An Australian-developed cropping system in which equipment tires roll only on permanent traffic lanes, to cut compaction over most of a field, will be studied to see how it can be put to use on Alberta farmland.
Controlled traffic farming (CTF), a system profiled in Grainews earlier this year (“Always stick to pathways,” Feb. 15, page 1), is meant to restrict soil compaction to the permanent lanes and “significantly reduce” the compacted area compared to random traffic.
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The Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) said Friday it has launched a CTF research project and hired Peter Gamache, former team leader with Alberta Reduced Tillage Linkages (RTL), as its project co-ordinator.
The “key objectives,” ARECA said, will be to build a network of key farmers, agronomists and others with CTF interest and expertise, and assist growers who are implementing CTF.
The project will also assess CTF in Alberta, develop resources for growers, conduct extension activities, and develop a three-year CTF plan, ARECA said.
“This new project was initiated by Alberta farmers who are interested in improving farming efficiency and performance of direct seeded farming systems,” Gamache said in ARECA’s release.
By combining no-till and CTF into one system, ARECA said, farmers stand to increase their net returns and potentially improve soil structure by cutting overall compaction, increasing soil water storage and improving infiltration, moisture use efficiency and nutrient uptake.
The system may potentially also cut down pesticide costs, reduce fuel consumption and lower machinery investment, ARECA said.
Adoption of direct seeding in Alberta is projected to be 12.08 million acres, or about 65 per cent of the province’s annually seeded acres, by 2011. “Consequently, the opportunity to adopt CTF is significant,” ARECA said.
Random traffic
Australian zero-till farmer Robert Ruwoldt introduced the CTF concept to Alberta farmers at Direct Seeding Advantage in 2008 and again at FarmTech 2010 in Edmonton.
According to Lee Hart in Grainews, Ruwoldt said his CTF system of permanent tramlines covers about 11 per cent of field area, compared to “conventional, uncontrolled” machinery traffic.
Such random traffic, he said, could run over 40 to 60 per cent of field area, given the number of passes over land during seeding, spraying and harvesting, along with traffic from trucks and grain carts.
In Australia, around five million acres were under CTF in 2007. CTF systems have led to a 10 to 15 per cent improvement in crop yields on a range of soil types across that country, ARECA said.
“Much of the CTF research and adoption is occurring in Australia,” Gamache said in ARECA’s release. “The Alberta project is an opportunity to begin testing the Australian experience in Alberta conditions and to look at the equipment issues. It is an opportunity to evaluate the agronomic and economic implications of CTF.”
Hart’s article also profiled Steve Larocque, a producer and agronomist who plans to convert 640 acres north of Drumheller, Alta. to CTF this spring.
“I think soil compaction is a problem on just about all soils,” Larocque said. “I have tested a lot of fields using a penetrometer and it’s not hard to find some degree of compaction.”
Funding for the ARECA project’s initial year will flow through the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund (ACIDF), Alberta Canola Producers Commission, Alberta Pulse Growers, Alberta Barley Commission and Alberta Winter Wheat Producers Commission.
