A farmer asked on AgTalk this week about GypSoil. He wondered if it was worth the money to try this product to improve his tough to manage black gumbo soil. The answer is gypsoil will help but what is the economic benefit?My corn in the picture would benefit greatly from gypsoil, broadcast gypsum, pelleted gypsum, any kind of gypsum. All of these products are forms of calcium sulfate which occurs naturally in some formations of limestone or can be now be made synthetically by removing the sulfur from coal burning plant stacks using high calcium lime to scrub the stack walls.
"The benefits of gypsum use in agricultural production have been studied for many centuries. Recent research continues to substantiate earlier studies as well as find new benefits to gypsum use. Here is a summary of data in a concise format.
Benefits of gypsum include:
:1. Improving soil structure
2. Amend sodium affected soils
3. Improve soil infiltration
4. Decreases the swelling of clays
5. Offsets affects of aluminum toxicity in low pH soils
6. Helps curb phosphorus runoff from soils
7. Improves quality of several fruit and vegetable crops
8. Is an excellent source of plant available calcium and sulfur
9. Increases iron uptake by reducing the detrimental effects of bicarbonates
10. Serves to decrease the bulk density of soils
11. Useful tool in decreasing the negative effects of high magnesium in soils
12. Increases the efficiency of nitrogen applications
13. Increases the availability of potassium already present in the soil
14. Offsets ill effects of irrigation with poor quality water
15. Can serve as a tool to enhance iron, manganese and zinc availability
16. Aid to stop soil erosion
17. Decreases incidence of some diseases
18. This list could go on forever
Sounds like a miracle product, doesn't it? Ben Franklin painted words on the hills of Philadelphia with gypsum. The plants were so much more green where he applied the gypsum.
If I could get an affordable source I would apply a half ton per acre to all my land every year. It is that good. It increases water absorption in the soil that much.
What is affordable? That is a personal question. My budget would be $20 per acre. It might be worth $50 an acre but that is getting pricey in my budget.
You can't go to your dealer and buy it. The closest outlets here are probably Columbus, Ohio and eastern Indiana unless I am willing to pay a premium price for it. I could get it delivered next week from many sources if I am willing to pay double or triple the price at the source.
I am not willing to pay that at this time, perhaps some day I will. Everything I do today has been after years of seeing the effects of what I started. I just haven't started this one yet on a grand scale like liming or tiling or cover crops. It may be just as valuable or even more so.
That's the brief on gypsum. It works. Try some. Maybe you will want to build it into your cropping or gardening program.
Ed
I'd like to know if prilled lime, don't know if that is the right term. Banded in the row really is cost effective in low pH conditions. You can read opinions on both sides of the question. My local field man told me I was nuts and wouldn't get it for me once when i wanted to try it in the past. It was kind of funny. I was not that committed to it and was in a big hurry of course...
ReplyDeleteAt what rate would you see a difference and what would it cost? That's the key!
I've also wondered about those devices they use to put gypsum in the water for irrigation. Saw one once at an ag show. Interesting but kind of expensive.
It was for me. I have went to longer contracts and ownership so broadcast is the best method for me. I still used prilled or pellet lime in my fertilizer mixes because they are acidic and I use the lime to buffer the blend which I think works better and I get a better spread with more pounds per acre. $8 an acre is cheap compared to my other input costs. If I spread 200 lbs of fertilizer I add 100 or more lbs of pellet lime.
ReplyDeleteed, do you apply the pellime spring or fall? the last 2 years i spring applied because of fall weather. was thinking of trying a fall app on some acres, corn stalks. 400# pell and 200# ams. your thoughts? dave wiebke
ReplyDeleteEither, whenever I am buffering an acid like AMS, urea, MAP, DAP or want a larger load for better spreading. 400 and 200 sounds like overkill to me, if you want N, use urea or ammonium nitrate instead of that much AMS? You don't need that much sulfur? 200 pel lime is as much as I ever spread, 1/10 of a ton of lime and ready to go work buffering. It is not a great long term pH reducer if that is your goal.
ReplyDeleteed, in the hi mag soils of nw iowa, i am trying to get the sulfur to combine with the mag to leach it away which is what it will do in the presence of enough calcium. or so i have been told. not concerned about ph as the high mag levels can skew the #s. watching base saturation of c and mg. cal levels inching up(65) but mag stubborn at 17 to 20. always learning. dave
ReplyDeleteed, wouldnt this give me a gypsum effect? dave
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