Reviewed August 2026 against USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries and Persistence Market Research.

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Agricultural lime suppliers sell crushed limestone or dolomitic lime that farmers apply to raise soil pH. The US agricultural lime market moved roughly 2 million tonnes at a value of $1.2 billion, per Persistence Market Research’s 2026 estimate. Bulk material typically runs about $40 per ton at the quarry, though delivered-and-spread costs reported by Missouri farm surveys averaged $30.58 per ton in 2026 — the gap is almost entirely hauling distance and spreading labor, which is why “near me” matters more for this product than for most farm inputs.

This article covers what agricultural lime is, what suppliers actually charge, how to vet one before you commit a truckload, and how the supply chain from quarry to field works. Skip to the comparison table if you already know what you’re looking for.

Table of Contents

• How Big Is the Agricultural Lime Market, and What Does It Cost
• What Agricultural Lime Is and How It Works
• Finding Agricultural Lime Suppliers Near You
• How to Vet an Agricultural Lime Supplier or Manufacturer
• Comparing Agricultural Lime Products by Type
• From Quarry to Field: How the Supply Chain Works
• Lime Cost & Coverage Calculator
• Precision Agriculture and Soil Testing Before You Order
• How Farmonaut Fits Into the Liming Decision
• FAQ
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How Big Is the Agricultural Lime Market, and What Does It Cost

Total US lime production — quicklime and hydrated lime combined, excluding independent hydrators — reached 16 million tonnes in 2024 with a market value of $3.2 billion across all end uses (construction, chemicals, and agriculture combined), according to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summary for Lime (2024). Agriculture is a fraction of that: Persistence Market Research puts US agricultural lime consumption specifically at about 2 million tonnes and $1.2 billion in 2026.

Production is concentrated: the USGS reports that the top five companies account for 80% of US lime production, spread across 73 primary lime plants operating quicklime kilns nationwide in 2024. That concentration is worth knowing before you assume “local supplier” means “small operator” — many regional yards are distribution points for a handful of large producers, not independent quarries.

Crushed stone tells a similar story from a different angle. The US produced roughly 1.5 billion tonnes of crushed stone in 2024, and agriculture accounted for just 1% of that total, per the USGS Mineral Commodity Summary for Crushed Stone (2024). Ag lime is a small, specialized slice of a much larger aggregates industry — which is why pricing and availability can differ sharply by county depending on whether a nearby quarry bothers to grind and bag material for farm use at all.

On price, two figures anchor the range. Multiple market analysts put average bulk agricultural lime cost around $40 per ton as of 2025. A Missouri farm survey found delivered-and-spread lime averaging $30.58 per ton in 2026. Neither number is universal — freight from quarry to field is usually the single largest swing factor, and a supplier 40 miles away can be cheaper delivered than one 10 miles away if their base rock cost is low enough. Ask any quoted supplier for a delivered-and-spread number, not just a mine-gate price, so you’re comparing like with like.

What Agricultural Lime Is and How It Works

Agricultural lime (ag lime) is ground limestone or dolomite applied to acidic soil to raise pH, unlock nutrient availability, and support the soil microbial activity that root systems depend on. It comes in a few forms that agricultural lime suppliers differentiate mainly by calcium and magnesium content:

• Calcitic limestone (CaCO₃): the dominant type — Persistence Market Research puts calcitic lime at 55% of the US agricultural lime product mix in 2026.
• Dolomitic lime: supplies both calcium and magnesium; the smaller but faster-growing segment, projected by Persistence Market Research at a 6.1% CAGR from 2024 to 2033.
• Quicklime or hydrated lime: reacts faster than ground limestone, used for rapid correction where a slower-acting product won’t fit the timeline.

The USGS does not break out national production tonnage by calcitic versus dolomitic type, so the 55% figure above is a market-research estimate, not a government statistic — treat it as directional rather than exact when negotiating with a supplier over product mix.

Why Soil Acidity Matters

Acidic soil reduces the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and calcium; suppresses microbial activity that root systems rely on; and, at low enough pH, allows aluminum and manganese to reach concentrations that damage roots directly. A soil test — from a state extension lab or a private agronomy lab — is the only reliable way to know your current pH and the lime rate needed to correct it. Extension services at NDSU, Ohio State, Penn State, and Purdue all publish lime recommendation guides and regional price summaries; check the one for your state before ordering, since recommended rates and typical local pricing both shift by soil type and region.

Finding Agricultural Lime Suppliers Near You

“Agricultural lime near me” searches return better results once you know what to search for specifically. A few practical starting points:

• Your state extension service. NDSU, Ohio State, Penn State, and Purdue extension offices maintain lists of regional lime sources and publish delivered-price surveys by county or district — often the fastest way to a real, current local price.
• Aggregate and quarry operators. Many crushed-stone quarries sell an agricultural grade even if it isn’t their main product line; call and ask specifically for “ag lime” or “aglime,” since it may not be listed separately online.
• Farm cooperatives. Co-ops frequently broker lime delivery and spreading as a bundled service, which simplifies price comparison versus sourcing rock and a spreader separately.
• USDA NASS QuickStats. For broader commodity and input price context, the NASS QuickStats database and the Agricultural Prices reports hosted at USDA’s Cornell library archive update monthly, though lime-specific per-ton figures are better sourced from state extension surveys than from NASS directly.

One gap worth naming plainly: no government dataset publishes acres treated with agricultural lime per year nationally. NASS surveys crop-specific fertilizer and amendment use but doesn’t isolate lime acreage as its own metric. If you need a number like that for your county, the state extension office or your local NRCS field office is the practical source, not a national database.

How to Vet an Agricultural Lime Supplier or Manufacturer

Whether you’re comparing agricultural lime suppliers, a specific micronized lime supplier, or a larger agricultural lime manufacturer, the same checklist applies:

1. Ask for a current lab analysis. Calcium (and magnesium, for dolomitic product) content, fineness/particle size, and calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) should all be on a certificate, not a verbal estimate.
2. Get a delivered-and-spread quote, not a mine-gate price. As the $40/ton bulk average versus $30.58/ton delivered-and-spread Missouri figure shows, freight and application can move the effective cost by 25% or more in either direction depending on distance.
3. Confirm fineness matches your reaction-speed needs. Finer-ground material reacts faster but costs more to produce; coarser material is cheaper but takes longer to shift pH.
4. Check for regional certification or state ag department registration. Many states require lime products sold for agricultural use to be registered as a soil amendment; ask for the registration or license number.
5. Compare at least two quotes on the same basis. Same tons, same delivery radius, same spreading service included or excluded.
6. Ask how they source their rock. A supplier that quarries its own stone controls quality more directly than one reselling from a broker network.

Because USGS doesn’t track company-level sales and market-research firms that do keep that data behind paywalls, there’s no public ranking of “best” agricultural lime suppliers by market share. The checklist above is the substitute — it’s what actually protects you from a bad load, not a brand name.

Comparing Agricultural Lime Products by Type

Rather than rank suppliers — data that isn’t publicly available at the company level — the table below compares agricultural lime product types on the metrics that actually determine what you should pay and expect:

*Market share and CAGR figures are Persistence Market Research estimates for the US agricultural lime segment (2026 report); production-type breakdowns are not published by USGS at the national level. Confirm calcium content and fineness against a specific supplier’s lab certificate before ordering, since it varies by quarry and deposit.

From Quarry to Field: How the Supply Chain Works

The Four Links

• Quarries/mining operations extract limestone or dolomite deposits — concentrated among a small number of large operators, per USGS’s finding that the top five US lime producers hold 80% of production.
• Processing facilities crush and grind rock to agricultural fineness specifications, distinct from the coarser grades sold into construction and chemical uses.
• Agricultural lime suppliers and distributors — often regional yards or co-ops — hold inventory and arrange local delivery.
• Application services — either the supplier’s own spreading trucks or a custom applicator — get material from the yard onto the field at the target rate from your soil test.

With 73 primary lime plants operating across the US in 2024 per USGS, geographic availability is uneven: some counties sit within a short haul of a plant, others are a long freight run from the nearest source, and that distance is usually the biggest single driver of your delivered price.

Lime Cost & Coverage Calculator

Estimate total delivered cost and tons needed for your field using your own acreage, application rate, and quoted price per ton:

Precision Agriculture and Soil Testing Before You Order

Ordering lime without a current soil test is the most common way to overpay or underapply. Precision agriculture tools — grid soil sampling, variable-rate spreaders, and satellite-based field monitoring — let you apply lime only where pH is actually low rather than spreading a flat rate across a whole field that may have zones already in range.

• Soil testing services: identify exact pH deficits and nutrient status by zone rather than by whole field.
• Variable-rate application: matches lime tonnage to the zones that need it, cutting total material cost on fields with uneven pH.
• Remote sensing and satellite imagery: flag crop stress patterns that often correlate with acidity, narrowing where to sample first.

How Farmonaut Fits Into the Liming Decision

Lime is one input in a wider set of field-management decisions, and satellite-based tools can help you decide where and when it’s worth applying.

For coordinating satellite field monitoring and input decisions across multiple fields, our modular Large-Scale Farm Management Platform streamlines resource allocation and crop health analytics for larger operations.

To track and report the emissions footprint of your input and field operations, our Carbon Footprinting tools support sustainability compliance reporting.

If you need to document input sourcing for buyers or certifiers, our Product Traceability system uses blockchain records for input-to-market tracking.

For hauling and spreading logistics, our Fleet Management tools help track vehicle usage and reduce operational costs across farm equipment fleets.

Developers and agribusinesses can integrate Farmonaut’s data insights directly using our Public API and consult our API Developer Documentation for seamless integration into custom platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

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The Bottom Line on Choosing an Agricultural Lime Supplier

Agricultural lime suppliers sell a commodity product, but price and quality still vary by quarry, distance, and fineness. Confirm calcium (or calcium plus magnesium) content on a lab certificate, get a delivered-and-spread price rather than a bare mine-gate quote, and match the product type — calcitic, dolomitic, or fast-acting quicklime — to what your current soil test actually calls for. The market data cited above (USGS production figures, Persistence Market Research segment estimates) update on an annual or multi-year cycle; check the linked sources directly for the current release before quoting these figures back to a supplier.

Start with a soil test, get two or more delivered quotes on the same basis, and use the calculator above to sanity-check any number a supplier gives you.