In the past, lime from beet processing was slurried with waste water to ponds where the lime settled. Lime in this state can be removed from Monitor Sugar by truck and applied as agricultural lime. This lime has great potential for use in agriculture. Records from MSU's soil testing laboratory show that about two million tons of lime should be used in Michigan every year. The yearly lime usage is a little more than 500,000 tons.
Lime is the cornerstone of profitable crop production.
It helps you get the most from your fertilizer. The availability of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous and other plant nutrients is effected by pH. If your soil has a pH of 5.5 and should have 6.5 to 7.0, one-half of your phosphorous fertilizer is wasted. It takes about two pounds of lime to neutralize the acidity from each pound of nitrogen supplied by these fertilizers. It takes about five pounds of lime to neutralize the acidity caused by one pound of nitrogen supplied by ammonium sulfate. Lime is slow acting.