Incorporating Lime to depth on duplex Wheatbelt soils.
Project Start Date: February 2018
Project End Date: April 2022
Project Funding: GRDC
Project Lead: Facey Group
Project Focus: The aim of this trial is to quantify the value of lime applications by different incorporation methods and compare the economic and agronomic returns of each. This trial also includes an application of a rapidly acidifying Elemental Sulphur to demonstrate how soils and crops will perform 10-years into the future if no action is taken to maintain pH levels. The trial also aims to analyse the interactions between each incorporation technique and its effects on ameliorating other crop constraints.
The objective is to give growers a greater understanding of different methods of lime incorporation and the most cost-effective practice locally and to extend on these findings with other research being conducted on varying soil types throughout the state, so that growers can make informed decisions for implementing their own liming strategy.
Project information: The lime treatments applied were replicated 3 times; with lime rates of 0, 2, 4 and 6 t/ha and elemental sulphur conservatively applied at 1 kg/plot or 70 kg/ha. The trial is Precision Agriculture scale large plots 12.4m wide x 12m long, with lime applied prior to seeding in 2018 using a Marshall multispreader. Tillage treatments were also taken pre-season using a DepthCharger deep-ripper and an Imants Spader.
