Introduction
Acidsoils have existed in southcentral
Kansasfor many years, but response to lime
applicationwas not demonstrated until 10 to
15years ago. Awareness of potential lime
response has prompted producers to do
more soil testingof poor-producing fields and
spots in fields. More than a third of the soil
samples from this area tested by the KSU
Soil Testing Lab last year were of pH 5.5 or
less.
Withlime quarries more than a 100
milesfrom much of this acidic soil area,
producersare interested in alternatives to ag-lime.Phosphate fertilizer is known to react
withsoluble soil Al and perhaps could be used
toreduce Al toxicity. The objective of this
research was to evaluate the effectiveness of
phosphate fertilizer as an alternative to ag-lime for wheatproduction on extremely acidic
soils. The studies also compared the
respons es of wheat varieties with differentolerances to Al.