Liming Material

Agricultural Liming Material helps make soil less acidic by adding calcium and magnesium, thus making nutrients plant available. Each lime manufacturing facility/quarry located in Pennsylvania and each guarantor of liming material who distributes a product in Pennsylvania must hold an Agricultural Liming Materials license. The license costs $25 and is due July 1 each year, or prior to the manufacturing and distribution of liming materials.

To get a license, fill out the application for an agricultural liming materials. Please read instructions completely and print type legibly.

You can apply and pay online with a credit card. You don’t need to register each product, but all products must have labels and follow the rules before they can be sold or given out in Pennsylvania. Samples of these products are checked to make sure they follow the rules and match their labels.

A search of facilities with an active Liming Materials License in Pennsylvania can be found by clicking here.

• Name and Address: The name and address of the manufacturer or seller.
• Brand Name: The brand name of the material.
• Type of Material: The type of liming material (limestone, hydrated lime, burnt lime, industrial by-product, marl and shells)
• Fineness: How fine or coarse the material is.
• Weight: The weight of the material.
• Analysis: This must include:
  • Minimum amount of calcium.
  • Minimum amount of magnesium.
  • Effective neutralizing value.
  • Calcium Carbonate Equivalent
  • How much of the material passes through 20-, 60-, and 100-mesh sieves.
  • Maximum moisture content.

• Inspection Fee: Guarantors that distribute limiting materials to end users in Pennsylvania need to pay 3 cents per ton of liming material distributed. This fee is due twice a year, on January 31 and July 31. If sell less than one ton was distributed, a minimum fee of $12.50 is due. If you didn’t sell any liming material, you don’t need to pay the minimum fee.
• Reporting: You must report how many tons of liming material distributed every six months using the Lime Tonnage Report form. We send this form to all licensees.
• Deadline: The report and fee are due by February 15 and August 15. If you’re late, you’ll have to pay a penalty of $10 or 10% of the fee, whichever is more.

• You can’t sell or offer agricultural liming material in Pennsylvania unless it follows the rules.
• You can’t sell liming material that has harmful chemicals that could hurt plants or animals.