Traffic Management Systems for Improved Soil Sustainability and Nitrogen-Use Efficiency

An overview of traffic management systems and their relative impacts on soil sustainability are provided. The analysis shows how non-organised agricultural traffic can have detrimental effects on the soil physical environment through changes in soil mechanical and hydraulic properties that affect important soil processes and soil functioning. Such changes help explain the inter-relationships between soil water dynamics, biogeochemical processes associated with soil and fertiliser nutrients, and crop productivity. Research conducted in Australia, the United Kingdom and Central Europe over the past 25 years has demonstrated the multiple system benefits of avoiding, rather than repairing, soil compaction through the implementation of controlled traffic farming (CTF). By coupling CTF with no-tillage and the range of precision agriculture technology available, it is possible to deliver improved crop agronomic performance, farming systems resilience and environmental outcomes compared with conventional traffic and tillage management systems. Collectively, this body of research indicated that adoption of CTF could reduce total soil emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by up to 30% and improve crop yields by a conservative 5%-10%, while increasing inter-seasonal yield stability. Commercial success of novel vehicle gantries could offer a turning point in the improved acceptability and efficiency of CTF systems. Emerging technology such as in novel agricultural tyre designs are discussed as an intermediate solution for complex mechanisation systems in which adoption of CTF can prove challenging.