Dale Drills - Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF)

An example of a CTF system: A 9m Eco XL seed drill could be pulled by a 225hp tractor in a 9m CTF system. All combining, cultivating if required, and drilling are done at 9-meter widths. Wheels are set to the same track settings, and as a result, wheelings cover approximately 22% of the field area.

Without CTF, the soil that is traversed is expected to cover 80% to 90% of the field. Although modern tires and combine tracks can be set to exert less than 0.7 bar, during wet periods, soils may still become damaged. Employing a CTF system ensures that we know where the soil damage has occurred and that we only need to rectify the damage in that specific area.

Due to the absence of random wheelings across the field, there is no need for deeper cultivation, except on the headlands where machines have turned. The soil in CTF also becomes lighter and more easily workable, enabling a 225hp tractor to comfortably cultivate or drill 60 ha in an average day, pulling 9m wide equipment.

In the autumn, with 40 available days between 1st August and 31st October, 1200 ha could be cultivated once, and an additional 1200 ha could be drilled.

In the spring, with 30 available days between 1st February and 30th April, a further 900 ha can be cultivated, and 900 ha can be drilled.

Although there is a need to level, lift, and possibly roll down the headlands where machinery has turned, amounting to 15% of the total area, it would be possible for one 225hp tractor to handle all the land work on a 1000ha farm under controlled traffic farming conditions. In a wet season, another tractor may be required to repair damage in the controlled wheelings.

The cultivation of soil takes time, uses fuel, and, most importantly, triggers the release of CO2 contained within the soil. No-Till farming is a low-disturbance practice that avoids these issues. The reduction in fuel usage that a low or no-till system brings not only saves farmers money but also reduces the amount of pollution and greenhouse gases coming from the tractor’s exhaust. The fact that the Dale Drills’ range of seed drills is relatively easy to pull (min 20hp/m) further reduces emissions, as a smaller, lower-power tractor can be used.

A reduction in cultivations also prevents the release of CO2 from the soil. Not only does this benefit the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but it also improves soil health, as the carbon in the soil fuels the flora and fauna within. Soils with higher carbon levels are more resilient in extreme weather conditions, helping to retain moisture in dry times and improving drainage in wetter times.

As GPS systems become a mainstay of modern agriculture, our drills have adapted to incorporate this technology and offer farmers the benefits. We fit the best in electronic control systems from RDS Topcon Technologies to ensure that whatever level of technology our customers want to utilise, the drills will be able to provide it.

A growing number of our customers are including Isobus connections with their drills in order to benefit from the GPS capabilities of their tractors.

We have helped a number of customers incorporate automatic section control into their drills, reducing the amount of overlap and therefore seed used, whilst also reducing the workload on the operator.

We are also supplying a number of machines with Variable Rate drilling capabilities, either via an Isobus connection or through the drills own control box. Customers practicing Variable Rate drilling have reported more even establishment along with a reduction in the amount of seed used.