How to Prevent Soil Compaction: 3 Proven Strategies

Fixing or recovering from soil compaction can take years and prove costly to your operation. But as Albert Einstein once said, "Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them."

While we can't confirm Einstein was referring to soil compaction, we can confirm you don't need to be the next Einstein to implement a genius-level management strategy to prevent soil compaction this season.

Save yourself the headaches of dealing with soil compaction by following these three steps to prevent it in the first place.

Already dealing with soil compaction? Don't worry, we won't leave you high and dry. This article also touches on three ways to help alleviate and manage existing soil compaction.

A close up shot of an agronomist with soil in hand.

📸: @HeikeKampe via Canva/Featuring an agronomist with soil in hand.

Effects of soil compaction in agriculture

Soil compaction happens frequently during planting, especially when heavy machine traffic and suboptimal soil conditions such as wet soil combine to create the perfect environment for soil particles to press together into a nearly impenetrable layer. This compaction impacts everything from emergence to eventual yield.

The dangers of soil compaction include:

Poor emergence
Inhibited root growth
Increased potential for root diseases
Lost yield potential

Over the long term, continual compaction can damage soil health through loss of soil structure, increased water runoff and decreased water infiltration.

The typical factors that create compacted soils include:

Planting into soil that is too wet
Planting too shallow
Setting too much pressure on the planter gauge wheels and closing wheels

The most detrimental forms of soil compaction include:

Compaction that occurs at a depth that affects proper planting depth
Sidewall compaction that occurs in and around the seed furrow
Compaction caused from tillage passes

Below, dive into the details of how to mitigate your risks of compaction and learn how to address existing compaction issues in your field.

A close up shot featuring an example of soil compaction causing poor planting conditions in the field.

📸: BASF employee/Featuring an example of soil compaction causing poor planting conditions in the field.

Preventing soil compaction

If you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to soil compaction, you’re not alone. It’s an issue that has vexed growers for decades. On one hand, planting in wet soil can exacerbate soil compaction and lead to costly repercussions on yield potential. On the other hand, staying off the field during wet, early season conditions could set you up for reduced yield potential and economic harm from delayed planting.

Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet solution to eliminate the dilemma of creating compaction when working in wet spring (or fall) soils. So how do you navigate this soil compaction conundrum? Here are a few steps that can help you get a jump on early-season planting (without setting yourself back in the battle against soil compaction).

Make sure machinery isn’t the culprit

The size of farm equipment has dramatically increased over the years with 500 horsepower tractors, full combines, and grain carts weighing between 18 and 40 tons per axle. As the weight of loads increases, so does the potential for machines to compact the soil well past the tillage layer.

Regardless of whether they are on tracks or tires, heavy axle loads (over 10 tons) combined with wet soil conditions can create compaction down 2' to 3'. Keeping axle loads under 10 tons is key to localizing compaction so it affects only the top 6" to 10" of soil.

Additionally, maintaining proper pressure and tire inflation can help minimize the damage from these mammoth machines traversing your soil. The pressure set on gauge wheels and closing wheels must not be too high, and tires must be properly inflated. You can check with your equipment and tire dealers or search online to confirm optimal tire pressures.

young adult hands holding pile of soil on a farm at dusk

📸: @piyaset via Canva/Featuring an image of compacted soil.

Avoid planting in wet soils

If you suspect your soil is “too wet,” you can do a simple test. Grab a handful of soil and compact it in your hands, then drop from about waist height. If the compacted soil ball doesn’t break apart upon impact, it’s too wet. Even though it may not always be possible, limiting field activities when the soil is wet can reduce the risk of soil compaction.

Implement practices to maintain soil health

Throughout the season, implementing proper crop residue management protocols and/or using reduced- or no-till practices can help improve soil structure and subsequently reduce the likelihood of compaction. Continually monitor soil moisture to ensure you are not on fields when it is too wet.

Managing existing soil compaction

In an ideal world you would be able to prevent soil compaction before it becomes a problem (remember Einstein’s adage), but compaction is sometimes unavoidable and must be managed or alleviated to optimize your crops’ yield potential.

If you are dealing with compaction in your fields, you may see the following symptoms:

Plants have stubby, twisted roots, or taproots growing horizontally
Your soil isn’t draining properly and standing water is present
Soil is physically dense and hard to dig regardless of its moisture content
Crops have stunted growth, discolored leaves or drought stress

If you determine your soil is compacted, here are three practices you can implement to start correcting the issue:

Promote soil aggregate stability with cultural practices

Soil aggregate stability is the soil's ability to efficiently filter air and water through the soil profile. Increasing the stability of soil aggregates in turn increases the productivity of the soil. Reducing tillage and increasing the amount of crop residue left on your field can increase soil aggregates and reduce the impact of compaction.

red tractor and equipment riding through field increasing crop residue

📸:@oticki via Canva/ Featuring an image of a tractor in a field with heavy crop residue.

Minimize equipment traffic in compacted fields

Since heavy equipment is one of the major culprits of compaction, it’s important to keep a careful watch on equipment traffic in your fields. Managing which areas of the field are driven on can help you alleviate excessive equipment passes that worsen compaction. Examples of how traffic can be reduced in compacted fields include using wider sprayers that cover more ground with fewer passes, transitioning to no-till to reduce the frequency of tillage implements and using traffic lane designs and/or GPS systems to manage traffic flow in the field.

Utilize deep rooted cover crops and alfalfa

Deep roots will penetrate compacted soils. Plant deep rooted cover crops like tillage radish or alfalfa. Research shows that several years of alfalfa can result in roots up to 20', making it a great rotational crop to break up compaction.

Use deep tillage or subsoiling for severe compaction

If your soil compaction is severe, deep tillage or subsoiling may be a consideration. If you choose to use deep tillage, this should be done when soils are as dry as possible to increase the amount of fracturing in the compacted zone. If you use deep tillage when soils are wet, it will actually exacerbate the compaction problem. Additionally, soil texture has an impact on when you can successfully use deep tillage to alleviate compaction. For example, the higher the clay content, the more important it is to till when dry.

Due to the cost and labor of deep tillage, you may want to consider selective deep tillage only in heavily trafficked areas of the field, like headlands where compaction is most problematic.

Although deep tillage can be an effective method to disrupt compacted layers, it also negatively disrupts soil layers and buries crop residue necessary for building soil aggregates and overall soil health (two key factors in preventing compaction in the first place).

While it is valuable in some instances, combatting compaction with deep tillage or a subsoiler is just a small bandage on a big wound; this doesn’t fix compaction issues long term. Use the preventive measures listed above to avoid future compaction and set your crops up for success.

📸: BASF employee/Featuring an example of deep tillage.

Experts are available to help you make your decisions. Reach out to your seed retailer, a nearby extension office agent, or your regional BASF representative to understand how to better manage your cropland.

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