NEWS

Teagasc has published a new one page fact sheet on lime which it hopes will help dispel some of the myths around the application of Ground Limestone in Ireland. Teagasc will be engaging with farmers to promote a planned approach to the application of lime and identify windows of opportunity during the growing season where [...]

Overall lime sales in 2020 increased by 16% over sales in 2019. Total sales amounted to 887,320 tonnes in 2020 compared to 762,864 tonnes in 2019. The county with the highest sales in 2020 was Cork with total sales of 212,240 tonnes, an increase of 18% from 2019. The county with the lowest total sales [...]

A new scientific paper from Teagasc has shown that getting soil pH right through a liming programme can significantly reduce emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. The paper from researchers at the Teagasc Environment, Soils and Land-Use Department in Johnstown Castle, County Wexford has just been published in the scientific journal, Agriculture, [...]

The nitrates derogation provides farmers with an opportunity to farm at a high stocking rate. Farmers must not exceed stocking rates of 2 dairy cows per hectare (ha) without a derogation but can farm at almost 3 cows per ha if approved for derogation. Over 7,000 farmers, farming nearly 500,000 hectares in Ireland have availed [...]

Farmers within Nitrates Derogation that are under the compulsory adoption of a farm scale liming programme, are being assured that there is presently no disruption to the supply of ground agricultural limestone in light of the current Covid-19 restrictions. This is the message from The Ground Limestone Producers Association of Ireland (GLPAI). The most recent [...]

Although the period for the application of both chemical and organic fertilisers is now closed, farmers can continue to apply ground limestone all year round. Winter is an ideal opportunity for lime application. Periods of hard frost are perfect for liming as the ground can cope with heavy machinery. For example, over one-third of all [...]

There was a full house in Portlaoise on September 4th when Grolime members participated in a lime technical training seminar, which was delivered by Teagasc experts Mark Plunkett and Dr David Wall. The topics discussed at the seminar included lectures on national soil fertility levels, the return on investment from lime, soil testing, the soil [...]

Irish soils have a natural requirement for lime to control soil acidity, due to our high levels of rainfall. Lime will neutralise this acidity and restore a more favourable soil pH for crop growth, nutrient release and soil quality. Over 1 million tonnes of ground limestone were spread on Irish farms in 2018, an increase [...]

Soil pH has a major influence on the availability of nutrients in the soil which promote crop production. In 2016, two thirds of all Irish soils tested had suboptimal pH levels. According to Teagasc, in some counties this figure was as high as 80%. When lime is added to soil, it increases the soil's pH, [...]

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 [...]