The Murraylands and Riverland Landscapes Board, Mallee Sustainable Farming and Mallee farmers have identified that legume crops grown on sandy soils in the SA region are providing sub-optimal levels yield and vegetative groundcover.  This can lead to the soil condition benefits usually provided by the legume crop during the growing season at a risk of being lost due to subsequent wind erosion on these soils.  This leaves the soil vulnerable to ongoing erosion and can lead to reduced productivity and groundcover protection of subsequent crops. 

This project commenced in 2019 to address this issue within the target SA Mallee environment. Specifically, the project aims to explore and develop methods and practices that will improve long-term groundcover retention on in sandy soils where legumes are grown regularly in the rotation. This includes investigating which legume crops are most suitable to be grown on sandy soils and evaluation of management practices landholders could implement to maximise biomass and stubble generation and persistence.