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Episode transcription:
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Drew Lyon: Hello, welcome to the WSU Wheat Beat podcast. I’m your host, Drew Lyon, and I want to thank you for joining me as we explore the world of small grains production and research at Washington State University. In each episode, I speak with researchers from WSU and the USDA-ARS to provide you with insights into the latest research on wheat and barley production.
If you enjoy the WSU Wheat Beat podcast, do us a favor and subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast app and leave us a review so others can find the show too.
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My guest today is Dr. Rachel Wieme. Rachel is a WSU Extension agronomist for southeast Washington based in Walla Walla County. She earned her Ph.D. in soil science from Washington State University. Rachel’s research and extension program works to promote resilient dryland cropping systems through diversification and practices that advance soil health. Some of her more recent projects have been focused specifically on addressing low pH soils of eastern Washington.
Hello, Rachel.
Dr. Rachel Wieme: Hi, Drew.
Drew Lyon: So, what are some of the latest developments on your work regarding liming of low pH soils?
Dr. Rachel Wieme: Yeah, I’m happy to tell you about them today. It helps for me to know that you’ve had other folks on this podcast previously that have talked about the issue of low pH and soil acidification–so we’ve established that it is an issue happening throughout our region, and there are multiple ways of addressing it. And one of those ways of addressing it is to apply lime to the soil.
However, with that, a common question that we’re still seeing come up sometimes on that topic is how much lime to apply. So, we’re excited to be releasing soon–we’ve been working on updating, and we’re about to release a new version of a lime requirement calculator.
So, this has come out of the work of a team effort from the some of us on the Extension Dryland Cropping Systems Team. So, it’s been, our soil chemist Dr. Joao Antonangelo, myself, and Carol McFarland, who also performed a lot of the research that I’ll be referring to in this discussion. So, we’re excited to have this finally ready to be rereleased.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, why do producers need a lime requirement calculator and what does it do for them?
Dr. Rachel Wieme: Yeah. So, there are a couple reasons that we are releasing this updated version. The first of which is there are multiple methods that can be used to determine a lime requirement estimate. So, the primary method is through buffer testing and I’ll just briefly explain that. A buffer test is just a measure of the soil’s buffering capacity or that soil’s ability to withstand changes in pH. So, it depends on various chemical and physical factors of the soil. So, this is a test that’s done at the lab. But even within that there are multiple types of buffer tests that can be performed. And the research has shown that some of those buffer tests are better suited to certain regions and certain soils within those regions. So, we are updating this tool to show and present those buffer methods that are better suited to our region.
And the second reason we’re updating this calculator, too, is even with the buffer tests, getting the right buffer test numbers, the calculations aren’t necessarily straightforward. Or if you’re looking to use some of the other options that I’ll talk about in a minute, the calculations aren’t really straightforward.
So, this tool gives us a platform to have it be a little more plug-and-play, say, with your numbers. Easily just enter the numbers that you can either request from your soil test lab or already maybe have on your soil test reports and get a lime requirement estimate back to you very clearly without having to do those calculations yourself.
So, hopefully removing or reducing at least a little bit of the barriers that might have been there for someone wanting to consider liming.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, you mentioned there are different methods out there. What methods are included in the calculator?
Dr. Rachel Wieme: Yeah. So, this calculator will have options for three different buffer tests. So, these tests are the ones that our research has shown are better suited for our region compared to the current state standard. So, you might see if you have gotten a complete soil test that does include a lime requirement, it might have on there a buffer pH. That’s called the Adams-Evans buffer pH or A-E buffer pH and Carol’s research showed that that one is one that we would no longer really recommend for eastern Washington in particular, so our calculator will include three other buffer tests.
The first one that we recommend is called the malic buffer test. That would be a test that you would request from your lab to have a modified malic buffer test performed, and you would get a buffer pH. Then you would simply enter that buffer pH into the malic sheet on the calculator and it would produce a lime requirement estimate for you.
The other two buffer tests that other research has shown to be suitable for the region also are the Woodruff buffer or the SMP buffer. So, those also are tests that would be done at a lab and you would enter the buffer pH that the lab reports, as well as your target pH to receive a lime requirement estimation for that.
But wait, there’s more. There’s three other methods that can be used for lime requirement estimations as well that use numbers that might already be on your soil test. So, maybe if you’re looking to do this on soil tests that you already have for fields or certain areas, and those are–the first two are tests that, again, Carol’s research showed to have good correlations with the malic buffer lime requirement estimates.
Those calculations simply use the measure of the soil organic matter. They both use organic matter and then either the current pH of the soil or the exchangeable aluminum level in your soil, so your KCl extractable aluminum. So, plugging in those numbers will also give a lime requirement estimate.
And finally, we’re also including a page that will give an estimation based on the base saturation method. So, in this method you would enter the individual levels of base cations—so, your calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and your soil CEC, whether it’s calculated or reported on the test, and your target base saturation. That’s another way to get a lime requirement estimate. And that is the focus area of Dr. Antonangelo, some of the current work he’s doing. So, if that’s something that interests you, you can keep an eye on his work that will soon be telling us a little bit more about what those proper target base saturations for the Palouse soils and the crops we grow here will be.
Drew Lyon: Okay, I was just going to ask what is the target people should be shooting for? But that’s yet to be determined.
Dr. Rachel Wieme: Yes. And currently in the current version of the calculator there is a suggestion for the default, so that’s another thing that’s included in the calculator is some of the guidelines if you’re not sure on the numbers.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, what kind of soil samples does a producer need to have to be able to use the lime requirement calculator.
Dr. Rachel Wieme: The calculator is set up on a default calculation for a 0- to 6-inch sample, so that is the depth we recommend for using this calculator. However, if you do have, like I said–if you’re trying to run this on samples you already have and it’s a different depth, there will also be a conversions page included in this calculator. So, you would go to the conversions page and enter the actual depth of your soil sample on that page. Just to note with that, knowing if you are maybe going to put in–if you have a 0- to 12-inch soil sample, if you do change the default calculation to 12-inch sample, it will return usually a much higher lime recommendation/lime requirement estimate because it is doing the calculation of how much lime it would take to affect all 12 inches of that soil. So, just understanding that that’s part of the assumption of these calculations.
Drew Lyon: Okay. In previous guests I’ve had on, we’ve talked once or twice about how there’s some differences in the lime sources you use. Are you able to input what kind of lime you’re using and get a readout on what you should apply of that particular source?
Dr. Rachel Wieme: Yes, exactly. That will–that is also in the conversions page.
So, these lime requirement estimations will all be given in what’s called–assuming 100% effective calcium carbonate equivalents, and so in that conversion tab that would be an important step is to put in what is the actual CCE or calcium carbonate equivalents of the products you’re going to use, so that should be included on the label of the product that you receive. And that’s exactly what that will do. [It] will change that estimate to the actual amount of product or pounds of product that would be applied to the field to get that same calcium carbonate equivalent.
Drew Lyon: Okay. Excellent. So, where can people find the lime requirement calculator?
Dr. Rachel Wieme: Yes, it is going to be housed on the Small Grains website under the Tools and Calculators section. We will also have it linked from the soil acidification page on the Small Grains website so it should be fairly easy to find if you’ve been to the website before. And we’ll be putting out a lot of information when we actually get it published so we should make it easy for you to find.
Drew Lyon: All right. We’ll look forward to seeing that information and we’ll get the link to the calculator when it’s available into the show notes.
Dr. Rachel Wieme: That’d be great.
Drew Lyon: Thank you very much, Rachel. Appreciate hearing about this. I think this has been an issue for a very long time and it’s nice to know that we’re getting an updated calculator that’ll help growers make a more informed decision on what they need to do.
Dr. Rachel Wieme: I hope so. Thanks for having me, Drew.
Drew Lyon: Thank you, Rachel.
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Thanks for joining us and listening to the WSU Wheat Beat podcast. If you like what you hear don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. If you have questions or topics you’d like to hear on future episodes, please email me at drew.lyon — that’s lyon@wsu.edu — (drew.lyon@wsu.edu). You can find us online at smallgrains.wsu.edu and on Facebook and Twitter [X] @WSUSmallGrains. The WSU Wheat Beat podcast is a production of CAHNRS Communications and the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University.
I’m Drew Lyon, we’ll see you next time.
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by guests of this podcast are their own and does not imply Washington State University’s endorsement.