Education

Why is maintaining soil pH important?

Soil pH is the foundation and main governing parameter of soil fertility. A nutrient’s availability to a plant is affected by soil pH – some more than others – which is why correcting and maintaining your pH at adequate levels is so important.

With substantial investments made to N, P and K fertility programs, it is easy to see why maintaining appropriate pH is paramount to protecting your investment. Crops need sufficient access to these nutrients in order to obtain maximum yield and further return the investment growers make on these important nutrients.

Does nitrogen application acidify your soil?

Every time a nitrogen application is made, there is some resulting acidification of the soil. When ammonium is converted to nitrate, free hydrogen ions are one of the by-products, which result in the acidification. While all ammoniated nitrogen sources acidify soil, the biggest driver is anhydrous ammonia due to the large volume used in production agriculture. In a pound for pound comparison among all fertilizers, ammonium sulfate (AMS) is the most acidifying fertilizer.

New variable rate pH maintenance equations

Calcium Products has recently developed and released a set of variable rate pH maintenance equations that are based on the most recent soil test data. The rates are on a sliding scale with a max application rate of 360 lbs/A. The higher rates are applied to the most acidic areas, with the theory that they will be the most prone to acidification during the remainder of the soil testing cycle. These rates are also flexible with different target pH values and will adjust automatically as you change that value.

How can 98G help maintain your soil pH?

Our philosophy is that soil pH should be corrected and then maintained with yearly or every-other-year, lower rate applications to avoid the pH rollercoaster that can occur with 4 or 5-year application regimens. This way you are ensuring that your soil pH is always aligned with your fertilizer investments.