Wide Span Controlled Traffic Farming
Healthier Soil,
Healthier Crops,
Healthier Planet
One of Terrakamp’s primary goals is to improve the health of our planet and reverse our negative impact through the practices of Regenerative Agriculture. We believe in supporting the natural cycles of our planet, restoring our soil’s microbiome, and taking a step back from decades of damaging our soil. Terrakamp offers landowners an unrivaled solution to the issues of compaction, soil health, and food quality.
WSCTF
Our system has its foundations in the basic principles of conventional Controlled Traffic farming (CTF).
With basic CTF, the grower designates farmland traffic into seeding, spraying and harvesting zones in effort to limit compaction to just the tracks of the various implements. The basic and proven theory is that reducing compaction creates healthier soil and crops by improving moisture retention and nutrient penetration. Numerous studies have proven the benefits in migrating from random traffic process to CTF, with growers seeing significant improvements in soil health, increased yields, and savings on capital investments. In order to significantly enhance our soil fertility, arable land, and farming operations, we need to rethink how we approach compaction holistically. Conventional CTF methods’ limits have been reached in improving the agriculture industry. It’s time for something new – something bigger. This is why we came up with Wide Span Controlled Traffic Farming.
Random Traffic Farming
- Up to 75% of ground is significantly compacted
- Moisture cannot penetrate soil surface
- Increased run-off and surface erosion
- Plant residue increasingly prevented from migrating to soil
- Natural cycles are disrupted, accelerating soil degradation
- Significant nutrient application required for growing processes
- Increased costs to the landowner
- Only solution is consistent tillage, resulting in significant release of carbon in atmosphere
Controlled Traffic Farming
- Has become increasingly popular worldwide over last 20 years
- Conventional machines and processes continue to compact up to 40% of the surface
- Seed and nutrients end up being applied to wheel tracks
- Deep tillage occasionally required
- Requires multiple specialized machines varying in cost, weight, and size
- Co2 emissions released from soil
- Uneven distribution of compaction in soil results in decreased nutrient absorption
- Only available method for managing soil compaction until WSCTF
Wide Span
Controlled Traffic Farming
- Even distribution of weight reduces ground compaction to 5% of land
- Seeds or nutrients are not applied to wheel track lanes
- Traffic lanes are minimized and become permanent
- Arable land not subject to compaction, supporting soil regeneration
- Moisture penetration and drought tolerance increases
- Significant reduction in machinery investment cost and demand for nutrient application
- Crop residue degradation further enables nutrient cycling and soil fertility
- Substantially enhanced soil health improves yields and decreases co2 emissions
- Carbon sequestration is promoted during growing and natural cycles are restored
Every year, as much as 39 billion tons of arable farmland are lost around the world due to wind and water erosion. The primary cause for this alarming process is an increase in soil compaction created by today’s newest conventional agricultural machinery. At Terrakamp, we understand the truth about compaction and the effect it has on our farming. So, let us open the discussion on something that hasn’t had a solution – until now.
Billion tons erosion/year
Permanent compaction of the arable soil
- Significant loss of productive arable land
- Loss of fertile soil and nutrients primarily due to soil compaction
- Destruction of finite resources (arable soil, fossil energy, etc.)
- Conventional machines and processes cannot provide improvement or increases in efficiency
Reducing soil compaction is the first step in improving the health of our farmland. Terrakamp is providing a holistic solution to the way we treat our soil.
The Challenge: CTF Today
The CTF method provides exceptional benefits, however the concept has been limited by the confines of conventional agricultural machinery. For decades the strategies followed by the agriculture industry’s conventional engineers have attempted to elicit increases in the farming process by relying upon larger and larger iterations of that conventional machinery. Today’s advancements are merely larger and heavier versions of what we have used for decades. The quest for maximized capacity or efficiency has required various propulsion vehicles to tow or push implements through the field, each with their own unique ergonomics and various paths of compaction. Because of this, the true potential of conventional CTF cannot be achieved.
The Solution: Introducing WSCTF
Terrakamp’s Nexat System offers a disruptive process that breaks the confines of conventional machine designs. We call this Wide Span Controlled Traffic Farming – a completely new way to farm. Despite the improvements of CTF, today’s machinery does not allow for full benefits of CTF methods. With our wide-span controlled traffic farming method, WSCTF, the percentage of land compacted is reduced to only 5% of total farmland, leaving 95% untouched through every phase of farming. Through using the NEXAT Harvesting Application, the natural residue degradation process is significantly accelerated through improved straw and residue distribution, ultimately eliminating a need for subsequent deep tillage passes over the field. Carbon sequestration is promoted with a substantial increase in the soil’s moisture retention, nutrient density, and microbiome health. WSCTF promotes a healthy, resilient soil that can support abundant life both below and above ground.
Reduced track share compared to RTF
Reduced track share compared to CTF
Permanently untraveled area
