Converting rainfall to grain

Growers can improve crop water use efficiency by using strategies to increase stored soil moisture prior to sowing, and focusing on healthy, early-sown crops with suitably sized canopies that are better able to convert water into grain.

Key Points

• Benchmarking crop performance against its potential, based on available water, can help growers identify and act on otherwise hidden problems. 
• A realistic understanding of the soil’s capacity to store water will improve decisions about the potential return on crop inputs and other management practices. 
• Improving water use efficiency may require effort over several years to improve the soil’s ability to capture and store water, or to make stored water available to plants. 
• The time of sowing and canopy management can significantly improve a crop’s water use efficiency

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