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EVALUATION OF CHEMICAL METHODS IN ASSESSING LIME REQUIREMENTS OF SANDY SOILS IN NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA

KOLADE EBENEZER ALABI, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

Soils of the Eastern Sandhills of Nebraska are progressively becoming more acid as result of the irrigation and cropping scheme involving high levels of nitrogen in the area. Little information is available about the chemical properties of these young sandy soils compared to the acid, fine textured soils in the Eastern part of the state. Therefore, customary methods used for determining lime requirement may not be the best for these soils which have very low buffering capacity. The task of this research was to compare various available lime requirement methods and to examine some of the soil properties that might have a signifiant influence in the prediction of lime needs for this region. The Shoemaker, McLean and Pratt; Yuan double; Adams-Evans; Peech modified and Woodruff buffer methods are compared to calcium carbonate incubation method on 74 Sandhill soils of Nebraska consisting mostly of Typic Ustipsamments, with a few Udic Argiustolls and Haplustolls. Characteristically, these soils are sandy, have low cation exchange capacity (CEC)--between 19 to 220 mmoles (-) per kg using both NH(,4)OAc and BaCl(,2)-triethanolamine extraction methods; low aluminum content ranging from 0.02 to 0.56 mmole/kg; moderate to high manganese content between 0.09 to 2.05 mmole/kg; low organic matter content of 7 to 4.5 g/kg; low exchange acidity as determined by three methods from 0 to 4.4 mmoles (+)/kg and weakly acidic with pH range of 4.4 to 6.5. Organic matter content, exchange acidity and manganese ions seems to be the predominant properties influencing the amount of lime needs. The effects of exchangeable Al are relatively small in these soils. This study revealed that most of the soils studied require less than 4482 kg of lime per hectare of soils at 15.2 cm tillage depth and that all the methods used predicted lime needs satisfactorily. Intensive field trials of the Adams-Evans, SMPAD, Yuan and Woodruff buffer methods would be needed to establish the potential for choice of any one of the buffers as a recommended method.

Subject Area

Agronomy

Recommended Citation

ALABI, KOLADE EBENEZER, "EVALUATION OF CHEMICAL METHODS IN ASSESSING LIME REQUIREMENTS OF SANDY SOILS IN NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8412291.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8412291

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