More to CTF than machinery: inventor

The basic essence of Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) is to drastically reduce vehicle trafficking across paddocks, which exacerbates soil compaction and therefore inhibits crop yield potential.

The most popular design for CTF is to operate on three metre (10 foot) wheel axles with machines 12 metres (40ft wide, or 39ft, 0.05in, for purists), with run lines up and back.

Some farmers prefer a working span of 18m (59ft in imperial measurement, but generally taken as 60ft for run lines) between the CTF tracks.

The future will probably see CTF as the most efficient way to farm, particularly employing autonomous vehicles.

But adoption of CTF has been slow, mainly because of the necessity to pair machines to the system and the resultant cost.

This usually requires converting machines to three metre axle spacings, ensuring you’ve got a 12m seeding bar and a 12m header front and a spreader that can achieve a 12m throw.

Right now, the self-evident focus on CTF is matching machinery requirements.

But according to broadacre precision seeding pioneer John Ryan, machinery is only a component of any cropping system.

Ironically, as managing director of Ausplow Farming Systems, Mr Ryan introduced a world-patented precision seeding system to the market in 1995 called the DBS, and now oversees a company which is the biggest broadacre precision seeding manufacturer in Australia.

In 2001, he also developed the world’s first broadacre air seeder, with liquid compatibility, called the Multistream.

And in 2004 Mr Ryan designed the Multistream with 3m axle availability and sold his first 18m DBS to the Eastern States.

He also re-designed the DBS precision seeding bar to cater for CTF, with options for a range of flotation tyres.

“It was evident to me back then that the industry had to continue to evolve, as it did from ploughing to one-pass crop establishment,” Mr Ryan said.

“But aligned with my new machinery designs was always the focus on how to help farmers develop new systems while still making money.

“And the ‘money’ part is the thing that motivates farmers towards change.

“That’s primarily why I developed the DBS, because you could more consistently achieve yields while you were renovating and improving soil structure.

“It’s the basic reason why many farmers want to use CTF in order to reduce compaction and build up soil fertility and structure, to make more money with higher-yielding crops.

“It doesn’t matter how you configure your CTF system and satisfy yourself as the best way to break through hardpans.

“The thing to remember is that hardpans re-form through natural soil settling.

“In a CTF system, you will get a period of residual benefit from deep ripping – especially in heavier soils, or if you have mouldboarded and ripped in typical sandplain country – but eventually hardpans will start to re-form at levels as shallow as 17 to 20cm (7-8in).

“That’s why we’ve designed our Pro-D tool system to provide a variety of digging depths to 22.5cm (9in).

“Don’t worry that all wheels are not on CTF tracks because behind every wheel on our bar there’s a DBS module.

“So in effect, every time you sow a crop, you’re also renovating the soil and stopping any compaction process.”

Mr Ryan said he would argue that compaction from a bar was not a significant issue when you’re continually renovating the soil and increasingly moving towards dry seeding and water harvesting, which did not enhance compaction.

He said he was conscious of various viewpoints on CTF, including whether your aim is to achieve flotation with the bar or whether your focused on compaction.

“Our focus is to provide that compromise with a design that doesn’t interfere with the integrity of precision seeding,” Mr Ryan said.

He said said CTF may become a “foundation stone” for future farming systems.

“But whatever way the industry decides to go, the one constant that has never changed as agriculture evolves is soil,” he said.

“That has always got to be our focus for sustainability and profitability.”