“It was the consistency of baking flour,” Bonertz says. The old product, ag lime, was hard to work with. A significant increase in crop uptake of conventional nutrients can occur when the pH is optimized. The point of the amendments, he notes, is to reach optimal pH and calcium levels. Where the pH is low due to lack of calcium, we use the more concentrated product,” says Terry Bonertz, ENR vice president and agronomy manager. “We use the calcium sulfate form where pH is affected by magnesium or sodium. It harvested 80-bushel barley on the treated area. In 2013, ENR applied a 600-pound rate of calcium sulfate (SuperCal SO4) to about 200 acres of white, hard, grow-nothing land in southern Alberta that had 26% sodium. Some of the first trials are under way in all four western provinces, in several soil types and cropping systems, on private farms, by retailers, and by associations. SuperCal 98G (limestone) is 36% calcium with a 94% neutralizing value, while SuperCal SO4 (gypsum) is 21% calcium and 17% sulfur.Ī group of Alberta agronomists formed ENR Distribution at Pincher Creek in late 2011 to acquire the sole distribution rights in western Canada. The products are mined, pulverized, and then pelletized. New Lime Options Two high-calcium soil amendments manufactured in northwest Iowa by Calcium Products recently became available for western Canada. “We’re doing research on this now – creating a zone of alkalinity rather than treating the whole field.” “If we can apply lime annually to a very small width of application within actual areas that need to be treated, we can drive annualized costs down to between 7% and 9% or lower than the amount the old methods would use,” Solberg says. You can do it once, long term, with tons per acre to move the pH a full unit, or you can do it annually with affordable precision applications,” he explains. “With a proper treatment, you can make that land more productive. Then, guided by GPS and variable-rate controllers, lime can achieve significant long-term, positive pH change, Solberg says. Markets Analysis Back to Markets Analysis.
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