May 10, 2026

What we’ve learned about lentil pod loss

22 minutes

In this episode, agronomist Sam Trengove, from Trengove Consulting, and lentil farmer Tim Millard talk about one of the greatest challenges for legume growers - lentil pod loss. Lentil pod loss can be devastating to a crop. In some instances, farmers can lose up to 60 percent and the main cause, wind, is out of their hands to control. GRDC has invested in a multi-year grain legume project in South Australia, in part looking at how to prevent such dramatic lentil seed pod losses between maturity and harvest. While researchers found no silver bullets, they emphasise controlling what you can and using harvest timing, machinery setup, and awareness of conditions to capture as much of the crop as possible, while research continues to search for longer term solutions.

In addition to the comments within this episode, agronomist Sam Trengove emphasises the question of what growers can do now in terms of timing of desiccation and timeliness of harvest with respect to wind events. He states that growers with large programs should stagger their desiccation times in line with their harvest capacity, so that they don't have all their lentil crop ready to harvest on the same day when it will take them 10 days to harvest. For example, if they have capacity to harvest 100ha of lentil per day and 1000ha of lentils to harvest, then staggering the desiccation time over a 10-day period may help to reduce the risks of having the whole crop ready and vulnerable if it is all sprayed within a couple days. A range of sowing dates and/or mix of variety maturities may also help to stagger the desiccation timing.

The South Australian Grain Legume Project, is a joint initiative between South Australian Research and Development Institute, or SARDI and GRDC, led by the South Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA).

Contact: Sam Trengove

Trengove Consulting Pty Ltd

[email protected]

Tim Millard

Grower in Goalpara, South Australia

[email protected]

More Information:

https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/crops/pulses/fine-tuning-legume-agronomy-to-benefit-sa-growers

https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/crops/pulses/closing-the-economic-yield-gap

https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/weeds-pests-diseases/chemical-regulation/herbicide-tolerant-lentils-registration-and-impacts

https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/crops/pulses/legume-challenges-addressed

https://groundcover.grdc.com.au/crops/pulses/less-haste,-more-speed-for-lentil-desiccation-timing