To determine if various farm management techniques improve the storage of out-of-season rainfall and whether this leads to improvements in yield.

• This is the second season in which this trial has been run and the fallow has yielded higher than continuous cropping in both 2011 (0.4 t/ha) and 2012 (0.2 t/ha). Other research indicates that fallows produce yield benefits in dry seasons which are not the case in the crop in 2011, which received 231mm for the growing season. The yield difference in 2011 was therefore more likely to have been the result of extra nitrogen in the soil, or weed or disease control rather than soil water benefits, however, these were not measured.
• Farm economics need to be carefully considered before implementing a fallow, the opportunity cost of not producing a crop needs to be weighed up, and benefits of yield, extra N, weed control and disease breaks carefully factored into the decision. 
• In 2012 the yield benefit from fallow was 0.2 t/ha and likely to be due to extra nitrogen and water being present in the soil. However, this is an unreplicated demonstration and thus it is hard to tell whether yield differences are the result of fallow or random variation in the paddock.