Teagasc is currently highlighting the myriad benefits that can be accrued by the spreading of lime to agricultural land at the appropriate time.

This is a message that is equally relevant for tillage farmers as they strive to make use of crop inputs.

All of this follows one of the wettest winters in living memory, with yellowing fields and crops a sign of their exceptionally low nutrition status.

Moreover, all of this is fast-becoming a good news story for Irish agriculture.

One of the most significant trends identified by recent surveys is the confirmation that farmers across the country are starting to use more lime.  

Lime

In many ways, this is a case of getting back to basics. It is also a case of learning from history.

Lime is the most undervalued soil conditioner that we can apply to our land.

Research going back to the 19th century confirmed its ability to lift inherent soil fertility levels while, at the same time, ensuring that farmers got the best return from the manures and bagged fertilisers they used within their businesses.What’s more, lime costs a fraction of what it takes to procure and spread nitrogen, potash, phosphate, and the other manufactured fertilisers on the market today.All it takes to ensure that best use is made of lime is to have a series of soil tests undertaken, which will accurately determine the pH status of the soils across the entire scope of a farmed area.

Resource management

We hear lots of talk today encouraging farmers to invest in new technologies in order to secure higher efficiency levels within their businesses. And, up to a point, this is true.

But one could also argue that such an approach is simply covering over cracks that have been apparent within the industry for many decades.If we aren’t getting the fundamentals right, how can we hope to make best use of the new technologies that are coming down the line?Modern agriculture is all about resource management. Farmers must get the best value they can from all the inputs they use within their businesses.

Fundamentally, this includes livestock manures and chemical fertilisers.

The overarching fact that connects up all these dots is the use of lime to maintain soil pH vales at optimal levels.

For years, many farmers in this part of the world seemed to have forgotten this fundamental reality.Partly, this was because of the message sold to them back in the day that bagged fertiliser was the cheap and convenient fix for all their production-related problems.

But in 2026, chemical fertilisers are not the cheap option they once were.

We have the conflict in the Persian Gulf to thank for this: a conflict that will serve to put significant pressure on energy and fertiliser prices well into the future.Yes, these inputs will continue to have a key role to play within production agriculture.

However, there are now strong signs that Irish farmers are again recognising that the strategic use of lime is key to them securing  a sustainable future.