Dealing with Sulfur Deficiency in Northeast Iowa Alfalfa Production
Date
Authors
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Altmetrics
Authors
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
The Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management Conference is Iowa's premier crop production education event. No other program in Iowa brings together the diverse range of topics, slate of expert presenters and results of the latest University research.
The ICM Conference offers workshops focusing on the latest in crop production technology. Experts from Iowa and surrounding states will provide research updates and results in soil fertility, soil and water management, crop production and pest management.
Department
Abstract
Historically, sulfur (S) deficiency has not been an issue for crop production in Iowa. Previous research documented sufficient plant available S for crop production on most soil associations (Alesii, 1982). Recent studies in corn and soybean production were consistent with results of previous research conducted across Iowa (Sawyer and Barker, 2002). The exception was a longstanding suggestion to apply S as commercial fertilizer or livestock manure for alfalfa production on sandy soils. However, over the past decade, alfalfa grown on some silt loam and loam soils in northeast Iowa has exhibited a slowly worsening problem with areas in fields of stunted growth and poor coloration. Recent investigations determined the growth problems were largely due to S deficiency. The following provides reasons for the developing problem, how to identify S deficiency, a summary of the research in northeast Iowa, and S fertilizer recommendations for alfalfa.