Pelletized Lime: I am trying to get my fields limed before we do our soybeans but I have never done it before. I have been doing my research before and found that I could buy pelletized lime and use it in a broadcast spreader. This would be better for me due to access to some of the fields being limited. I understand that pelletized lime is not as beneficial to the soil long term as ag lime. Can someone explain why that is? Are there any other reasons I should not use pelletized lime over bulk ag lime? I figured it up and it was actually cheaper to go with the pelletized lime as you only have to use 1/10th of what you would use for ag lime. I am on the verge of buying and applying this week. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ag lime is about $35.00 per ton. Pelletized lime is $ 200.00 per ton. That is the difference to me.

But if you only have to use 1/10th of the lime you are coming out ahead there. That ton of pelletized lime will do 10 times the amount of than that ton of ag lime. Am I correct here or way off base?

you will need more than 1/10th
If your soil sample called for 2 tn of ag lime i would go with at least 1.5 tns of pell lime.
Which ever you get you will probably need dolimitic lime

That does it for me too.

I don't know if you're WAY off base but I think you're far enough to get picked off. Don't think it's a 1 to 10 ratio. If it were better/cheaper,the guys that farm for a living would be using it.

uhmmmmmm , i thought a ton of lime was a ton of lime ?

Pelletized Lime Info

It looks like farmers are starting to use pelletized lime at a higher rate.

I get it now, the 1-10 is only short lived, bout 1 year. Regular ag lime lasts for bout 5 years +/-. Much better.

OK. Did some more research and we are going with the Ag lime in bulk. The 1:10 ratio sounds good but sometimes (most of the time) if something seems too good to be true it probably is. Thanks for your help.

I was told by a fellow who manages property in Louisiana and puts out a lot of food plots that during the processing of the pelletized lime that one of the components to make it a pellet is actually an earth based product and when put the pelletized lime down you are actually paying for and putting dirt back on the plot. Just for thought. Don't know that much about it.

Where are you getting your bulk ag lime from?

The neutralizing value of different sources of ag limes can be calculated by the "Relative Netralizing Value" of them and comparing the "Calcium Carbonate Equivalent" or CCE.

Everytime I buy lime a printout comes from the quarry with the truck.



Vol. 18, No. 9

PELLETIZED LIME - HOW QUICKLY DOES IT REACT
Lloyd W. Murdock, Extension Soils Specialist

Pelletized lime is made by granulating finely ground agricultural (ag) lime. It may be dolomitic or calcitic depending on the nature of the original limestone. The fine lime particles are bonded together with lignosulfonates during the pelletizing process. In general, the pelletized lime contains about 9% lignosulfonates. Pelletized limestone is a product that has been on the market for many years. The price of the material on a per ton basis is considerably higher than bulk ag lime, so its use has mainly been confined to specialty markets, with little use in production agriculture. However, the product is becoming more commonly used in production agriculture. Some questions have been raised about recommended rates of this material and the speed at which it reacts compared to standard ag lime.

How Much Can the Rates be Reduced for Pelletized Lime?

The recommended rates and the effect on soil pH of any agriculture lime product is related to the neutralizing value of the lime, which is a combination of the purity (calcium carbonate equivalent) and the fineness of grind (particle size). As these two properties of lime change, so does the recommended rate of lime and its effect on soil pH. The finer the lime particles and the higher the calcium carbonate equivalent, the more effective the lime and the lower the rate of lime needed to make the desired pH change.

Bulk ag lime sold in Kentucky has an average neutralizing value of 67% when averaged for all quarries. All lime recommendations in Kentucky are based on this value. Therefore, if the neutralizing value of pelletized lime is substantially higher than 67%, then the recommendation should be lower. The information to calculate the neutralizing value should be on the pelletized lime bag, and the method to calculate the neutralizing value can be found in publication AGR-106,University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. For example, a high quality pelletized lime source may have a neutralizing value of 85. If this is the case, the lime rate can be reduced to 78% of what would be recommended for bulk ag lime. This is calculated by dividing the average neutralizing value of ag lime by the neutralizing value of the pelletized lime being used (67 ”85= 0.78). In this case, 1560 lbs/ac of pelletized would be required to equal one ton of ag lime. If less than this amount of pelletized lime is used, the expected soil pH change will probably not be obtained. As can be seen from this example, the recommended rates of pelletized lime cannot be greatly reduced as compared to bulk ag lime.

How Fast Will Pelletized Lime React?

The speed of reaction (rate at which the lime will change the soil pH) is mainly a function of surface area of the lime particles and their contact with the soil. The finer the grind of lime, the more the surface area, and the faster the reaction. Since pelletized lime is pelleted from finely ground lime, it is easy to assume that it will be faster reacting than bulk spread ag lime which has some larger, non-reactive particles as a part of its composition. However, this is not true. Based on research from several states, it appears that the pelletized lime reacts no faster to raise the soil pH than good quality ag lime applied at recommended rates. In fact, incubation studies at Michigan State University found the pelletized lime to have a slower rate of reaction. Field research from other states indicate the rate of reaction is about equal to ag lime.

The slower than expected reaction of pelletized lime is probably due to two things: 1) the lignosulfonate binding, and 2) the distribution pattern. The lignosulfonate binding must break down by solubilization or microbial action before the lime is released to neutralize the soil acidity, which would delay the speed of reaction. When the pelletized lime is spread, it is distributed on the soil in pellets and results in small concentrated zones (spots) of lime after the binder dissolves. The fine, reactive particles of ag lime, in contrast, are spread as more of a dust so that the lime is better distributed and not in concentrated spots. The bulk spreading method will allow the ag lime to contact a larger amount of the soil.

Summary

Pelletized lime is an excellent source of high quality lime. Its use in agriculture has been limited due to the price. The recommended rate of pelletized lime should be based on the neutralizing value of the lime and will probably be about 75 to 80% of that for average-quality bulk ag lime. Contrary to popular belief, the speed of reaction of pelletized lime is no faster than that of bulk ag lime. Thus, when comparing the two materials, less pelletized lime is needed to raise the soil pH to the desired level, but the increase in pH is no faster than with ag lime if both are applied on the basis of their neutralizing values.

Good info Shuter, corrects a lot of the incorect info out there.

X2, right in line with what I was told by the manager of the co-op a couple years ago.

We got ours from Quality Co-Op in Greenville.

You boys be careful when using finely ground ag lime in some of the buggies/spreaders out there.

A friend of mine rented a buggy at the Greenville Co-op to spread some and it didn't work at all. It was a buggy with a narrow chain in the floor and the stuff wouldn't feed down to the bottom of the buggy hopper and/or fall out the back onto the slinger wheels. The lime would simply bridge up in the spreader.

It was a major pain and he had to put 2 people in the spreader with shovels. Quite a job with 40 acres and 60 tons of lime to spread.

Use a lime buggy/spreader only. NOT a fertilizer spreader. There IS a difference.........................

Also, before you order ag lime ask for the moisture content because some of the ag lime is too wet. You'll be paying too much for it in the form of moisture as they charge by weight.

Good info. Thanks. They gave us the Lime Buggy and it worked great after we got it going. It was raining when we did it so there were some issues with the slick wheels that drive the belt/slingers. That was a nature problem though. We got ours delivered too early and it got pretty wet with the rain. Wet lime is not cooperative.

On a different not the beans and corn are coming on strong.