Farmers and soil specialists across North and South Dakota are demonstrating that highly saline farmland can be restored to productivity through long-term soil health management, according to results highlighted on July 24 by Progressive Farmer. The findings matter because an estimated 14 to 15 million acres across the Dakotas remain economically unproductive due to salt accumulation, representing a significant opportunity to improve yields, reduce input costs and strengthen farm profitability while supporting more resilient agricultural systems.

For decades, many producers viewed white, salt-crusted patches as permanent losses, continuing to spend money planting crops that rarely generated an economic return. North Dakota crop consultant Lee Briese describes these locations as "lean acres," comparing them to workers who never show up for the job. Instead of continuing to invest seed, fertilizer and fuel into land that consistently underperforms, growers are increasingly adopting management systems designed to restore biological activity, improve water infiltration and gradually move salts deeper into the soil profile, where they no longer interfere with crop establishment.

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The process begins with understanding why these soils became saline. Ancient marine deposits left behind after the Western Interior Seaway disappeared roughly 65 to 70 million years ago still contain large quantities of natural salts. During dry periods, those salts migrate upward through capillary action and evapotranspiration, eventually concentrating near the soil surface where crop roots struggle to survive. Without living vegetation using soil moisture year-round, the problem becomes progressively worse, creating expanding barren areas across productive fields.

A long-term demonstration at the Cain Creek Demonstration Farm near Huron, South Dakota, illustrates how the cycle can be reversed. Beginning in 2015, the Beadle County Conservation District, working with NRCS soil health specialist Kent Vlieger, established salt-tolerant hybrid wheatgrass and alfalfa on a severely degraded 12-acre site. Initial soil tests recorded an electrical conductivity (EC) of 31, nearly eight times higher than the threshold commonly used to classify saline soils. After four years, EC levels had fallen to 1.8, while forage production increased from 1,400 pounds per acre to 15,400 pounds per acre, demonstrating that healthy root systems and improved soil biology can dramatically accelerate recovery.

As perennial vegetation expanded, researchers observed salts gradually moving deeper into the soil profile. Improved soil structure increased infiltration, allowing rainfall to carry salts below the crop germination zone. According to Vlieger, the reclaimed field could eventually return to row-crop production if growers maintain continuous living roots through cover crops that protect the soil between cash crop seasons.

Nearby producers Jeff and Scott Hamilton have spent nearly two decades refining similar strategies on their farm near Hitchcock, South Dakota. After abandoning repeated attempts to grow conventional crops on saline patches, the brothers established mixtures of salt-tolerant wheatgrass, creeping foxtail and alfalfa beginning in 2016. Within three years, formerly barren ground was producing 3 to 3.5 tons of quality forage per acre, creating value from land that previously generated little more than salt-tolerant weeds.

The Hamiltons also discovered that successful remediation extends beyond visibly damaged areas. By planting perennial species uphill from saline zones, they intercept excess water before it carries additional salts into low-lying portions of the field. Combined with diverse forage species, cover crops and periodic haying or grazing, the system restores the natural water cycle disrupted by continuous corn and soybean rotations. They argue that broader adoption will require producers to look beyond short-term incentives tied to crop insurance or conservation programs and instead invest in management strategies that rebuild soil health for future generations.