With many still recovering from the monsoon-like conditions that blighted various parts of the country last autumn, the recent deluge of rainfall delivered by Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge has once again saturated tens of thousands of hectares of farming land. Persistent wet weather and the continuing threat of more to come is only adding to the stress and workload of already hard-pressed farmers.
Planting of both late-sown winter wheat and spring crops is badly affected in certain areas and there is a growing feeling that drilling may well be cancelled for this season on some farms in the worst-affected regions.
In conditions such as these, the farmer’s most valuable asset, the soil, is taking a battering. Venturing out on to heavy, saturated land with heavy machinery risks compaction and causing long-term damage to the soil and ultimately, to yields. But what is the alternative when the weather intervenes and restricts your window for planting or harvesting?
An increasing number of salad and vegetable growers are turning to the fitting of rubber tracks to their tractors, planters and harvesters. The key advantage of tracks is that they exert up to 75% less ground pressure compared with machinery using standard pneumatic tyres. As a result, compaction is greatly reduced, soil integrity is protected and plants are far more likely to have the optimal environment in which to thrive. Tracks enable you to get into the field in conditions that would normally preclude the use of wheeled machinery. As such, they can be an important investment.
To find out more about the benefits of track systems, take a look at the videos on our rubber tracks web page.
