Many challenges have occurred as a result of this year’s wet harvest, one being the threat of compaction in tillage soils.
Teagasc tillage specialist, Shay Phelan, said: “Many fields have areas that were compacted by trailers and/or combines during the harvest, and will perform poorly unless action is taken.
“For some, this may mean an extra pass of a cultivator to lift the ground.
“However, this can only be done if the soils are dry; otherwise, farmers may only make the problem worse by creating a compaction layer further down in the soil profile.”
He explained that those who use plough-based systems may think that the plough will sort out the problem, but this may not be the case.
“In many situations we have seen compaction at the plough depth, which can also be difficult to remove”, he continued.
“All farmers should dig a soil pit this year in areas where they think there may be some issues, and see what level of damage is underneath the soil surface.”
Compaction
The impact of compaction was confirmed at the Teagasc Soils Day event , held at Johnstown Castle earlier this year.
For the most part, the problem is brought on by the continuing use of heavy machinery.
Compaction can lead to increased surface runoff, flooding, erosion, and the transport of nutrients and agrochemicals to open water.
Compacted soils impede root development which can reduce yields. Along with reduced plant growth, poor aeration induces the loss of soil nitrogen and produces greenhouse gases (GHGs) through de-nitrification in anaerobic sites.
Soil compaction should be avoided at all costs. If ground conditions are poor, then growers should limit tractors and trailers to headland, or to drive on tramlines. Another option is to only half fill trailer loads.
This advice is particularly relevant to farmers and growers harvesting crops of forage maize, beet, and potatoes over the coming days.
The heavy rain that fell across the country over recent days will have softened ground conditions significantly.
Where maize is concerned, it is important that fields should be completely harvested over the course of just one session, if at all possible.
The fact is that mature crops of maize are drawing large volumes of water from the soil while the plants are alive.
However, if heavy machinery is brought across stubble on a second occasion, in order to finish the harvesting of a crop, significant compaction problems will arise across the entire planted area.
The prevention of soil compaction damage is a much more feasible option than curing it.