8 research outputs found
Review: Soil compaction and controlled traffic farming in arable and grass cropping systems
There is both circumstantial and direct evidence which demonstrates the significant productivity and sustainability benefits associated with adoption of controlled traffic farming (CTF). These benefits may be fully realised when CTF is jointly practiced with no-tillage and assisted by the range of precision agriculture (PA) technologies available. Important contributing factors are those associated with improved trafficability and timeliness of field operations. Adoption of CTF is therefore encouraged as a technically and economically viable option to improve productivity and resource-use efficiency in arable and grass cropping systems. Studies on the economics of CTF consistently show that it is a profitable technological innovation for both grassland and arable land-use. Despite these benefits, global adoption of CTF is still relatively low, with the exception of Australia where approximately 30% of the grain production systems are managed under CTF. The main barriers for adoption of CTF have been equipment incompatibilities and the need to modify machinery to suit a specific system design, often at the own farmers’ risk of loss of product warranty. Other barriers include reliance on contracting operations, land tenure systems, and road transport regulations. However, some of the barriers to adoption can be overcome with forward planning when conversion to CTF is built into the machinery replacement programme, and organisations such as ACTFA in Australia and CTF Europe Ltd. in Central and Northern Europe have developed suitable schemes to assist farmers in such a process
The effect of soil compaction on mole plow draft
Conventional and zero traffic systems were mole ploughed and effects on soil physical properties were compared. Draught of the plough operating at 550 mm depth was measured while it was winched across plots having a 5-year history of different traffic regimes. Results showed that the draught was reduced by about 18% on non-trafficked compared with conventionally-trafficked soil.
Cone resistance measurements, 1 month before and 3 months after mole ploughing, confirmed that the non-trafficked soil had significantly less strength to a depth of about 400 mm. Bulk density measured at 75 and 175 mm depth 1 month before mole ploughing indicated a similar trend, but clod and bulk densities at 125 mm and 350 mm depth 3 months later, failed to show any consistent differences between treatment
Potential for Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) in grass silage production: agronomics, system design and economics
Grassland silage management is generally ad hoc resulting in soil compaction damage. Literature suggests grass yield reductions of 5 to 74% through compaction (UK mean 13%), while a 2015 study, reported here, comparing grass dry matter (DM) yield between controlled traffic farming (CTF) and normal management (N), found a 13.5% (0.80 t ha−1) increase for CTF. Commercially available grass forage equipment with widths of 3 to 12 m set up for CTF reduced trafficked areas from 80%–90% for N to 40%–13%. Economic analysis based on 13% increase in DM for 2 and 3 cut systems, gave an increased grass value between £38 ha−1 and £98 ha−1. CTF for multi-cut grass silage effectively increases yields by reducing compaction and sward damage
Environmental burdens of producing bread wheat, oilseed rape and potatoes in England and Wales using simulation and system modelling
Background, aims and scope Food production is essential to life. Modern farming
uses considerable resources to produce arable crops. Analysing the environmental
burdens of alternative crop production methods is a vital tool for policymakers.
The paper describes the production burdens (calculated by life cycle analysis)
of three key arable crops: bread wheat, oilseed rape and potatoes as grown in
England and Wales using organic and non-organic (contemporary conventional)
systems. Resource use (e.g. abiotic and energy) and burdens from emissions are
included (e.g. global warming potential on a 100-year basis, global warming
potential (GWP), and eutrophication and acidification potentials). Methods Crop
production was analysed, using systems models, so that the effects of factors
like changing N fertiliser application rates or irrigation could be examined.
Emissions of nitrate were derived from a simulation model in which soil organic
N was driven to steady state so that all long-term effects were properly
accounted for. Yield response curves to N were similarly derived from long-term
experiments. Crop nutrient inputs and plant protection applications were derived
from national survey data and the literature. All major inputs were accounted
for including fertiliser extraction, manufacture and delivery; pesticide
manufacture; field fuel use; machinery and building manufacture; crop drying,
cooling and storage. The current balance of production systems were found from
survey data. The weighted mean national production was calculated froma
combination of three rainfall levels and soil textures. The system boundary is
the farm gate.
The functional unit is 1 t marketable fresh weight of each product. Results and
discussion The primary energy needs for the producing the three main crops were
2.4, 4.9 and 1.4 GJ/t for bread wheat, oilseed rape and potatoes, respectively.
When expressed in terms of dry matter, protein or energy, wheat incurred smaller
burdens than oilseed rape, which incurred lower burdens than potatoes. The crops
do, of course, all play different roles. Organically produced bread wheat needed
about 80% of the energy of non-organic, while organic potatoes needed 13% more
energy than nonorganically produced ones. While pesticide use was always lower
in organic production, other burdens were generally inconsistently higher or
lower. Land occupation was always higher for organic production. Lower
fertiliser use (and hence energy use) in organic systems is offset by more
energy for fieldwork and lower yields. Main crop potato energy needs are
dominated by cold storage. Reducing the N application rate for bread wheat
production reduces energy use and GWP. The optimum for energy is with N at about
70% of the current level. It seems to be lower for GWP, but the sub-models used
are beyond their range of reliability. The results are generally of the same
order as those from other European studies. Conclusions Arable crop production
depends heavily on fossil fuel in current major production systems. The
emissions causing GWP are very dependent on nitrous oxide, more so than fuel
consumption. That, together with emissions of ammonia and nitrate, means that
agriculture has a C-N footprint rather than the C footprint that typifies most
industrial life. Recommendations and perspectives With the large influence of
nitrous oxide on GWP, evaluation of nitrous oxide emissions by another method,
e.g. crop-soil simulation modelling instead of the more rigid IPCC method would
improve the robustness of the analysis. The transition betweenfarming systems
was not included in this study, but there could be short to medium term benefits
of converting from nonorganic to organic methods that should be evaluated.
System modelling allows alternative production methods to be readily explored
and this greatly enhances LCA methodology