Part of the Kilwaughter Group
FOR ALL YOUR SOIL HEALTH NEEDS
The Soil Health Hub, from Kilwaughter Lime, is a free-to-access service for all of your soil health needs. As well as articles, case studies and testimonials, dedicated to all matters of soil health, the Soil Health Hub features a dedicated portal for soil testing, including personalised tracking, field management, nutrient guidance, lime recommendations and a unique soil health dashboard specific to your farm.
Soil Analysis Made Simple
SAMPLE / UPLOAD
Order a soil analysis kit below or submit your own test results.
TRACK ORDER
Track your order to find out when your results are ready to view.
REVIEW RESULTS
Review results and recommendations in easy-to-read, visual charts.
APPLY CHANGES
Download and apply recommendations for maximum impact.
Start an enhanced Soil Health Examination today
Nutrient Management
View our growing list of articles on the importance of nutrient balance within your soil, and the impact of deficiencies within key areas of nutrient management.
Calcium: The King of All Nutrients
News
The importance of Calcium can never be overstated, and yet it is one the last elements we consider when looking to improve our soil’s health.
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Calcium & G-Lime – Why is it Important
Tips
G-Lime plays an important role in pH management and has significant benefits over conventional agricultural lime, including less risk of compaction, speed of reactivity and the ability to easily maintain pH at target level.
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Why is My Magnesium So High, and Is It a Problem?
Tips
As a general guideline, magnesium levels below 100 ppm are considered deficient, while those exceeding 250 ppm are excessive.
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We got soil sampled in 2017, took our results and put them in the filing cabinet. Did it again in 2021 and said ‘Hold on, let’s see what information they’re giving us’. It was probably the best thing we ever did!
Soil pH and Fertiliser Efficiency
Good soil health is about far more than just pH. However, if your pH is below the optimum requirement for your crop, every other effort to increase yield will fall short.
Soil pH and Fertiliser Efficiency
Tips
As part of this quest towards efficiency, testing of soil plays a vital role.
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Soil Testing: What’s The Point, And How Often Should I Do It?
Tips
Soil analysis should be viewed as a best practice because it offers important financial benefits for all farmland soils.
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Preparing Your Soil for Maximum Establishment
Tips
Don't let suboptimal soil conditions hold your crops back. Prepare your soil for maximum establishment with granulated lime today!
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I got my results from the Department last year, and couldn’t understand them, so just put them in a drawer. After using the Soil Health Hub I can now understand exactly what the results are saying and what I need to do next.
Lime Application and Timing
Good soil health is about far more than just pH. However, if your pH is below the optimum requirement for your crop, every other effort to increase yield will fall short.
Granulated Lime vs. Bulk Lime: What’s the Difference?
Tips
Many farmers remain unaware of the fundamental differences between granulated lime and bulk lime, and more importantly, the advantages that granulated lime offers.
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It’s Never Too Late - The Importance of Liming After Silage Cuts
Tips
A regular liming programme involving small and frequent applications of granulated lime is one of the single most important changes you could make to your silage production.
Read MoreFAQs
Find the answers to your frequently asked questions around our Soil Health Hub.
It should take only a few working days for you to receive your pack. Each pack contains three samples. Once you send your samples to the lab, via the FREEPOST envelope included in the pack, it could take anything up to 2-3 weeks to analyse your results. As soon as they are received back from the lab, an email will be sent allowing you to view the full visualised report in your personalised portal within the Soil Health Hub.
The packs are currently priced at £25 or €30 for three samples. Each sample will cover up to 10 acres, but is typically used for one field. A set of sampling instructions will be sent along with the pack, to ensure you provide the correct sample for analysis. No further payment is required for the samples (postage is covered), and there is no charge to use the Soil Health Hub.
The moment you request a soil analysis pack, or submit your own results, you will receive an email with a link to your profile. This is your personalised, encrypted link and will allow you to view and manage your soil health results without the need for a login. Any future requests or historical results will be available here, provided the same email address is used, and can be used to track and analyse your fields’ performance over time.
A basic soil analysis will provide pH, P and K and may include calcium and magnesium. The analysis offered by the Soil Health Hub will incorporate all of the above, as well as adding sulphur, sodium and the crucial cation exchange capacity (CEC). The CEC is an inherent characteristic of the soil and indicates its ability to hold onto essential nutrients and the potential rate at which certain deficiencies can be corrected. This allows for more accurate recommendations and is thus seen as a vital measurement when analysing soils.
There are more extensive analysis packages available, and these can be requested directly from Lancrop Laboratories. One such example is the Broad Spectrum Analysis which includes boron, zinc, manganese and several other elements.
The Soil Health Hub is always looking for willing contributors. If you have an article idea, some content or a fully finished copy, please contact us on analysis@kilwaughter.com to share your thoughts. If we go on to use the article, we would be delighted to credit you and/or your organisation.
We consider the Soil Health Hub to be a community. And it will only grow with the input and attention of those who share our passion for soil health. So we look forward to receiving and reviewing your content!
All samples are sent to, and analysed, by Lancrop Laboratories. They are based in Pocklington, Yorkshire. We have a strong relationship with them, going back to 2018, and have found them to be driven by the same values and convictions as we are in all matters of soil health, farmer support and commitment to education.
While it is difficult to provide precise guidance without specific soil test results, a general rule of thumb is that applying around 2 tonnes of bulk lime per acre can raise soil pH by approximately 0.2 to 0.5.
A similar pH increase can be achieved with granulated lime at a lower application rate of 160 to 220 kilos per acre. This is due to its finer particle size, which makes it more reactive compared to the coarser and less uniform bulk lime.
Although bulk lime remains “in the ground” longer, it also takes much more time to react - typically around 18 months, whereas granulated lime works within six weeks. Depending on your starting pH, annual applications of granulated lime may be much more effective in both the short and long-term than applying bulk lime every five years.
Under certain conditions, and particularly those found on average farms in UK and Ireland, a regular application of lime could greatly reduce the need for fertiliser. The logic is that many nutrients remain locked into your soil at a pH anywhere below 6.3/6.5. Additional fertiliser will not unlock those nutrients and will, itself, be partly unavailable to the crop.
The correction of pH will not only make existing “locked” nutrients available, but will also ensure that the application of any future fertiliser is more effective. With such a high dependency on pH (as just one component of the complex soil health story), it is important to lime “little and often”, ensuring that the natural acidification of soils is kept at bay.