A second application of sulfur and nitrogen should be made in late February or early March. Part of the advantage of applying sulfur is that forage yields are higher. And often the quality of the forage improves. She first saw the trend while conducting research with calves grazing sulfur-fertilized fescue at Virginia Tech. Allen notes that when animals are fed sulfur-fertilized forage, their bodies use crude protein more efficiently.
Less nitrogen is excreted, and more is retained in the body.
Similar results have shown up in the Southeast. In Kansas, the addition of sulfur produced higher forage yields at nearly all locations. At a research site in Douglas County, the addition of 20 pounds of sulfur per acre increased forage yields by more than 1,800 pounds per acre. According to Ray Lamond, Extension agronomist with Kansas State University, the actual return from sulfur application varies with hay prices. Donald Messick, an agronomist with The Sulphur Institute in Washington, D.C., notes that farmers should consider the type of sulfur used.