Weed free lentil crops provide a cereal disease break and are generally sown after a cereal crop. A crop sequence should consider disease, weed control, herbicide residues and tillage practices which might affect ease of harvest. Nodulated lentils fix nitrogen, providing additional available nitrogen for the next crop, but generally do not contribute as much soil nitrogen to the next crop as faba bean, field pea or lupin.

Lentils are particularly sensitive to clopyralid, sulfonylurea and several imidazolinone herbicide residues in the soil. Not all labels include lentils in plant back details, so extra caution and advice from the manufacturer is recommended after using these and some knockdown herbicides.

Good seedling establishment, a flat soil surface, no stubble clumps, or herbicide residues.