Wise liming choices bring big results Lime neutralized Jim
Book’s crop problems. Back in the early 1990s, Book had trouble
with the growth of vegetable crops on his Starlight farm. He
raises grain, vegetables, corn, soybeans and dairy cattle. “I
started looking to see what [I was doing] wrong, and I came
across this group of people telling me about lime,” says Book, a
lifelong farmer. “For three years, I was talking to them and
couldn’t believe what I was hearing.” Book encountered a fellow
farmer who recommended using a liming program, starting with a
test plot. Book divided a field and applied 5, 10, 15 and 20
tons per acre of high-calcium lime. After seeing growth
improvements, Book was convinced of the power of lime. •
Correcting pH to a desirable range can produce remarkable
results. • Lime needs time after application to reduce soil
acidity. • The benefits of lime are easy to see in alfalfa and
vegetable crops. Why liming helps “I found out I wasn’t putting
enough lime on the ground to make things work