Response to sulfur (S) was recorded as early as 1768 by Rev. A. Meyer, who applied gypsum to experimental plots in Switzerland. Shortly after, Ben Franklin demonstrated response to S by writing “THIS LAND HAS BEEN PLASTERED” with gypsum on a hillside pasture in Pennsylvania. The incidence of S deficiency is increasing throughout the world and is fairly widespread in Australia, New Zealand, South America and tropical Africa and Asia. In the United States, S deficiency was known in the Pacific Northwest as early as 1900. Since then, S deficiency has been found in many states. The increasing incidence of S deficiency in the past 25 years is primarily due to increased use of high analysis S-free fertilizers, decreased use of Scontaining insecticides and fungicides, decreased use of high S fuels, and increased crop yield, requiring more of all essential elements.