Will get lime spread at the end of season by local co op. Did the little bags supplied by co op and sent off for testing. Most of fields are 5.2-5.8 in ph. How much more do the deer use the fields with a ph level of 5.5 vs 6.5. Trying to get more into qdm rather than just discing, throwing seed & fert, and discing in. Any tips welcomed.

More important than fertilizer

Paper towel= seed
Water=lime
Fertilizer=fertilizer
Stick a paper towel in some fertilizer and pull it out. Towel is mostly clean
Now dip the paper towel into some water and put it in some.fertilizer. the fertilizer sticks to the towel. That's how you could say lime works. It helps the seed pick up more of the fertilizer and grows a better crop.

Does anyone have pics of a field before lime and after lime with noticeable difference. I have about 10 fields on two diffrent tracks that need lime they have a PH around 5.5. They would have to be done with pellitized lime due to not being able to get a spreader truck to them. They are all between 1/2 and 1 acre.

If your ph isnt somewhere close to right you could kill your plants with fertilizer before they got any good out of it. Theres alot of reading you can do on this subject. 257 knows alot about it, im sure he could quote you some stats.

Paging 257....paging 257....

If you neglect PH everthing else you’re doing is a waste of $$. Get the ph up to 6.5 close as you can. 6 will work but 6.5 is better. It takes a few months for Ag lime to kick in. The finer it seems screened the faster it works.

Wildlife food plots, also known as “green fields”, are highly popular among white-tailed deer hunters and enthusiasts. Planting some type of food source for wildlife has increasingly become “big business” since the 1970’s. Establishing and maintaining wildlife food plots is one management strategy utilized by landowners and sportsmen to provide wildlife with one component of their needs. Annually in Alabama, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars are spent on seed and fertilizer to produce these wildlife food plots.
​Are landowners and hunters managing these areas to the highest potential? Is there something that could be done to maximize the productivity of “green fields”? If soil testing and addressing pH is not a part of the food plot program – then the answer is always no. Soil testing is simply gathering samples of soil from the openings and having it analyzed. The results from soil testing are a recommendation for amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) needed per acre. Also included will be how much lime is needed to raise the pH level of the soil. The pH value is a numerical figure indicating the soil acidity or alkalinity (base). Soil pH is measured on a scale ranging from zero to fourteen, with seven being neutral. These figures are a representation of the number of hydrogen ions in the soil. Levels below seven indicate acidic soils and those above seven are basic soils. The pH scale is logarithmic changing tenfold for each number change. For example, a soil with a pH of 4.5 is ten more times acidic than a soil with a pH of 5.5.
​Maintaining soil pH at the appropriate level is critical as it can limit plant growth by restricting nutrient availability. Consequently, low soil pH can be a limiting factor in producing quality wildlife openings. In acidic soils, nutrients are bound to soil particles. Therefore limited amounts of the applied fertilizer will be available to the plant. When soil pH is extremely acidic (4.5pH), a high percentage (70%+) of nutrients from applied fertilizer is unavailable. At a pH of 6.5, which is considered medium acidic, almost 20% of nutrients are tied up in the soil. Activity of microorganisms is reduced, limiting nitrogen fixing in leguminous plants. These conditions can be corrected by applying lime to the soil which will raise the pH level. In turn nutrient availability for plants is improved and activity of microorganisms is increased enabling legumes to fix nitrogen.
​Lime comes in many forms. Two common liming materials are Calcic limestone, which is ground limestone, and Dolomitic limestone, which is also, ground limestone but high in magnesium. How quickly lime can affect soil depends on the particulate size of the lime, type of soil, lime to soil contact and moisture content of the soil. Lime should be applied several months in advance of planting to realize the full effect.
A lot of fertilizer money is being wasted because soil pH is too low. The maintenance of wildlife openings is expensive and labor intensive. Therefore, maximizing the outcome is very important. Properly maintained wildlife openings are an asset to a hunting club. Remember, liming is often more important than fertilizing!

And in the true black belt region soil ph is too high. Like 7.5 plus. In that case use more N plus sulfate to lower ph

explain that a little more please.

Do you mean Ammonium Sulfate (instead of Ammonium nitrate, which is hard to get now)?

My place in sumter has several spots with 7.2 - 8.0. Not much grows in 8

White chalk will even stunt a cedar

Using Aluminum sulfate will lower the ph fast as well as any N Will in addition. Sorry I meant aluminum sulfate in original post

Can you get big bags of aluminum sulfate? Another thing, would plain powder sulfer do the same thing?

Yes it will

Last yearthis year. In both pictures you can see tire tracks from where I fertilized. The top picture which you can see the right side of the field is kinda yellow and it eventually died. This picture was taken about the same time of the year. We hadn’t limed that field in a few years. It got so bad you could fertilize and it would not help. This year is a huge difference and the deer are hammering it

Sumpter, if you have your fertilizer blended at the co-op, let them know your ph and they will add the proper amount of sulfur.