Lime responses in sheep grazing pastures on yellow-brown loams of the northern King Country, North Island, New Zealand

Does liming grasslands increase biomass productivity without causing detrimental impacts on net greenhouse gas emissions?

“…Liming improves feed quality and reduces the amount of N fertiliser required by the grass (Higgins et al, 2012;Mkhonza et al, 2020). In contrast, few studies reported that liming increased soil pH but had no significant gains (Toxopeus, 1989;Viadé et al, 2011), or even had negative effects (Cregan et al, 1989;Carran, 1991;Ryant et al, 2016), on grass biomass productivity. However, Ryant et al (2016) noted that this low productivity due to liming Calcium carbonate equivalent and applied N fertiliser explain 42.3% of overall grass dry matter variations (n = 45, p < 0.001); the grass dry matter correlated significantly with calcium carbonate equivalent (t = − 2.2; p < 0.05) and applied N fertiliser (t = 3.9; p < 0.001).…”

The effects of lime on pasture composition and production in western Waikato hill country

“…Anecdotal reports indicate improved palatability of limed pastures (Woodcock 1935). Toxopeus (1989) noted that 'the palatability of the limed plots is generally better as shown in grazing'. If it could be shown that applying lime improves pasture utilisation, this is an opportunity for farmers to convert excess pasture grown over the summer into useful stock feed and thereby make the application of lime a more attractive fertiliser option for hill country farmers to consider.…”