Building farming systems resilience and future proofing the impacts of drought through accelerating the adoption of proven cost-effective and yield responsive soil and fertiliser management practices by farmers across southern Australia

Lock - a paddock that was ripped in 2023 and sown to barley. Lentils and lupins sown 2024.

Wirrulla- a dry saline 'magnesia patch' with different mulches applied in strips in early 2024 - sand , sheep yard trash and straw, lentils sown 2024.

Wudinna - 1 ha Ripped early/mid March 2024, 50-60 cm deep with 45 cm row spacing, lentils sown 2024.

To be done on targeted soils by people interested in participating in the workshops, facilitated by Elders staff.

3 tests funded by the project x 10 people per group.

Resources: (90 soil tests overall to be funded by the project).

Identifying soil constraints to growing break crops and options for amelioration (2-3 hours)

Speaker: Dr Mel Fraser. w/c 11 March.

Timing: w/c 11 March

Interpreting soil test results and deciding appropriate actions, paddock walk to focus sites (2-3 hours)

Speaker: Dr Sean Mason

Timing: 9-10 July

Review of the season and outcomes, review of gross margins, ground cover (1-2 hours)

Debrief, what worked well, what didn’t. Where to from here?

Speakers: Chris McDonough & Sean Mason

Timing: 12-13 March 2025

Key take-home messages from the field demonstrations and extension activities

Soil Constraints and Lentil Production
• Lentils struggle in saline soils and benefit from precise sowing methods like on-row sowing.
• Deep ripping significantly improves pulse crop returns compared to cereals.
• Fertiliser placement is critical; MAP (lower salt index) is better for lentils on flats, while DAP suits cereals on sandhills.

Amelioration Techniques
• Deep ripping enhances soil structure but raises concerns about reduced ground cover and erosion.
• Spading and delving improve clay distribution and long-term productivity.

Nutrition and Testing
• Lentils require phosphorus (P) but no nitrogen (N). Tissue testing is essential for identifying nutrient deficiencies.
• Salinity tolerance varies by crop (for example, barley > wheat > lentils).

Agronomic and soil management
• Salinity significantly limits lentil establishment; management strategies like straw mulching improve results.
• On-row sowing increases germination rates due to better moisture retention and reduced salinity effects.
• Sequential crop selection post-amelioration (for example, cereals for soil cover, pulses for economic return) is essential.

Evaluation and Feedback

• Farmers reported gaining valuable insights into soil management and lentil production.
• Peer-to-peer knowledge sharing was evident, and participants expressed interest in adopting new practices.
• Engaging with agribusiness (such as Elders) to coordinate the groups was valuable. It brought in a cohort of farmers who may not have normally been involved in such group extension activities.
• Drought conditions impacted on the project. The late rainfall affected germination and biomass production.

 

Future opportunities

• Long-term (5-year) projects are necessary for sustained practice changes.
• Improved tools for mapping and VRT integration are required.
• There is a range of innovative tools for mapping complex soil types within paddocks (constrained flats, profitable loams/mid slopes, sands). Therefore, a training opportunity for agronomists and growers to show them how to use these tools (even if it’s just the ability to zone a paddock for monitoring purposes) would be a worthwhile initiative.

 

Conclusions

• This project emphasised the value of targeted soil management practices to improve the performance of producing lentils on sandy soils.
• The opportunity to transform sandy soils from challenging, often low-producing assets into highly productive soils was demonstrated, and this will provide further incentives for farmers to better manage such soil types.
• Through workshops, field trials, and collaborative efforts with agronomists, outcomes from the project will help foster sustainable practices and enhance regional agricultural resilience