Elemental sulfur fertilizers and their use on crops and pastures

There is a potential for using sulfur waste in agriculture. The main objective of this study was to design a granular fertilizer based on waste elemental sulfur. Humic acids and halloysite were used to improve the properties and their influence on soil properties. This is the first report on the use of proposed materials for fertilizer production. The following granular fertilizers were prepared (the percentage share of component weight is given in brackets): fertilizer A (waste sulfur (95%) + halloysite (5%)), fertilizer B (waste sulfur (81%) + halloysite (5%) + humic acids (14%)), fertilizer C (waste sulfur (50%) + halloysite (50%)) and fertilizer D (waste sulfur (46%) + halloysite (46%) + humic acids (8%)). Basic properties of the obtained granulates were determined. Furthermore, the effect of the addition of the prepared fertilizers on soil pH, electrolytic conductivity, and sulfate content was examined in a 90-day incubation experiment. Enrichment with humic acids and the higher amount of halloysite increased the fertilizer properties (especially the share of larger granules and bulk density). In addition, it stabilized soil pH and increased the sulfur content (extracted with 0.01 mol·L−1 CaCl2 and Mehlich 3) in the soil.

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Correction - Initial and medium-term responses of white clover to three sulfur fertilizers on a basaltic soil

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea9820095c ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 22 (115) ◽

pp. 95

Author(s):

BD McLaughlin ◽

ICR Holford

Keyword(s):

White Clover ◽

Elemental Sulfur ◽

Residual Effect ◽

Summer Rainfall ◽

Residual Effects ◽

First Year ◽

Single Application ◽

Medium Term ◽

The Third ◽

Sulfur Fertilizers

The short and medium-term effects of three sulfur fertilizers on white clover pasture were measured on a sulfur-deficient basaltic soil in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales between 1976 and 1979. The treatments were a single application of elemental sulfur, gypsum, and sulfur-fortified superphosphate (SF45) at 0, 20, 40, and 80 kg S/ha and three annual applications of elemental sulfur and gypsum at 0, 10, 20 and 30 kg S/ha. Gypsum and SF45 gave the largest effects in the first year, and elemental sulfur and SF45 caused the largest residual effects in the third year. A single application of 20 kg S/ha gave near maximum yields over the three year period provided that most of the sulfur was supplied in the elemental form. However, to achieve maximum yields in the first year about 20% of the sulfur was required as sulfate. Likewise maximum yields in the third year required a fresh application of 10 sulfate S/ha. The relatively large residual effect of gypsum was attributed to the slow-leaching soil, and the resistance of the coarse textured elemental sulfur (65% >0.5mm) to leaching by the high summer rainfall.

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Residual effects of sulfur fertilizers on cut swards of a Stylosanthes guianensis and native grass pasture on a euchrozem soil in north Queensland

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea9810334 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 21 (110) ◽

pp. 334 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

MA Gilbert ◽

KA Shaw

Keyword(s):

Dry Matter ◽

Elemental Sulfur ◽

Surface Soil ◽

Growing Season ◽

Residual Effects ◽

Strong Response ◽

Stylosanthes Guianensis ◽

Growing Seasons ◽

Residual Sulfur ◽

Sulfur Fertilizers

A field experiment was undertaken at Meadowbank Station between 1974 and 1980 to assess the residual effects of sulfur application, as gypsum and coarse elemental sulfur, on yields and composition of an established Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Graham and Themeda australis pasture. Sulfur rates ranged from 0-20 kg S ha-1 in years 2 and 3 and from 0-80 kg S ha-1 in year 4. The fertilizer was applied as a single dressing at the beginning of the growing seasons of 1975 (year 2), 1976 and 1977. Dry matter yield and concentrations of nitrogen and sulfur in the legume generally decreased to levels of unfertilized plots after two growing seasons when up to 20 kg S ha-1 was applied. With a rate of 80 kg S ha-1 at the beginning of the 1977 growing season, a response to residual sulfur was still evident in 1980. In each year when a sulfur application was made, there was a strong response by the legume component in terms of yield, legume content and concentrations of nitrogen and sulfur. Coarse elemental sulfur was generally not as effective as gypsum. Phosphate-extractable sulfur in the surface soil (0-10 cm) was low (1 -4 �g g-1) and did not change greatly as a result of sulfur applications up to 20 kg S ha-1. There was evidence of movement of sulfur down the soil profile in plots that received 80 kg S ha-1 as gypsum, but it was not so marked with elemental sulfur. It is suggested that an application of 40 kg S ha-1 as elemental sulfur or gypsum is sufficient to establish and maintain the legume component of the pasture for a period of 4 years.

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Sulfur/sodium bentonite mixtures as sulfur fertilizers. 1. The effects of S/Na-bentonite ratios on the rate of dispersion and particle size distribution of elemental sulfur dispersed from laboratory-produced prills

Fertilizer Research ◽

10.1007/bf01049184 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 13-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

C. C. Boswell ◽

W. R. Owers ◽

B. Swanney ◽

H. P. Rothbaum

Keyword(s):

Particle Size ◽

Particle Size Distribution ◽

Size Distribution ◽

Elemental Sulfur ◽

Sodium Bentonite ◽

Sulfur Fertilizers

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Crop response to elemental sulfur fertilizers in central Alberta

Canadian Journal of Soil Science ◽

10.4141/cjss91-021 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 71 (2) ◽

pp. 213-225 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

R. E. Karamanos ◽

H. H. Janzen

Keyword(s):

Crop Production ◽

Elemental Sulfur ◽

Slow Release ◽

Western Canada ◽

Sulfur Deficiency ◽

Crop Response ◽

Short Term ◽

S Deficiency ◽

Key Words Barley ◽

Sulfur Fertilizers

Sulfur deficiency has become a widespread limitation to crop production in western Canada. A variety of S sources are commercially available to alleviate these deficiencies but not all are equally effective. Three elemental S products (a finely-divided suspension and two elemental S + bentonite) and ammonium sulfate were compared over a 3-yr period in central Alberta. These products were applied to barley and canola at various rates (0–120 kg S ha−1) in a factorial arrangement with various supplemental rates of sulfate-S (0–40 kg ha−1) in two experiments Fertilizers affording effective and reliable alleviation of S deficiency in the year of application included sulfate forms and finely-divided elemental S products that can be readily mixed into the soil. The residual benefits of the various fertilizer products examined appeared to be comparable despite large differences in short-term availability. The absence of appreciable residual advantage of slow-release elemental S products was attributed to the short duration of S assimilation by canola and barley and the susceptibility to leaching of S oxidized after that period. Key words: Barley, canola, residual, rotation, S fertilizer, uptake, yield

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The effectiveness of several fertilizers in supplying sulfur to temperate pastures

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea9820412 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 22 (119) ◽

pp. 412 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

BS Dear

Keyword(s):

Dry Matter ◽

Elemental Sulfur ◽

The Other ◽

Dry Matter Yield ◽

Sulfur Concentration ◽

The Third ◽

Composite Form ◽

Temperate Pastures ◽

Sulfur Fertilizers ◽

Effective Source

Pastures on two contrasting soils, one a heavy-textured soil derived from basalt and the other, a light-textured soil from dacite, were treated with several sulfur fertilizers at a single rate of sulfur application (20 kg/ha). The fertilizers ranged from ammonium and calcium sulfates to forms of elemental sulfur, with a composite form (sulfur-fortified superphosphate) included. The dry-matter yield and sulfur concentration of the pasture were measured over three or four years, and the net recovery of sulfur from the various fertilizers was calculated. The most soluble source, sulfate of ammonia, was the most effective source of sulfur to the pasture on the heavy-textured soil, followed by the less soluble gypsum but this order was reversed on the light-textured soil, which may have lost sulfate by leaching. The two forms of elemental sulfur (prilled Agri-Sul and granular Foam S) were much less effective at both sites and sulfur-fortified superphosphate was of intermediate effectiveness. However, the effectiveness of the elemental forms was better sustained into the third year, indicating that less frequent application of such forms would be feasible, provided that much heavier initial rates were used.

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Initial and medium-term responses of white clover to three sulfur fertilizers on a basaltic soil

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea9820095 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 22 (115) ◽

pp. 95

Author(s):

BD McLaughlin ◽

ICR Holford

Keyword(s):

White Clover ◽

Elemental Sulfur ◽

Residual Effect ◽

Summer Rainfall ◽

Residual Effects ◽

First Year ◽

Single Application ◽

Medium Term ◽

The Third ◽

Sulfur Fertilizers

The short and medium-term effects of three sulfur fertilizers on white clover pasture were measured on a sulfur-deficient basaltic soil in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales between 1976 and 1979. The treatments were a single application of elemental sulfur, gypsum, and sulfur-fortified superphosphate (SF45) at 0, 20, 40, and 80 kg S/ha and three annual applications of elemental sulfur and gypsum at 0, 10, 20 and 30 kg S/ha. Gypsum and SF45 gave the largest effects in the first year, and elemental sulfur and SF45 caused the largest residual effects in the third year. A single application of 20 kg S/ha gave near maximum yields over the three year period provided that most of the sulfur was supplied in the elemental form. However, to achieve maximum yields in the first year about 20% of the sulfur was required as sulfate. Likewise maximum yields in the third year required a fresh application of 10 sulfate S/ha. The relatively large residual effect of gypsum was attributed to the slow-leaching soil, and the resistance of the coarse textured elemental sulfur (65% >0.5mm) to leaching by the high summer rainfall.

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