Welcome
Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is the start of a journey – a journey to reduce production costs and increase yields while improving soil
health and delivering positively to the environment. It works on the principle that “if it’s not broken, you don’t need to fix it”. Much of the time
and energy we put into soils is to undo the compaction damage we have caused by driving machines all over them.
This video clip shows just how severe the effects can be. As machines are
getting heavier and heavier, this damage is extending deeper and deeper into the soil profile. So deep in fact, that damage may already be uneconomic
to repair.
Controlled traffic farming turns our present production systems on their head by leaving 80 – 90% of fields permanently without compaction, rather
than the other way around. CTF aims to confine soil compaction to the least possible area of permanent traffic lanes. It sounds simple but because
our machines have never been designed to do this, it needs a lot of thought and good planning to get it right.
Look at this simple flash animation (English)
(Deutsch) (Français)
to see how CTF brings order to chaos!
If you think CTF makes sense
download a flier to find out more and join the increasing number of growers
who want to embrace the "straight and narrow" and are being helped by becoming a member of CTF Europe.
See this
endorsement of the benefits from a UK farmer who has been using CTF since 2005.
Join CTF Europe
Information in brief:
This month's story:
This is a return to the Antipodes where John McPhee and his team in Tasmania have continued their work showing just what can be achieved
in productive soils when traffic is removed from the cropped area.
Read this new update
This Month's Photo
Standard wheel track widths are being used to maintain a CTF system for onions, potatoes and brocolli in Tasmania. Read the story so far
News
28 February 2012
Drought proofing one's farm might have seemed an unnecessary requirement in UK's eastern counties a few years ago, but we are now facing that need as we enter our spring with soil water reserves at their lowest level for many years.
read more
19 November 2011
Agritechnica 2011 CTF presentations All seats were taken in hall 16 during the opening of the Smart Farming Forum sessions by three CTF talks on practical experiences and European Research work.
read more