Mikey Butler is among an increasingly rare breed of full-time farmers now operating at the highest level of inter-county hurling. The 2022 Young Hurler of the Year, who was also named as right corner-back in the PWC GAA/GPA All Star selection in his debut senior campaign, works on Brian Houlihan’s farm on Bleach Road, Dunmore, [...]
Liming Irish soils is very beneficial as our soils tend to be naturally acidic. When soils are acidic, they don’t function properly and will respond below optimum to the fertilisers applied. In a year of high input costs, soil acidity correction and agri lime application will be key to achieving a maximum response from fertiliser [...]
Correcting soil pH is the first step to improving soil productivity and exploiting our competitive advantage of maximising the level of grazed grass in animal diets. Trials have shown that by increasing soil pH from 5.5 to 6.3, increased grass production of at least 1.5t DM/ha/year can be achieved, which represents a 7:1 return on [...]
Although there has never been as much about the benefits of agri lime, reports of up to 80% of Irish soils are still regarded as suboptimal pH. Lime is a forgotten fertiliser, and too often, liming plans can fall off the priority list for many farmers. The primary purpose of lime application is to correct [...]
Take the opportunity to spread agri lime while conditions are favourable. As we saw last year, waiting until October to spread agri lime is risky due to poor weather and un-trafficable soil conditions. Agri lime plays a major role in improving the 3 fundamentals of soil health namely: Soil chemistry - fertiliser use efficiency Soil [...]
On many farms around the country, the spreading of lime has fallen dramatically in the last 30 years. In fact, 65% of farms in Ireland have a soil deficiency according to Teagasc. Optimising Lime For the majority of farmers, they are not optimising lime due to the lack of knowledge around soil testing and pH [...]