing per year (can incorporate 4 tons per acre per year). The overage will be lost with wind or runoff, or have an adverse effect on your vegetation. If more lime is required, apply it in spit applications over years.

As for the broomsedge or broom. The reason it is present, and it has been noted but not explained, is a lack of phosphorus to the vegetation. The pH is above neutral so your field with the broomsedge is just low in phosphorus, as your test indicates. However, pH affecte the AVAILABILITY of phosphorous to the plant. It is important to note that if the pH is too low, the phosphorous AVAILABILITY to the plant is negatively affected and plants do not have access to phosphorous that is available in the soil. When this is the case, adding phosphorous fertilizer will. NOT correct the broomsedge problem as added phosphorous will not be available to the plant. Correcting or raising the pH of the soil will free up phosphorous that is bound to the soil making it available to the vegetation.

Broomsedge really isn't much of a competitive plant. When soil conditions are right (for desired plants) the desired plants easily out compete the broomsedge. Broomsedge is successful in situations where phosphorous availability is low because broomsedge has a very low phosphorous requirement. In soils wher phosphorous levels are higher, more in line with what is needed, broomsedge simply is not competetive.
 
How much does your spreader hold? That's slow going. We spread around 100 ton a day by 4pm. Wish you were closer

I had a local fellow spread for me on Friday, we did 180 tons in a little under 8 hours - his truck was quite impressive. I never cut the skid loader off except to transfer between fields.

SmokeyM showed up and showed me how to cut the self-leveler on the skid loader on just in time for the last load of the day, that would have been helpful 8 hours earlier....
 
I could start a new thread if need be but I also have a lime question. Since the spreading is the expensive part where im at as well, and i was able to get one ton sacks for pretty cheap, I thought id mix in 5-10 tons in my bed pack this winter, and then when i spread manure in the spring id essentially be spreading lime at roughly 1-2 tons/acre ( I have soil pH high 5s). Should this work? Any concerns?
I've done that with hi cal lime, burnt the hair off the cows legs, but you could see the difference in the crops to the row. It also caused the pen pack to break down, had to put down fresh straw every day. Ended up cleaning the barn out in January so I wouldn't run out of straw. Now I just top dress lime in the spreader as I'm spreading manure.
 

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