Doctor Dirt Front Page News

Soil acidity is a natural consequence of highly productive food production systems. Soil acidification was recognised, written about and treated with liming materials in Roman times. The need for liming is not necessarily pointer to poor farming practice, more likely these days an indicator of a high soil productivity.
Delaying liming when required can increase the cost and complexity of management, particularly if acidity is allowed to develop in deeper soil layers.*
After a comprehensive review of the research findings on soil amendments Back Paddock Company have recently incorporated in their SoilMate software integrated soil amendment interpretation module (LimeMate- SodiCalc) that assists decisions about which amendment product is most appropriate for a particular circumstance and suggest a rate based on the information provided by the soil chemistry and the operator.*
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SoilMate® user queries on appropriate lime and gypsum products, amendment mixes and specific rates prompted Back Paddock to develop a soil amendment module that makes it easier to make decisions about the most appropriate soil amendment and its application rate
The new module automatically provides solutions on the most appropriate soil amendment product and rate for the particular soil chemistry, while allowing sufficient control for users to tailor their recommendations for local conditions.
The new module will enable users to develop management strategies for soil with low pH, problematic dispersion or a combination of both , also helping select the most effective product for the situation i.e. gypsum lime, dolomite or combinations. A cost comparison calculator in included to help determine the *cheapest way of doing it.
Users will be able to compare of lime and gypsum and their mixes from different suppliers to work out the cheapest option for problematic dispersive soils.
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