Salt Tolerance   

Salt tolerance is the relative capacity of a forage to produce satisfactory yield or cover on a salty site.  Saline soils are usually a mixture of some of the chloride, sulfate or bicarbonate salts of calcium, magnesium and sodium.  The total concentration of ions in the soil water solution influences plant response more than the specific salt composition.  Thus, for most purposes, soil salinity levels can be determined using the electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil solution.
1 = Good salt tolerance
2 = Fair salt tolerance
3 = Poor salt tolerance

Salt tolerance in forage species is complex, and information on many species is lacking.  Once established, most forages can tolerate fairly high levels of salinity.  Caution is urged to carefully select species based on utilization needs – for conservation practices many species are available, however for grazing or hay, salinity can affect production, palatability, and concentration of nutrients and minerals.  Further, soils that are high in exchangeable sodium (sodic soils) present special problems in addition to those attributed to total salinity.  High levels of exchangeable sodium break down organic matter, and cause soil particles to disperse resulting in small pores.  Poor aeration, water movement and root growth are associated with these changes in soil structure (for example “black alkali” soils).  Leaching of sodium and application of soil amendments can improve soil structure.