September 26, 2023
Dickinson Research Extension Center Updates

The Who, What, Where, and Why’s of Soil Acidity
 

Chris Augustin – Director,
Dickinson Research Extension Center
701-456-1103
Chris.augustin@ndsu.edu

The who? – Hydrogen causes soil acidity.

The what? – Apply lime (calcium carbonate) to neutralize hydrogen.

The where? – Soil acidity caused from management is near the surface. Our data suggests to soil sample the 0-3 inch depth and be zone specific.

The why? – Nitrogen, whether it’s from compost or urea releases hydrogen while nitrogen mineralizes and changes to plant available nitrate. The mineralization of nitrogen acidifies the soil.

Watch the video on the DREC YouTube channel for more information on the who, what, where, and why of soil acidity management of North Dakota soils. https://youtu.be/wEK8RKo0re8


Table 1. Surface applied sugarbeet waste lime impacts on soil pH at the 0-3 inch depth. This is preliminary data. The red numbers indicate rates that don’t quite follow the rest of the data set.




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