that one can get soybean seed that is geneticlly engineered for high alkaline soils. Which means you don't have to lime your soil. My dad is retired from farming for like 10 years now, I never pursued it, I followed my own dreams, anyway, we got to talking about my food plot, and I was telling him my soil tested high in alkaline, and needed around 2 tons per acre of lime, and he told me why don't I just buy the beans for high alkaline soil.I never knew, I guess if they can make them round up ready which they never use to be, then I guess they can engineer them for high alk. soils. just a thought for you guys who have some soil that is higher than you like, and are looking for options. Contact your local seed dealers and ask for it. hope this helps...........

I'm holding out until they genetically engineer a self planting soybean ...

i don't mean to come off as a smart aleck, butdoesn't a high alkaline soil have a ph above 7.0? if it's above 7.0 you wouldn't have to apply lime, since lime raises the ph.

Well, good question, my Farm Co-op tested my soil, it was 6.4, and they told me I needed2 tons of lime per acre. I only have a 3 acre plot, and it's not worth to me to spend the money on having someone haul in 6 tons of the stuff when I can go out and buy seed engineered for that soil type,some here may argue, but thats just me. I put in acre each of milo, winter wheat, and soybeans, side by side. my first year on the beans though, they look ok at this point, but may yellow, I don't know, time will tell. But both the milo, and w.wheat did excellent on it. If someone here can set the record straight if lime drops ph, please put in your 2 cents worth.

Lime raises pH.

Your coop probably wants the pH up to 7.0 to grow alfalfa. If you don't want to spend the money on lime, plant clover. It will do well in 6.4 pH as long as the soil will hold a little moisture.

Just for kicks, what was the Phosphorus and Potash levels. You'll need to address them with the correct fertilizer. I wouldGUESS about 300 pounds of 6-24-24 per acre should work fine.

As far as a genetic selection for low pH or high pH alfalfa. I don't think it exists.

My suggestion on clover would be a ladino like the Imperial Whitetail blend. I've had good luck with it in a soil pH of 6.3.

Hey, with the money you save on lime, the seed cost will be basically free.

POP

if you really want the lime, just drive your truck to the quarry and have them dump 1000-2000 lbs in the back. have someone drive it around your plot while you blow it out with a leaf blower. it should take about 20 minutes. wear a dust mask. their recommenation of 2 tons per acre is probably with an incorporation depth of 10 inches. you'd use less if you just go 3 or 5 inches.

At 6.4, you can grow any soybean just fine, or anything else for that matter. If you wanted to plant alfalfa as a hay crop, yeah, then some lime to bring the PH up to 6.8 to 7.0 would improve your yield and nutrition. But you are planting foodplots, notfarming fora living.

I just pulled my test sheet, and I don't know where the co-op guy read the 6.4 what he told me, and it's my fault for not reading it closer, but my ph on the sheet says 4.1. So was he correct with the 2 tons of lime per acre correct? Some of the other readings, my P is a little low, 20 #/acre, FI= 69. K 276 #/acre FI=97. Can anyone translate what these numbers mean?

4.1 is pretty acidic. 2 tons of lime/a sounds about right.

i'm guessing that FI stands for final incorporation.

you've got some pretty crappy soil. it'll probably take 12 months before you get a good food plot on it.

No, 2 tones/acre is just for the first year if you can disk it in.Then repeat for the next two years. I know some guys up north in sand country, their soil test recommended 5 tons per acre at ph of 4.5. A good soil test will include a buffer test to calculate exactly how much lime is required for your type of soil.

I would suggestafter liming you plant buckwheat in the summer, and winterrye in the fall.Next year lime again, do buckwheat and winterrye again. The following year, have another soil test done that includes a buffer test.

P (phosphorus) is not bad, that is just 100 lbs of a 0-20-20 or similar to meat that requirement.

K (Potassium) is very very low. To get to 280#/acre of K would take 450 lbs of 0-0-60.

It almost looks like you are planting in a dry swamp. Put some of the P & K down with the lime for now. But keep in mind, when your PH is below 6, most of your fertilizers are ionically bound up in the soil and not even available to your plots. Right now Lime is 100x more important to your soil than any fertilizer.