Dry and early sowing is increasingly being adopted across southern Australian cropping regions to manage increasingly erratic and delayed opening season rainfall. Building on previous De-risking the Seeding Program demonstrations, this project evaluated practical herbicide management strategies and lentil variety selection to improve crop establishment and reduce production risk under dry and early sowing conditions in the Murray Plains.

Demonstration trials investigated herbicide strategies and lentil varieties across contrasting soil types and landscape positions, providing growers with practical, regionally relevant information to support lentil establishment and management decisions under low rainfall conditions.

Project description: 

Building on previous dry sowing demonstrations delivered through the previous FDF funded Ag Ex led De-risking the seeding program project, this project established replicated lentil herbicide and variety trials near Tepko in the Murray Plains.

Trials evaluated a range of incorporated by sowing (IBS), pre-sowing pre-emergent (PSPE) and early post-emergent (EPE) herbicide strategies, alongside commercially available lentil varieties, across contrasting sandy rise and loamy flat soil types. The project aimed to improve understanding of crop safety, weed control and varietal performance under dry and early sowing conditions.

Project findings have been shared through technical resources, supporting growers with practical information on herbicide selection, variety choice and management strategies to improve lentil establishment and profitability in low rainfall farming systems.

Key achievements and results: 

Project Update – 2026

The project has now concluded, bringing together trial results from the 2025 season to improve understanding of herbicide management and variety selection for dry and early sown lentils in the Murray Plains. Despite below-average rainfall and challenging establishment conditions, the trials provided valuable insights into weed control, crop safety and lentil performance across contrasting soil types.

Key findings included:

• Herbicide strategies combining multiple modes of action and application timings (IBS + EPE) provided the most effective capeweed control under dry sowing conditions.
• Diuron 830 IBS followed by Broadstrike 25 EPE achieved the greatest capeweed suppression on the sandy rise, reducing capeweed density by up to 86% compared with the untreated control.
• Weed competition had a significant impact on lentil yield, with IBS + EPE herbicide strategies producing the highest grain yields on the loamy flat.
• Terrain Flow 125 IBS reduced lentil establishment on lighter soils, reinforcing the importance of selecting herbicides appropriate to soil type and following product label recommendations.
• PBA Highland XT was the highest-yielding lentil variety on the loamy flat during the 2025 season.

The project also highlighted the challenges of dry sowing lentils under below-average rainfall. High weed pressure at the sandy rise site resulted in the variety trial being abandoned, reinforcing the importance of effective early weed control and identifying opportunities for further investigation into herbicide strategies suited to low rainfall environments. Findings were presented to local growers through a GRDC NGN forum, generating strong discussion around current herbicide limitations and informing future trial priorities.

The Technical Report provides detailed trial results, herbicide comparisons and variety performance data to support future dry and early sowing decisions.

Further information:

Keep up to date with this project via the Murray Plains Farmers website and access the project technical resources here:

• Adoption of key management practices for the success of dry and early sown lentil crops
• Herbicide Treatment Comparison Images – Tepko 2025

You can also learn more about the SA Drought Hub’s Crop Establishment work across the state here.