Lime Doubles Soybean Yield
With a 3.5 ton/acre application of high calcium sugar beet lime, the Loll family of west central Minnesota doubled their yield, from 35 bushels to 70 bushels per acre.
Rick Loll's sons Josiah (23), Charles (25) and Ben (27)
Rick Loll of Campbell in west central Minnesota doubled his soybean yield following a one time lime application. Seems Rick and his three sons who he farms with were liming an 80 acre field in 2006, but about half way through the job, son Charles broke his back in a shop accident. This naturally diverted the family's attention and brought the liming operation to a halt. (Charles is now doing miraculously well.)
Meanwhile, the heavy dense clay, high magnesium field, typical of the area, had 40 acres receiving 3 1/2 tons per acre of high calcium sugar beet lime in 2006 and 40 acres without. The hired man unaware of the liming about three months earlier stated, "That is the strangest field I ever worked, on the east half you could shift up a gear (limed half) and the west half you had to shift down a gear."
Charles couldn't believe the yields they were getting from the 2008 soybean crop. Seems the east 40 acres that had been limed would fill the hopper extension to the top in just one round, but the west side which didn't drain well and stayed sort of wet during the season would take two rounds to fill. They figure the limed field yielded 70 bushels per acre and the unlimed 35 bushels.
Twelve years ago Rick started liming after reading a book inherited from his "great grandpa" entitled Soil Structure and Modern Farm Methods. It was written in about 1915 and apparently came from the John Deere Agronomy Department of the time. In the book on page 96 he says they reported on an experiment where they limed a soil to 2 1/2 % calcium and a check without liming. Then they put two inches of water on both soils; the one without the lime took 26 days 19 hours to drain and the one with lime took 17 hours.
Rick Loll sent this lime comparison poster
Rick feels magnesium is an expensive negative in their farming operation and calcium is a beneficial positive which effectively counteracts the negative. The Lolls have two 16 foot lime beds mounted on tandem axle trucks on the farm, and their high calcium sugar beet lime source is fairly convenient, 25 miles away.
Growers District Manager Dave McIver often reminds Rick of Wilbur Franklin saying, "You can't treat a chemical problem with a physical tool," meaning tilling will not permanently break up and make fertile heavy high magnesium soils, they need calcium.
"The Growers Program works," says Rick.
The Loll brothers Charles, Josiah, and Ben in front of their Marflex sprayer
