To overcome the chemical, physical and biological constraints of sandy soils, with the aim of achieving long term crop productivity gains greater than 70%.

• Incorporating clay into the sand has led to yield increases that are improving with time.
• Yield response to clay application increased with the depth of incorporation; a cumulative increase of 0.74 t/ha (23%) over the control was achieved when clay was incorporated in the top 10 cm (Fig. 1 Shallow clay), increasing to 1.41 t/ha (44%) when the clay was incorporated to 30 cm (Fig. 1 Spading + clay).
• A similar response was achieved when 10 t/ha of Lucerne hay (organic matter (OM)) was spaded in, resulting in a 1.62 t/ha (50%) increase in yield (Fig. 1 Spading + OM).
• The combination of OM plus clay gave the best grain yield result in all years, with a cumulative 2.95 t/ha (92% increase) achieved across the 2014, 2015 and 2017 seasons (Fig. 1 Spading + Clay + OM).
• Spading alone led to cumulative decreases in yield of 0.39 t/ha (-12%), which is in contrast to results on Mallee sands, where the effect of spading has remained positive over time.
• Changes in soil chemical, hydrological, physical and biological characteristics as a result of clay and OM addition are the focus of 2018 soil measurements at the site.
• The response to deep disturbance and placement of OM and nutrition, in contrast to spading, is the focus of future research conducted by PIRSA at Murlong on the Eyre Peninsula in 2018.