The Advantages of Stockpiling Lime

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 81, Issue 6, 15 December 1950, Page 501

The Advantages of Stockpiling Lime

OTO ensure that, lime is available TO ensure that lime is available JL when it is wanted and to relieve pressure on road and rail transport at busy seasons, substantial stockpiles have been established in some farming districts of New Zealand which are served by the railway. The advantages of stockpiling and the steps to be taken before a stockpile is established are outlined in this article by L. C. Scott, Advisory Officer, Department of Agriculture, Wellington. THE benefits to be derived from lime stockpiling are influenced by the lime transport assistance scheme, under which allowances are granted on .the carriage of lime. The. operation of the scheme was detailed in an article in the “Journal” for October, 1949. The road-allowance provisions have since been liberalised by an increase of 2d. per ton mile after 20 miles on lime delivered in areas not served by rail, and the provisions in respect of deliveries from stockpiles have been amended by a reduction of the road distance limit from 23 to 15 miles. . ' Bulk Deliveries Though some methods of delivering and applying lime have eliminated the use of sacks, a substantial proportion of the total annual lime delivery is still bagged, and that is likely to continue to be so. . The sack position became difficult soon after the Second World War started, and sack-hire charges advanced rapidly from Id. or 2d. a sack to 3d. or 4d., the latter rate being equal to ss. 4d. per ton of lime. That increase may be regarded now by some-people as a blessing in disguise, for undoubtedly it directed attention to bulk distribution, and particularly to direct deliveries by road.

Bulk delivery by rail is still comparatively new. It has the disadvantage that the lime must be transferred from railway wagons to road vehicles, and possibly again from the lorries,to spreading units. Even when these transfer problems have been solved, bulk handling presents other difficulties, especially if the equipment available can spread only dry lime. For instance, railway wagons must be covered, the lime must be protected from wet weather after its arrival at rail delivery points, and delays in unloading will occur if protective coverings are not available. Even when the weather is favourable, the ability of the railways to effect deliveries when desired by farmers is a limiting factor, and the dust nuisance is always present when dry lime is being handled. If equipment capable of handling damp or wet lime is available, many of these problems disappear, and even more are eliminated when the equipment is operated from stockpiles. Advantages of Stockpiles Stockpiles of railed lime are beneficial in many ways. .They provide farmers with lime at prices below those at which bagged lime can be obtained, and they are built up during the slack months of the year, giving better balance in both lime production and utilisation of railway wagons.

Even when rail transport is not entailed, advantages can be gained from stockpiling in certain areas within the 30-mile limit to which road allowance under the transport assistance scheme • applies 'for direct road deliveries from limeworks to farm. In such areas the road allowance is calculated as from limeworks to farm, though the final operation may be a delivery from stockpile to farm. The pressure on transport in the busy season is relieved, for either the limeworks or local carriers . interested in lime spreading can move the lime to stockpile points during the slack carrying season. The extra costs of loading from a stockpile are more than offset by the saving of delivery final time and by the use made of lorries to build up the stockpile at a slack period. An important consideration in such an area is the selection of the stockpile site, because road-allowance distance is calculated as from limeworks to farm, . and consequently stockpile deliveries to farms between limeworks and stockpile carry no road-allowance recompense for double running. Problems to be Overcome Unfortunately all limes cannot be stockpiled, but the number in this category is not as great as was expected at first. Departmental experiments suggest that clay-like impurities, rather than calcium carbonate content, are the main bar to stock-

piling, even when the. lime is very finely ground, but the type of machine to be used for stockpiling is also important. To test the behaviour of lime in a stockpile suppliers should set up several heaps and open them at, say, monthly intervals after they have been exposed to wet weather for varying periods. The Department of Agriculture will not approve, of any rail stockpile being established until it has evidence that the lime concerned can be stockpiled satisfactorily, and it recommends that any one considering other types of stockpiling first make certain of the behaviour of the lime in a stockpile. Few of the spreading units at present in use can handle damp or wet lime. Therefore, even though lime suitable for stockpiling may be available, stockpiling is practicable only at points where facilities for spreading damp lime are available. The first stockpile established resulted from initiative by the manager

ADVANTAGES OF STOCKPILING LIME

of a limeworks. He interested himself in a machine to spread damp or wet lime and then designed emiinment er me, ana t en designed equipment capable of unloading railway wagons rapidly. His efforts were supported by the manager of a carrying business interested in the delivery and spreading of lime. Subsequent stockpiles have been built nn +Ba initiative nt nnLntnX tl Jit? *T? operators prepared to obtain equipment capable of handling and spreading wet lime; their lime suppliers have co-operated with them, and this appears to be the way in which stockpiling is most likely to develop.

Conditions of Approval . , , , ~ , , Approval to establish a stockpile to w hi C h supplies of lime are to be railed must be obtained from the DirectorGeneral of Agriculture and the right to a site must be obtained from the Railways Department. It is usual for the applicant first to ascertain whether the Director-General favours the establishment of a stockpile in the proposed area; then the exact site can be selected in consultation with local officers of the Railways Department. Stockpile approvals are given when the Director-General is satisfied that the lime will stockpile satisfactorily,

that the area is not already satisfactorily served by adjacent lime works, that a suitable site is available, that delivery and spreading service from the stockpile will be adequate, that methods of handling lime into and out of the stockpile will be satisfactory, that the proposal is financially sound, that the lime will be up to the same standard of quality and fineness of grinding as bagged lime from the supplying limeworks, and that the price of lime from the stockpile is reasonable in view of the fact that it has been carried by rail to the stockpile at lime transport assistance rail rates. ' Because of the advantages that can accrue, farmers in areas served by rail ' are strongly recommended to interest their lime-spreading contractors in bulk distribution from stockpiles. There will be no worries about whether lime will be available when required, such as are inevitable at certain seasons when inward lime and fertiliser supplies and outward primary produce are all causing rail congestion, and the lime will be just as cheap, or cheaper, because the supplier will be able to produce it at a steady annual rate and thereby retain his employees by providing them with steady work. Every stockpile established so far is selling lime at a price below that at which it can be delivered at the stockpile railway station, and the margin is sufficient to offset cost differences at most other stations within each stockpile area.

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