Omya Calciprill® is calcium nutrition and soil conditioning in a convenient granular form. Its highly reactive, ultrafine particles ensure an effective soil pH management, resulting in a rapid crop response. Alone or in combination with other fertilizers, Omya Calciprill® can be applied before seeding or to established crops. Omya Calciprill® - an excellent source of calcium that promotes growth and quality

Screened, ground and granulated lime can be all from the same quarry, produced differently for different roles and situations.  Some people think they are all the same because the have the same NV or Neutralising Value but this is where size really does matter.

The carbonate content of chalk, limestone or dolomitic lime determines the ability of the lime to neutralise acidity in soils. NV is expressed as a percentage relative to pure calcium carbonate, which is given a value of 100%. With a higher NV, lime can be spread over a greater area, or less tonnes per hectare (t/ha) used, for the same pH change.

Limes with a higher neutralising value will treat more acidity but limes with a greater proportion of fine particles will increase soil pH more quickly.

The size of the lime particles determines how quickly the lime can neutralise acid. Lime with a higher proportion of finer particles has a larger surface area to react with the acid in soil. Research shows that finer limes with a high proportion of particles less than 0.5 mm increase pH faster, which is necessary for rapid correction of acidic soils.

A screened limestone might be a good option for a very acidic field (e.g. pH <5.7) as it contains a mix of smaller and larger particles from 5mm downwards but only 20% needs to be less than 150 microns in size and it can take many months or even more than a year for the larger particles to breakdown and be absorbed fully by the soil.  However if a soil pH is already at 5.8 or more then more precise (and lower) rates are required to rapidly correct and maintain an optimum pH for your crops and this is a role for granulated lime.

Calciprill, a granular lime is formed from very finely ground or micronized particles of Calcium Carbonate with > 98% passing a 150-micron sieve. The powder is granulated by combining it with Calcium Lignosulphonate liquid (a natural organic binding material which is also a humic acid). The product is then granulated to form granules of 2-5 mm. Once granulated it is then dried and put into 600kg bags. Granular Limes are easily transported and field applied using the farmers own spreader up to 36m.

The granules breakdown rapidly due to the binder being water soluble ensuring that the alkaline Calcium cation is readily taken up to displace excess hydrogen ions (H+) displacing acidity for more neutral soil conditions.

Using granular liming products allows both farmers and growers to make use of a more targeted approach accurately applying granulated lime on a little and often basis to maintain soil pH in the fields optimal range and also supplying the essential plant element of Calcium which is then readily available to the crop.

Precision farming techniques including variable rate spreading and direct drilling are ideally suited to using Calciprill when placement is key to their operation and in no till operations the micronised particles are rapidly incorporated into the soil to get to work quickly.  It is also ideal for brassica crops including OSR where higher pH is required to mitigate issues such as club root.

Calciprill’s high reactivity is the key to its effectiveness, this ensures the soil pH adjustment is made rapidly thus helping make efficient use of all available nutrients in the soil which are all fully available at a neutral pH.

So depending on your soils needs, size really does matter.

Benefits

·Corrects soil pH to the most productive level

· Provides essential calcium to enhance crop quality

· Maximizes utilization of key fertilizers

· Applied easily with standard fertilizer spreaders

· Enables precise variable rate application