One in Three Farmers haven’t spread lime in the last 5 years
The Signpost team in Teagasc teamed up with the Ground Limestone Producers of Ireland (GLPAI) at the recent National Ploughing Championships to promote awareness of the benefits of lime and to encourage farmers to optimise soil pH on their farms. There is currently a large lime requirement nationally across both grassland and tillage farms, with soil test results showing that approximately 60% of drystock farms are sub-optimal for soil pH and would benefit from an application of ground limestone.
Pictured are (from left to right) Joe, Edmund and Jim Power, Co. Kilkenny (competition winner), Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc Director and Denis Griffin, Grolime.
Over the 3 days of the ploughing championships the Signpost programme team ran a competition for visitors to the Teagasc stand to win a free load of lime each day which was sponsored by Grolime, the agricultural lime brand operated by the GLPAI. There was great interest in the competition with over 400 entries. Jim Power from county Kilkenny, Myra Best from county Leitrim and Philip Ryan from county Tipperary were the lucky winners and will receive their prize from their local Grolime certified limestone quarries.
Myra Best receiving her prize from Stan Lalor, Director of KT, Teagasc; Margaret Farrell, Teagasc Signpost Climate Advisor; James Mimnagh, Teagasc Signpost Climate Advisor and Eoin O’Carroll, Bennettsbridge Limestone.
As part of the competition, farmers were surveyed as to when they last applied lime. Survey results showed that 40% of drystock farmer respondents had not spread lime in the last 5 years, compared with 72% of dairy farmer respondents who had spread lime within the last two years.
Speaking about the competition and congratulating the winners the Head of the Signpost Programme Teagasc’s Dr Tom O’Dwyer said; “overall our survey results show that one in three respondents have not spread lime in the last 5 years. Now is a good time to get lime out and farmers need to look at their most recent soil analysis and identify fields that need liming and plan lime applications over coming weeks.”
The main objective of the competition was to highlight the importance of applying lime and encourage farmers to check their soil analysis results to organise and plan lime applications this Autumn. It was highlighted at the stand that lime delivers multiple benefits including extra grass (2.5 tonnes dry matter/hectare), with every €1 invested in lime earning a return of €7 to €12 in increased grass production. In addition, liming acid mineral soils to the optimum pH 6.3 to 6.5 will result in the soil N supply increasing by up to 70 kilograms of N (Nitrogen) per hectare per year, with additional benefits in terms of water quality and emissions reductions through increased nutrient use efficiency.
Data published last week by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) showed that lime applied for the first half of 2026 was 225,000 tonnes, which is 42% lower than in 2025. Currently our soil test results indicate that on Irish farms there is a lime requirement of up to1.85 million tonnes in 2026.
Maintaining optimum soil pH is the foundation to reducing our dependence on imported chemical fertilisers at a time of escalating prices due to global trade disruptions both in the short and longer-term. Lime is one of the most cost-effective fertilisers available to Irish farmers with a wide network of over 30 certified Grolime quarries supplying top quality lime locally.
Grolime representative and secretary of the Ground Limestone Producers Association of Ireland, Gerry Farrell welcomed the success of the competition and commented on the need for promotion of the benefits of increasing lime application nationally; “We have seen sales of lime fall this year and it is crucial that farmers take the ideal spreading conditions available at the moment to apply lime now.” Gerry also thanked Teagasc and the Signpost Programme team who continuously advance knowledge of the economic and environmental benefits of optimising soil pH with the use of lime with the farming community.
The key message from the Teagasc Signpost team and Grolime is clear: Now is the time for lime to be spread on Irish farms. Maintaining the correct soil pH is fundamental to making nutrients such as N, P & K available for efficient farm productivity while to getting the best return from value nutrients in both slurry and fertilisers.