It?s been a fast-paced harvest in 2020 and fall field work continues to be an option for Iowa growers. Calcium Products is promoting the benefits of maintaining soil pH at a consistent level to maximize yield potential every year.
Andrew Hoiberg is vice president of research and development at Calcium Products. He tells the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network that soil pH is a master variable in the soil and greatly impacts nutrient availability, which is the primary reason soil pH affects crop yield. Hoiberg says correction of soil pH is difficult to consistently achieve because it is affected by challenging weather or field conditions, as well as availability of appropriate application equipment.
?Instead of doing more of a reactionary corrective application, we?re trying to urge folks to think about doing more of a maintenance mode,? Hoiberg said. ?We?ll get the pH up to where we want it and then we use applications every other year or so at lower rates to offset the acidification from the nitrogen management programs. Thereby, we?re going to keep that pH where we need it to be more consistently and also more consistently maximize that yield environment so we?re not dealing with suboptimal pH during any years of that typical program.?
Hoiberg says a very effective and consistent product to correct and maintain soil pH is 98G from Calicum Products.
?The 98G is a pelletized limestone,? Hoiberg said. ?It comes from a very pure source up in Gilmore City, Iowa. It?s 98 percent pure calcitic limestone. It?s ground into an ultra-fine powder before it?s pelletized. What this results in is a very rapidly reacting product. We?re able to change the pH of the soil a lot faster and utilize those lower rates in those intervening years to keep the pH where it should be. We can use more frequent lower rates and save costs to the grower by doing so.?
For more information on 98G or the process of maintaining soil pH, visit calciumproducts.com. The full interview with Andrew Hoiberg in our latest pH Matters program can be heard below.
