Making better conserved forage campaign – Does CTF have a role in silage fields?

With at least an estimated 85% of the area of a field covered every year by tractor tyres, the potential impact of compaction from machinery on yield can be significant.

However, using Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) principles has benefits for soil structure and sward performance in grass silage operations.

CTF has been developed by the arable sector to minimise the risk of crop and soil damage from machinery traffic. With recent AHDB Dairy research highlighting potential annual yield losses of 14% in grassland from compaction by machinery, researchers at SRUC investigated the feasibility of implementing CTF practices in grassland harvested for silage.

A recent study used a newly established perennial ryegrass ley, with areas managed either under a normal traffic silage operation or a CTF regime. This involved the use of Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) and GPS technology to set tramlines within the crop, confining traffic movements to reduced areas of the field.

Within the controlled traffic regime, mowing, tedding, raking and lifting operations were all completed on a 9m working width. In addition, tractors with trailers were restricted to travelling on an adjacent tramline 9m away. The controlled traffic regime reduced the area covered by tractor tyres by approximately 50%.

Initial sward results from the trial have also shown that grass yields were 0.8t DM/ha greater in the CTF area compared to normal silage operations. Economics analysis showed that as long as the navigation systems are wisely selected, CTF in grass silage production can be cost-effective.

Dr Paul Hargreaves, SRUC, Top tips for successfully implementing CTF:

1. Decide on a working width that is compatible with all machinery used on the farm
2. Permanent field markers at edge of the field ensures the GPS can be aligned for each field operation
3. The numbers and accuracy of navigation systems should be based on the size of fields and the area of the farm to be cut
4. Over 50% of soil damage can be done by the first pass of machinery and the reduction of soil compaction through CTF can increase dry matter yield by 13%. To find out how dairy farmer Joe Dugdale is implemented CTF on his grassland farm, visit AHDB Dairy YouTube.