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Tag Archives soil compaction

Surface contact pressure and axle load compaction
Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Surface contact pressure and axle load compaction

Q & A with an expert

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Q: How does compaction affect soil? A: Soil compaction is the removal of the pore spaces in soil. In our agricultural fields, soil compaction is categorized under two types — surface contact pressure and axle load. Surface contact pressure compaction occurs in the top 12 inches of the soil. It occurs whenever there is contact […] Read more
When wheels cause soil damage 
Crops, Equipment, Wheat & Chaff

When wheels cause soil damage 

Q & A with an expert

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Q: Can we fix compaction?  A: As equipment becomes bigger and total loaded weight becomes heavier, our soils are often subjected to compaction. When equipment was lighter, this compaction tended not to extend very deep into the soil, and the effect was often resolved by frost cycles that fractured and turned the surface soil. Now, […] Read more
Andrew McGuire says soil organic matter should be concentrated near the soil surface because that’s where it will do the most good.
Crops, Features

Sensible soil health for farmers

Take a problem-solving approach to soil management

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With increasing emphasis on soil health these days, there are lots of different tests and parameters for measuring it. But just how important are they? Perhaps not as important as you think, according to Andrew McGuire, a cropping systems agronomist with the Washington State University extension program. He believes there’s an overemphasis on tests for […] Read more
claas axion 900 TT
Equipment, Machinery

Claas introduces the Axion 900 TT models

Two high-horsepower tractors get half-track configurations

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In mid-June, Claas’s North American operation announced it was bringing the high-horsepower Axion 900 Terra Trac (TT) tractors to this continent. What sets them apart from their brothers in the 900 series is their half-track design. The company claims the half-track concept offers “marked advantages in comfort, efficiency and traction.” “Refined, efficient and bold are […] Read more
Manitoba Ag soil management specialist Marla Riekman says soil compaction can limit yields and have an indirect effect on crop development.
Crops, News

Soil compaction could squeeze your yields

A look at the direct and indirect effects of compaction in your fields

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For years, soil compaction wasn’t something Jeff Hamblin gave a lot of thought to. The Manitoba producer had heard about how the seasonal freeze-thaw cycle in the Red River Valley and elsewhere in the Prairies acted to naturally alleviate farmland soil compaction, but it wasn’t until he started investigating some problem areas in his fields […] Read more
Three common soil compaction mistakes
Crops, Features

Three common soil compaction mistakes

Avoid these missteps to keep compaction from getting worse

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With the advent of mechanized agriculture, farms became a great deal more productive than they were in times past. However, the large machines that ply farmers’ fields today can be hard on the soil and cause issues with compaction. Our cover story of this issue of Grainews provides some suggestions for preventing or reducing soil […] Read more
The photo above shows compaction in a wheat field. Adam Gurr, who has been practicing CTF on his farm since 2011, has observed the most obvious source of compaction-related yield loss is a result of in-season traffic, most notably any seeding prep, seeding and sprayer traffic that occurs on wet ground.
Crops, Features

Interested in controlled traffic farming? Start with small steps

CTF can prove both practical and beneficial, even with a step partway toward controlling in-field equipment traffic

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For Prairie farmers who measure land in hundreds or thousands of acres, how much does it really matter if you drive your equipment a handful of inches this way or that way? A whole lot, says Adam Gurr, a Manitoba producer who completed a master’s degree in agronomy focused on controlled traffic farming (CTF) and […] Read more
AGCO is testing the effect of tire inflation pressures on crop growth with its new Fendt Momentum planter.
Machinery, News

High tire inflation pressures stunt plant development

AGCO Crop Tour demonstrates tire pressure’s effect on crop growth

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Two years ago, AGCO media relations staff introduced Jason Lee at a press event at the AGCO assembly plant in Jackson, Minn. He was the company’s new agronomist and farm solutions specialist and his job — among other things — was to measure the brand’s equipment designs’ effects on crop production. That data, he said, […] Read more
Ontario-based AgriBrink offers an ultra-rapid, on-the-go tire pressure change system.
Features, Machinery

How often should you check tire pressure and why does it matter?

You could be risking your soil health, crop yield and operating efficiency

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Quick quiz: when was the last time you checked your equipment’s tire pressure? Very few farmers manage the recommended weekly tire pressure checks; even fewer meet the ideal of a daily pressure check. The result? Tire experts agree that almost all western Canadian farmers routinely operate at damagingly incorrect p.s.i. The results are quietly costing […] Read more
The No. 1 cause of compaction is working soil when wet.
Crops, Features

How to minimize soil compaction on your farm

Compaction facts, how to tackle it and its effect on your farm’s bottom line

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If you’re driving alongside your field before your crop comes up this spring, it will likely be very easy to see the paths your grain carts and combine drove last fall. Look a little closer and you might be able to see the lines your sprayer and even your seeder drove months before harvest. The […] Read more

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