‘Go slow on sulphur with Polysulphate’ message spreading fast
Farmer awareness of the benefits to crops of prolonged release of sulphur in the soil is growing. More growers are turning to the Polysulphate family of fertilizer products and the many advantages they bring.
Seeing sulphur as a key to unlock performance
Sulphur is key to plant growth - and has an important synergistic relationship with nitrogen - however it is prone to leaching and can easily get beyond the reach of crop roots. The result is that crop growth is hindered.
For many years, farmers could bank on airborne industrial pollution to consistently top-up soil sulphur. Now, with cleaner air, that source of sulphur has gone and farmers need to look to the inputs they apply to provide the steady supply of sulphur their crops need.
Delivering prolonged release sulphur and more
With Polysulphate, the natural polyhalite mineral we mine on the north east UK coast, and with our new PotashpluS fertilizer, which is granular combination of Polysulphate and potash, a key advantage is the steady, prolonged release of sulphur over a longer period than other fertilizers. Along with potassium, calcium and magnesium there is a healthy dose of sulphur to supply crop needs for a long period.
Financial and environmental benefits of Polysulphate for UK crops
One of the latest key articles helping steer farmer’s fertilizer use to Polysulphate products is “Slow sulphur could help growers save on fertiliser bills”. The article recommends using our prolonged release sulphur fertilizers as a way for growers to save money by cutting back on the number of fertilizer applications necessary. It also explains the range of environmental benefits including how the risk of sulphur leaching is reduced.
Learning by example
Demonstrating Polysulphate fertilizer solubilityAs autumn turns to winter in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, we are collating evidence from demonstration plots of the agronomic and other benefits of prolonged release sulphur fertilizers.
Scott Garnett, ICL UK’s agronomist, reports how autumn-sown wheat crops which follow oilseed rape benefit from a PotashpluS application. The sulphur helps the crop take up residual nitrogen and thus avoids it being leached over the winter. PotashpluS is also proving useful for leguminous crops such as peas and beans. PotashpluS is a useful way of applying sulphur to kickstart nitrogen fixation.
In a world where so much happens faster than ever, it is refreshing to feel that in farming there is growing appreciation of the benefits of slowing down, especially with sulphur.