Farmers participating in an Alberta study of controlled-traffic farming have found similar results to those of Jodi DeJong-Hughes, says project co-ordinator Peter Gamache.
“Travelling on wet soil affects compaction the most,” says Gamache. “So that’s when controlled-traffic farming shines, you’re always travelling on the same tramline — it’s a miniature road — and not damaging your soil.”
Farmers with heavy clay soils are seeing the biggest benefit from running their equipment on tramlines. Coarse, sandy soils can also compact relatively easily.
It appears well-aggregated soils with good organic matter are more resistant to compaction damage because they have better internal drainage, says Gamache. His next question is whether keeping equipment off most of the field will help improve aggregation and internal drainage. Gamache says he suspects the soils might start to repair themselves as quick as three to five years. Some of the farmers participating in the controlled-traffic project say managing harvest traffic is a challenge, especially with more than one combine in a field. Tramlines tend to be spaced for a sprayer, not an unloading combine.
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There are five farmers participating in the study, using field-scale equipment on plots ranging from 140 to 480 acres. The latest report on the practice can be found at: controlledtrafficfarming.org
