South West Farmer, published by Packet Newspapers, from its base in Falmouth has teamed up with CF Fertilisers to offer one lucky reader ten tonnes of their MultiCut Sulphur in an exclusive competition.

To enter the competition, pick up a copy of this month’s South West Farmer and count the number of blue bags of fertiliser hidden throughout the paper, fill out the form and send it to the address listed. Alternatively, anyone can enter online at cffertilisers.co.uk/competition.

Ensuring grassland has adequate levels of sulphur is essential to drive forage yields and quality, says CF Fertilisers’ Hefin Llwyd.

While 70 to 80kg/ha of sulphate used to fall out of the sky a few years ago, this is now below 10kg/ha in many areas of the UK following the recent industrial clean-up, he points out.

“Sulphur is essential in the vital amino acids needed for protein production and it’s likely the low crude protein silages found on many farms across the UK recently could be due to inadequate levels of this vital element.

“In one trial, where sulphur levels were restored to optimum, proteins increased by seven per cent and yields by nearly 2.0t/ha and in another, an extra 1.0t dry matter/ha and five per cent protein lift were recorded over the farm’s standard urea practice.”

Overall, analysis of forage samples in CF trials show sulphur accounts for around 30 per cent of the variation in silage crude protein.

MultiCut Sulphur is a True Granular Compound fertiliser for use as an all-season high nitrogen/high potash product ideal for multiple cuts of grass silage with reduced phosphate content to help maintain soil P and K status, Hefin Llwyd explains.

“Where soil P and K indexes are at the recommended target of two, MultiCut Sulphur is the ideal product to balance nutrient offtakes to maintain soil fertility and it performs well both on its own or alongside spring slurry applications.

“It is particularly suited to sulphur responsive areas such as the South West where application rates of up to 450kg/ha can be used, split in two applications, for first cut.

“For second cut, 350kg/ha is recommended and if you’re planning on taking a third cut it can be used at 280kg/ha or less if being applied alongside organic manures.”

One of CF Fertilisers’ comprehensive range of sulphur products for grassland, MultiCut Sulphur contains both nitrogen and sulphur in their most effective forms, he points out.

“Ammonium sulphate allows the sulphur to be readily available in the soil and promotes rapid uptake while ammonium nitrate is the safest and most reliable way of getting nitrogen into your grassland.”

For full terms and conditions of the competitionsee cffertilisers.co.uk/competition or inside the April edition of South West Farmer.