Sulphur: Don't be caught out.

Some experts believe that the threat to crop yields and quality posed by sulphur deficiency is developing more quickly than growers and advisors might appreciate. Teresa Rush reports.

In the last ten years sulphur deposition from the atmosphere has dropped below the sulphur requirement of many crops. Most arable soils have not stored sulphur deposited in the past and leaching is resulting in decreasing soil sulphur status. It is likely that too few crops receive sulphur fertiliser and there is evidence that the rates of sulphur fertiliser applied are, in some cases, too low.

That was Professor Steve McGrath of Rothamsted Research's overview of the sulphur situation, …