Managing Dry Saline Land: Insights from the MSF Research Updates

In this episode of the MSF Farm Talk podcast, Chris McDonough shares practical insights from a recent MSF Mallee Research Update in Victoria, exploring how growers can better manage dry saline land and improve crop establishment in challenging conditions.

Chris explains how transient subsoil salinity can move to the soil surface during dry periods through capillary rise and evaporation, often making the top 5 cm significantly more saline than the layers below. The episode also unpacks how salinity impacts crops through osmotic stress and toxicity, reducing germination, emergence and plant survival.

The discussion focuses on practical management strategies aimed at improving establishment and maintaining ground cover, including:

• Retaining surface cover such as straw or mulch
• Using opportunistic rainfall events to aid establishment
• Avoiding practices that bring saline clay to the surface
• Considering more salt-tolerant crop varieties

This episode provides growers and advisers with practical considerations for protecting soil surfaces, improving resilience and managing productivity on saline-prone soils.

Explore the Dry Saline Land project pages to learn more about identifying dry saline land, best-practice management approaches, and grower case studies.

Project Pages:

Dry Saline Land - Mallee Sustainable Farming

Fixing Saline Soils - Mallee Sustainable Farming

Case Studies:

Case Study 5: Rick Plant | Resilient Soils Saline Soils Case Study

How to spread straw

Spreading sand vs straw

Soils Connect (Practical Soil Management Resources):

Soils Connect | Your Hub for Soil Knowledge & Innovation

This podcast episode of the Regional Drought Resilience Planning program is supported by Mallee CMA and Mallee Sustainable Farming, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Victorian Government.