11/09/2025
Why are our pastures covered in white powder?! Have no fear! It’s for an excellent reason.
As part of our mission to keep soil thriving (and the critters than depend on soil health, like our cows and customers!), we tried something new this year: spreading lime on our pastures!
Don’t worry - we wouldn’t put anything on our grass that we wouldn’t also eat ourselves! Limestone is used in food, primarily as a calcium supplement and as an ingredient in baked goods (baking powder).
We are applying lime to our pastures because it offers significant benefits, primarily by neutralizing soil acidity, which in turn leads to a cascade of positive effects on soil health, forage quality, and livestock health.
Key benefits include:
* Improved Nutrient Availability and Fertilizer Efficiency: Acidic soils bind essential nutrients like phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and nitrogen (N), making them unavailable to plants. By raising the soil pH, lime unlocks these nutrients, allowing plants to absorb them more efficiently.
* Increased Forage Quantity and Quality: A balanced soil pH promotes healthier, more vigorous plant growth, which can increase the annual grass yield and enhance carbon sequestration due to deeper root systems.
* Enhanced Root Development and Plant Resilience: Proper pH levels reduce the presence of toxic aluminum ions, which can hinder root growth. Healthier, deeper root systems make pasture grasses more resilient to environmental stresses like drought and heavy grazing, which is particularly beneficial in a rotational grazing system.
* Stimulated Biological Activity: Lime encourages the activity of beneficial soil microorganisms and earthworms. These organisms help break down organic matter, improving nutrient cycling and overall soil structure (aeration and drainage).
* Cattle Health: Grass grown in well-limed soil is not only more palatable to animals, lime can supply magnesium, which may help prevent health issues like grass tetany in cattle which means not using man-made medicinal interventions (yay!).
