Ag lime demand, supplies varies around Illinois

After harvest, many farmers’ thoughts turn to lime.

Kay Shipman

Published: Sep 28, 2012

Across Illinois, demand for and supplies of ag limestone vary, depending on whether crops remain in the fields and the pH levels of the soils, according to aggregate suppliers.

“Demand is very high. We typically have high demand as long as the weather holds,” said Jim Sergent of Hanson Material Service, which has several locations around the state.

Editor's note: To check on the quality of lime around the state, view the IDOA's limestone quality report.

Sergent sells lime across a wide swath of Central Illinois from the Illinois-Indiana border to just west of Springfield and from Bloomington south to Effingham.

Currently, high demand is coupled with tight supplies, Sergent noted. “We have farmers and aglime folks come from far away to get it,” he said.

Larger customers have started stockpiling supplies in anticipation of long waits at quarries, Sergent said.

Demand is not as high in Southern Illinois. “We don’t have all the crops out,” explained Scott Robertson with Anna Quarries and Kinkaid Stone. Robertson sells aglime in six of the southernmost Illinois counties.

“Right now there is plenty (of supply) to meet demand,” Robertson said.

Over the last four years, Robertson said he has seen a steady increase in farmers’ use of aglime. However, those uses don’t compare with more dramatic applications during the 1970s and 1980s when many farmers were refurbishing pastures, he added.

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