Farmers' Experience With Use Of Lime

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29016, 3 October 1959, Page 8

Farmers' Experience With Use Of Lime

YOU can have too much ot a good thing and that includes! lime. That is the opinion of Mr J. B. Bayley, of J. B. and C. R Bayley, Ltd., who have 1100 acres of mainly clay downs country with a little good medium loam to light shingle at Fernside. For years they spread between 600 and 700 tons of lime a year ,on their land. Some paddocks reached up to eight and nine tons of lime to the acre, and the pH ■ status reached 7 and higher. Then ■the stage was reached, says Mr I Bayley, where difficulty was found in striking clover and encouraging clover growth. At the same time a variety of stock troubles was encountered. In one .season there was 60 per cent, white muscle infection in lambs and a 40 per cent, mortality with losses totalling 600. In addition there was an increased carry-over [of lambs and the proportion of lambs graded as seconds increased. Average wool weights also dropped sharply. With increased carrying capacity and topdressing footrot came in—something that J had been unheard of on the farm in the 1930’5. Link Seen “We found that without exception the paddocks showing the highest pH and having had the heaviest liming showed the highest incidence of stock troubles and that was also evident with [paddocks fartherest away from i the white crop. Towards the end i of the war the trouble was that I we did not crop so much and tended to leave paddocks down longer.” “I would not like anyone to think that lime is not necessary,” said Mr Bayley, “but we found to our cost that lime must be used in moderation. We spent a great deal of money on lime that we might have better spent in other ways.” Today on the Bayley property lime is only being used where soil tests show that it is necessary for plant growth and stock health. Mr Bayley believes that the cessation of heavy liming over the I last three years has had some [part in the improvement in stock .health on the property. In 1958-59 [season footrot virtually disap- [ peared. The feet of the whole flock were pared once and none [went through the footbath. This “year the feet have been trimmed ! again once and some 400 twotooths out of the 3000 odd Romney sheep on the place have been put through the footbath this winter. The current lambing may prove to be the best on the property for the last two or three i years. Over this time the Bayleys I have been experimenting in the ■ use of trace element dressings I with soil tests as a guide and for jtwo years a mineral lick has been used consistently. Main Implements I The sub soiler and discs are ' now the main implements used on the property. Before the sub . soiler was used it was found j that in a drought the country ! was drying out quicker than it ' used to and in a period of prolific rainfall run-off reached alarming proportions. Two legs fitted to a tool bar with massive i points are today dragged through . the ground at a depth of 16 to 20 [inches by a 44 horsepower craw- ■ ler tractor to break the hard clay [pan which is characteristic of the ; country. This procedure is used [ when the ground is hard mostly ■ in the autumn before sowing I grain crops and the results have ! been good. Where five inches of

rain fell in three days on a 40acre paddock soon after working it was all absorbed. A lucerne seed crop, which produced three sacks to the acre off the header, was found to be thicker and heavier along the sub-soiled rows. Last harvest wheat yielded up to 80 bushels an acre with an average of 70 over 125 acres. Peas were also successfully grown for the deep freeze industry. In the view of Mr Bayley the sub soiler is one of the aids in handling this country and used more widely on similar terrain could play an important part in controlling run-off and reducing flooding problems. The discs are used to return stubble and all litter to the surface layer of soil. “What we are doing here works out all right under most of our conditions.” says Mr Bayley “but we would not say that it is the answer for every type of land. For us this method is standing the test of economics and most important it is keeping our spil, where it belongs.”