Winter Canola Yield Response to Supplemental Sulfur - Ohio.

Historically agronomic crops do not respond on most Ohio soils to supplemental S. Winter canola is known to have a larger demand for S than other crops. Since winter canola is a relatively new crop in Ohio little is known about the affects of supplemental S. To test the hypothesis that canola yields may be increased with supplemental S, the variety �Wichita' was established on the OARDC Northwest Research Station near Custar in 2003, 2004, and 2006; and at the North Central Research Stations near Fremont in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Each plot received 22.4 � 33.6 kg ha^-1 of fall N prior to planting and 112 kg ha^-1 of spring N prior to bolting. Sulfur was applied the same time as spring N at two rates (22.4 and 44.8 kg ha^-1). Ammonium sulfate was applied in 2003 and 2004 with the balance of urea to achieve 112 kg N ha^-1. Sulfur was applied as pelletized gypsum in 2006 � 2008; urea provided the N. Surface applied urea was the N source for treatments receiving no S. Leaves were collected at early pod development to determine S content. Experimental design was a completely randomized block with four replications. Statistical analysis was a simple ANOVA. Even though leaf analysis showed increase S content, yields were not significantly larger for any of the site years compared to plots only receiving N. Supplemental S should not be expected to increase winter canola yields for most Ohio soils. �