ARE YOUR CROPS MISSING SULFUR?

Do you know? Unless you are feeding your crops sulfur, you are probably underfeeding them.

University of Minnesota Professor Dr. Jeff Strock calls sulfur deficiency the “Hidden Hunger” because it can go unnoticed. The signs may mimic nitrogen deficiency — yellowing leaves, reduced yield — or there may not even be any overt signs. That’s where soil samples and testing become important.

Over time, higher-yielding crops have depleted sulfur levels. And, since our air is cleaner today, we get less sulfur from rainfall than we used to. Most mid-western states pick up less than 1 pound of sulfur per year. As yields have increased and sulfur from rainfall has decreased, many growers are beginning to realize that the soil can’t provide all the crop’s sulfur needs. This necessitates monitoring more closely and managing a nutrient that plays an integral role not only in plant development and yield, but also in crop quality.

The hypothesis was that we would see crop yield respond more to sulfur under the reduced-tillage methods than in the more aggressive tillage systems. Reduced-tillage conditions like strip-till, no-till or ridge-till results have shown a profound yield increase.

Compost has its place too

Don’t be too quick to conclude that low-residue tillage solution is the answer for yield increase. Organic matter, such as BioLogic Compost, serves as a reservoir for better water retention, oxygen and nutrients while increasing storage. As this organic matter works with the soil, its sulfate-sulfur content is plant-available. People often do not realize the value of organic matter at the soil surface.

All “compost” is not created equal. Dry waste, green manure and compost are all very different as they are applied to fields. Dry waste has no organisms to break it down, thus composting is not finished. The material no longer contains the microbes and volatile nutrients needed to break down so it takes years in the soil to finish decomposition, which in turn does very little for soil health. Green manure has organisms and usually has a higher pH level which takes time to work on breaking itself down instead of being plant available. Compost contains a high concentration of humus and available nutrients stabilized into storable and plant available form providing many natural enemies of disease causing bacteria / fungi, Effective in battling nematodes, reducing insect pressure, buffers pH, and improves soil structure, allowing water and air to move through and stay in the soil while helping alleviate compaction. This improves overall soil and plant health which increases yields and quality while reducing inputs making a farm more efficient and profitable.

Sulfur Availability

When it comes to treating sulfur deficiencies, there are several important considerations to keep in mind — including making sure that sulfur is available to the plant throughout the growing season. When it’s taking those amino acids and turning them into protein, it raises crop values. Sulfur plays a role in not only yield, but in the quality of the crop as well.

When Heart of Nature’s SSP (Super Sulfur Potash) is applied to the soil, the sulfate sulfur is already in the proper form to feed the plant along with balancing the PH and lowering the sodium levels. Fertilizer granules rapidly dissolve and move sulfate-sulfur into the root zone for early-season development. Throughout the growing season, soil microbes convert the elemental sulfur into sulfate-sulfur for season-long feeding.

Other factors that influence the rate of conversion are soil moisture, soil temperature and microbial population. One crucial factor of that conversion is particle size. The smaller the size of elemental sulfur particles, the easier it is for the microbial population to oxidize it into sulfate-sulfur. With other sulfur products that have larger particles, it may take multiple years for that elemental sulfur to break down and become available to the plant, whereas with Heart of Nature’s SSP, you get small, evenly distributed pieces of elemental sulfur that allow for mineralization throughout the growing season. It’s the best of both worlds. You get the sulfur that the plant needs early from the sulfate, and then as the microbes oxidize the elemental sulfur throughout the season providing a gradual feeding.

While agronomists have proven that sulfur is an essential crop nutrient, they are still discovering all of the roles it plays in plant health and reproduction. Though not fully understood, sulfur plays a role in how the plant uses nitrogen.

For example, if we have a sulfur limitation, it can add to a nitrogen uptake problem. Sulfur additions actually improve the efficiency of the uptake and use of nitrogen for most field crops. It is really important to make sure we have sulfur in the fields at sufficient levels to ensure maximize nitrogen uptake.

It’s rather amazing when you consider nitrogen and sulfur. Both are really important in protein, seed protein content, enzymes and enzymatic activity in the plant. Nutrients are not just going to the grain, but they help promote root growth, seed production and help plants tolerate varying temperatures better.

Why Use Humic products?

Sustainability – Pure & Simple! Agricultural producers worldwide are seeking to reduce dependency on synthetic fertilizers and chemicals. Many of us are not familiar with organic bio-stimulant products. Growers MUST put Carbon (food for soil organisms) back into their agronomy practices in an efficient and readily available manner, while reducing dependency on synthetic fertilizers and chemicals. Without food for soil organisms, the addition of synthetic nutrients is pointless.

Humic products, produced through a proprietary wet chemistry extraction processes, activates the humic acid molecule making it more functional, thus enhancing its abilities where as other methods of non-alkaline extraction do NOT activate those functional humic molecules. Thus providing an efficient and economical means to return carbon to the soil.

Unfortunately, with the advent of Anhydrous Ammonia fertilizer products after WWII and ever increasing use since then, growers have relied on an unsustainable method of adding energy into the soil food system, without the corresponding Carbon in proper proportion to the energy – i.e. Carbon to Nitrogen ratio. Soil organisms consume 10 times the Carbon for each unit of Nitrogen, so it’s definitely not “rocket science” to understand where the lack of carbon being utilized in post WWII agriculture has led us.

Humic improves germination rates, decreases water usage, enhances nutrient uptake, increased crop production, which allows for earlier harvest due to a natural accelerated ripening.

The right balance for your crops

Modern farming practices, irrigation, drainage, cultivation, harvesting, compaction, heavy use of synthetic fertilizers and chemicals have contributed to the depletion of soil humus and beneficial bacteria to a level where crop sustainability is severely threatened. Humic substances have historically been re-generated in the soil through such practices as crop rotation, planting legumes, green manure, and applying compost. These practices are time consuming, costly and today’s economic pressures prevent growers from sustaining these practices.

With so many products available to feed plants, choreographing just the right balance of high quality products becomes invaluable. Because a premium product is simply that…a Premium Product. We’re asking more from our soils than ever before. It’s time to aggressively make sure they’re able to deliver.

​There is science, studies and trials behind the products available. Are you lacking the education to know which products are best? Using products such as BioLogic Compost, Heart of Nature’s Super Sulfur Potash, (Sulfate-Sulfur) and Gro-Rite’s Humic add tremendous amounts of “natural” food for soil organisms in a cost-effective and sustainable manner resulting in premium quality while maximizing yields!