Over 300 farmers attended the recent Deep Ripping Machinery Demo day in Goomalling to see the machines live in action and to hear the latest research on addressing soil compaction issues.

Soil compaction is a widespread issue in the Wheatbelt which has been estimated to cost the industry around $333 million dollars per year, with the increasing size of machinery making the issue worse.

In dry years, compacted soils reduce access to subsoil moisture, increase evaporation through the surface and cause more heat stress during flowering. In wet years, the compacted layer increases water logging in the surface soils at grain fill, which causes greater loss of nutrients and reduces plant growth. Compacted soils also have lower levels of biological activity and reduced nutrient turn over.

Once soil compaction is identified as an issue, deep ripping can be used to break through the compacted layer. Ten different types of deep ripping machinery were demonstrated at the field day, with different tyne sizes and configurations and some with topsoil inclusion plates. The use of deep ripping has been shown to have the most benefits in sandier soil, with heavier soils being more problematic. Deep ripping, particularly with inclusion plates, can also assist with the incorporation of soil ameliorants such as lime to address subsoil constraints.

A key message from the day is that once soils have been ripped, management practices need to be put in place that reduce the soils being re-compacted. Research indicates that without active management the benefits of deep ripping are lost within two to three seasons, but the use of controlled traffic farming can maintain the benefits for more than ten years.

The Deep Ripping Machinery Demonstration Day was organised by WANTFA. It was held at Trevor Syme’s farm – WANTFA’s Vice Chair, and Wheatbelt NRM’s 2013 Wheatbelt Champion – where he has been working on addressing soil compaction for a number of years.