The proportion of summer-fallow rainfall captured and held as plant-available soil water at sowing. In a climate where the growing-season rain is unreliable, stored moisture is the insurance that carries a crop through a dry spring finish.
Summer fallows in southern and central NSW typically store only 20–30% of the rain that falls as plant-available water; good stubble and weed management pushes the top of that range and beyond.
GRDC Water Use Efficiency ↗Fallow efficiency is the difference between a crop that finishes and one that pinches. Every extra millimetre banked over summer is roughly another 20 kg/ha of wheat potential — moisture the season may not otherwise provide.
Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses, and keeps the figure current automatically.
Keep summer weeds controlled so fallow water goes into the soil, not weeds.
Retain standing stubble to cut evaporation and catch more rainfall.
Match the fallow length and rotation to the soil’s water-holding capacity.
The proportion of summer-fallow rainfall captured and held as plant-available soil water at sowing. In a climate where the growing-season rain is unreliable, stored moisture is the insurance that carries a crop through a dry spring finish.
You need: Soil water at sowing (mm), Soil water at fallow start (mm), Fallow rainfall (mm). Silo pulls each of these from the sources the operation already uses and keeps the figure current automatically.
Summer fallows in southern and central NSW typically store only 20–30% of the rain that falls as plant-available water; good stubble and weed management pushes the top of that range and beyond.
Keep summer weeds controlled so fallow water goes into the soil, not weeds. Retain standing stubble to cut evaporation and catch more rainfall. Match the fallow length and rotation to the soil’s water-holding capacity.
Connect the software, spreadsheets and records you already keep, and Silo keeps every benchmark on this page current automatically.
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