Spreading Lime

[Margo]

I know most people usually spread lime in the fall. Due to circumstances I couldn’t control I couldn’t get it done. Has anybody spread lime in late winter early spring and does it matter. Thanks.

 

[Scott 730]

Lime gets spread "here" 12 months a year, weather permitting. Even in the winter on the snow.

 

[NY 986]

I know most people usually spread lime in the fall. Due to circumstances I couldn’t control I couldn’t get it done. Has anybody spread lime in late winter early spring and does it matter. Thanks.

It takes time for the lime to do its thing in terms of raising soil pH. So spreading right now means the limestone will not be as active in the soil versus spreading in the fall when the growing season starts. But if like around here with the growing season running from late April to October you should see some benefit for the 2025 crop if you spread now. The no-till guys spread without working it in and their main requirement is some moisture right after application to bind the lime to the soil. If it were me I would spread this time of year as long as the equipment does not create substantial soil compaction and the lime binds to the soil due to moisture or tillage.

 

[495man]

I spread in the spring, incorporate into the land I am seeding.

 

[hoghollow]

I know most people usually spread lime in the fall. Due to circumstances I couldn’t control I couldn’t get it done. Has anybody spread lime in late winter early spring and does it matter. Thanks.

lime spreaders are running hard and fast southwest Wisconsin no snow frozen ground with frost down couple feet 50 to mid 30s for highs forecast next several days

 

[matthies]

Spreading here in NE Nebraska, when the wind isn't blowing.

 

[Steve in VA]

I know most people usually spread lime in the fall. Due to circumstances I couldn’t control I couldn’t get it done. Has anybody spread lime in late winter early spring and does it matter. Thanks.

For me, any time you can get it.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Makes less tracks if spread now would it have been perfect in the fall site but it gets done when it gets done. P and k same thing they would do that now as well if someone wanted to wait for the new fiscal year wether theirs end in December or January often there would be a spring flurry.

 

[504]

If we can drive across the field we spread here. My father in law made a good living spreading lime and hauling rock . I worked at Knapheide build beds, and hauled for him during the day.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Lime will freeze in the box and be tough to get out unless you have thawing days to spread and will also freeze in the pile so would need to spread it fast if you do it. IF hiring done it will need to be thawing to get it done .the guys hauling don't like to haul things that can freeze in thwe box so they don't lay them over as they raise the boxes up. I don't even want to haul lime with our truck in the summer. IF anything hangs up in the box it can lay them over. Ours being long at 37 feet will lay over easier than those short 25-30 foot train boxes used for lime hauling. some are even shoter at 20or so with the pup being about the same still have 50 or so ton on per load. Nobody around here will spread lime in the spring since there is more money in spreading fertilizer then. Lime gets spread after wheat cutting till late fall. Fertilizer is spread year round if not a lot of sow. Though I would be concerned with causing winter kill in the tracks if real cold like down around 10 F or colder. I'm thinking of spreading on wheat this next week if I can get to it.

 

[showcrop]

The lime that we spread is called "wet lime" because it has moisture added, which is good because it spreads wider and doesn't go into a cloud of dust like dry lime will. As Cat guy posted it will freeze in the spreader and makes the job very tough. In hot weather lime tends to "hang up in the truck body so that dumping is a very delicate operation. Spring spreading here is tough because of the far greater likelihood of getting stuck than in the fall, so it depends to a large degree on your ground.

 

[8850dave]

I needed lime really bad on a farm in the early 1980's and had liquid lime applied in the spring as it worked much quicker

 

[RJKeith]

For me, any time you can get it.

Like Steve said, spread it any time you can. While fertilizer is targeted to an immediate crop, lime is more of a general soil maintenance.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

I've been getting pitches from Agri-Tech about their liquid lime. A concentrate shipped in drums, diluted in a sprayer for application. I'm wondering how well it works.

 

[Richard Nixon]

I know most people usually spread lime in the fall. Due to circumstances I couldn’t control I couldn’t get it done. Has anybody spread lime in late winter early spring and does it matter. Thanks.

I will be putting my lime on in the spring along with fertilizer and then working the whole shebang in. Lime doesn't move around in the soil on its own, neither does P & K. N moves around, vertically as well as horizontally. But don't plan on mother nature getting your lime and other nutrients down where they need to be. So, if you'll be working up the soil before planting, just put the lime on then and work it in. It'll go to work just as fast and you won't risk having some of it wash away in a heavy rain.

 

[showcrop]

I've been getting pitches from Agri-Tech about their liquid lime. A concentrate shipped in drums, diluted in a sprayer for application. I'm wondering how well it works.

One of my property owners had liquid lime applied to his large lawn. He wasn't happy with the results and hired me to spread wet lime on it the next time I was applying.