Farmers who attempt to correct a misdiagnosed sulfur deficiency with additional nitrogen actually make the problem worse. If so, your crops may need more sulfur than your soil can supply on its own. Sulfur is released naturally from the organic matter of most soils. Therefore, the lower the organic matter, the lower the level of available sulfur. Sulfur is a mobile nutrient that can be moved out of the root zone by irrigation or rainfall, especially on sandy soils.
Cool temperatures can slow the breakdown of organic matter and the release of sulfur.
Without the organic matter in manure, potential deficiencies are more likely. The absence of any sulfur fertilizer application makes sulfur deficiency more likely. Soil and tissue tests can be helpful tools for determining whether or not your crops can benefit from sulfur fertilization. Sulfur fertilizers come in many different forms, but sulfate is the only form that crop roots can absorb. Elemental sulfur, by contrast, is not available for plant uptake until it is transformed into sulfate by soil microbes, which require warm, moist, well aerated soils to flourish.