A few thing to consider:
- Soil type. Sandy soils will leach lime and nutrients way faster that loam or clay for example.
- Previous land use. Cutover or loading deck from a logging operation usually require far more fertlizer and lime to alter fertility and pH than old field or an existing plot amendment. High volumes of decomposing material consume really high rates of N and ground that was in timber will flat eat up some lime. I accidentally spilled a ripped bag in one spot and cussed, spread it out with my boot and a disc best I could, and kept it moving. That spot compared to the surrounding dirt is night and day in terms of forage productivity.
- Crop. What you are planting plays a huge role because some crops just don't care as much and will practically grow on concrete. For others it has to be more finely tuned.
That said, no sample, 14-1600 lb per acre of lime has yielded some darn impressive stands for me even on those little out of the way spots on high dry rough sorry ground. As well, they got better over time as the lime amendment slowly helped pH. A ton per acre is even better when I can get a buggy or choose to spread that much bagged in there given the time to react.
I've dumped lime in late fall and planted in spring; perfectly ok stand but I might have to come back in a year or 3. Heavy lime in spring and plant in the following late summer or fall with a fallow growing season to turn everything in...solid clover 6 years and counting with nothing more than a mowing or 2 per year plus a little grass management.
