In agriculture, the impact of soil compaction directly impacts crop yields, soil health, and more.
Soil compaction occurs when heavy loads and weight stress the soil surface. Compacted soil affects aeration and impedes plant root growth. Ordinary field operation can lead to soil compaction if not properly accounted for.
How Soil Compaction Happens
Of course, soil is different everywhere you go around the world. Understanding soil type, soil moisture, and other conditions is essential for farmers and growers to optimize farm equipment to reduce surface compaction on their farms.
Some other things that affect soil compaction include:
- Soil porosity and soil mix
- Perceived or measured water content or water infiltration
- Vehicle and/or compaction speed when using farm equipment
- Ground pressure and tire footprint
- The effect of multi-passes that create ruts and furrows
Whether it’s maintaining optimal tire pressure or soil management, unlock the best ways for farmers and growers to protect soil conditions and reduce yield loss.
#1 Use The Right Ag Tire Size with Proper Air Pressure
Your farm equipment relies on every component for maximum performance.
Matching the correct tire size to your machines ensures reliable performance and limits the possibility of failure. Additionally, the tire’s size directly affects ground pressure, and therefore, soil compaction.
Along with the proper fit, proper air pressure in your air tires helps to greatly reduce soil compaction. The ground pressure is evenly distributed, protecting soil health. Here’s some other things to keep in mind for ag tire size and air pressure:
- Total vehicle load per axle and number of tires
- Load on each individual, dulled, or tripled wheel position
- Ground pressure requirements for radial tires and bias tires
- The tire inflation pressure (measured in PSI) per vehicle or towed weight
- The tire GFP (gross flat plate)” or contact surface area
- Power applied and ground slippage (2WD vs. MFWD, or 4WD)
- Large footprint = low pressure
A larger tire footprint delivers improved performance and reduced ground pressure. You can also impact your tire footprint size by reducing or managing the inflation pressure using scales to weigh each vehicle axle.
#2 Identify Compacted Soil With a Pentrometer
A penetrometer is a tool that allows a farmer or grower to determine the amount of soil compaction on his field.
These tools help determine how machine or axle loads impact ground pressure, which is a helpful measure of how compact the soil is. This can be especially useful to identify ruts and furrows so you can adjust in the future.
#3 Avoid Dry Tillage Work in Wet Soil Conditions
Fieldwork while the soil surface is dry and improves crop yields in the mid or long-term.
Field drainage helps reduce soil moisture content, but working in wet soil compacts the soil structure much more than in optimal work conditions. From the topsoil to the subsoil, the wet soil offers much less structure and stability for farm equipment.
Benefits of Working in Dry Conditions
Dry soil conditions allow for no-tillage planting, and the use of residue or remanent organic materials that will result in dryer soils with decreased deep soil compaction.
Finally, employing both crop rotation and controlled path field tillage before planting is also good practice for reducing soil compaction over time. Another consideration is that dryer soils have greater weight-bearing capacity when compared to wet soils under similar pressure or loads.
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#4 Keep An Eye On Field Passes and Row Paths
Whether it’s a sprayer or a grain cart, from the first pass to your last, each time your farm equipment works presses into the soil.
To prevent this, farmers and growers can make use of controlled path plans. These are precise wheel traffic lanes designed to reduce soil compaction by restricting the powered elements of the farm equipment during repeated passes.
A traffic path plan improves performance, limits the impact on soil conditions, and improves productivity by avoiding row overlapping. Overlapping the row or traffic lanes results in wasted energy, escalated fuel costs, and damaged soil health. Keep in mind that the selected equipment will pass over the same field multiple times to deliver seed, nitrogen, fertilizers, nutrients, and pesticides during the growing cycle.
Summary
Soil compaction steals yields by restricting root growth and compromising soil health. Here’s how to defend your fields:
- Match Tire Size & Pressure to Load: Use properly sized radial tires and adjust inflation to optimize footprint and distribute weight evenly
- Monitor Field Conditions: Use a penetrometer to identify compacted zones and avoid working wet soils whenever possible
- Implement Controlled Traffic: Establish permanent wheel tracks to limit field passes and prevent unnecessary soil compression
- Choose the Right Equipment: Select implements and tire configurations that minimize ground pressure and preserve soil structure
At MAXAM, we engineer flotation tires that protect your most valuable asset. Because soil health shouldn’t be compromised by the equipment that works it.
