If a field is not too saline, seeding crops which are more salt tolerant such as 6-row barley, sunflowers, and safflower may prove to be a great advantage. Forage crops are much more salt tolerant than cereal and oilseed crops. The reason why forage crops seem to grow much better is due to the fact that a cereal crop uses most of its water in June, July and August and the majority of the rainfall is in May and June. A forage crop uses much of its water earlier in the season eliminating the pocketing effect of water. The problem is in establishing the forage stand.
Many forages are difficult to germinate in saline soils.
There is usually high pressure from salt tolerant weeds. Plus the area is quite often flooded for a period of time so the forage must be able to tolerate some flooding. Many farmers are unaware of the options that are available to them resulting in many saline soils being mismanaged. It is very important that farmers who have saline soils identify them as soon as possible and begin to take control measures to prevent the spread of these disastrous soil conditions.