What Are The Benefits Of Aeration

To get the most out of your plant’s development, soil aeration is something we recommend you practise. There are numerous benefits for soil aeration- it affects the root growth and activity of your crops to ensure healthy vegetation and high yield. 

What does Aeration do?

Aeration introduces air to the grassroots and the soil to aid in root development. This helps improve drainage, reduce rain/ irrigation runoff and remove any potential fertiliser runoff. Aeration also improves your soil’s microbial activity and helps with nutrient and crop breakdown. 

You can read further on How Your Soil Can Benefit From Aeration

What does it achieve?

Farmtech’s range of Aerators is designed to perforate the soil with slots to relieve any soil compaction and to allow water, air, and nutrients to penetrate all the way to grassroots. Aerated soil makes for better fertiliser because Fertilizer is able to penetrate deep into the plant’s root zone.  

What circumstances should you aerate?

Aeration is the ideal remedy for compaction up to 15cm deep. It’s important because it helps improve soil structure and water retention, which in turn improves crop performance by providing a better connection between plant roots and Topsoil. 

Compaction caused 10-15 cm below ground level commonly occurs as grazing during wet conditions or high stocking densities with rainfall generating new compactions on top of already existing ones. The machine can also cause the grounds hard surfaces. This is because the weight of the front loader tracks leave behind wakes when they pass over the ground. 

When is the best time to Aerate?

The best day to Aerate is the first day you get it, if you have a severe compaction problem you will need to work with the rain, after the first pass in dry conditions wait for the first rain, after that rain, give it another pass as soon as you can get back out there, repeat this process until you get approximately 50 to 100mms of penetration. Once you achieve those results yearly or biannual pass for pasture maintenance. It’s not recommended to aerate your ground during overly wet ground conditions. When your ground is too wet it causes more compaction problems. Though aeration improves overall surface drainage, it doesn’t solve underlying land draining problems. 

How long do the effects of aeration last?

The effects of aeration depend on the level of compaction before, soil type and overall management. For example, aerating can be done yearly once you have relieved any heavily compacted dirt that has been left alone for years. This will help to maintain a good soil structure, but this depends on your solid conditions

Choosing the right Aerator for your agricultural needs.

Farmtech has been making Aerators for over 20 years, so we’ve had years of practice in perfecting our machines. If you’re interested in Farmtechs Aerators or have any more questions regarding our other farming machinery available, give us a call on (02) 8776 3354 or get in contact with us at sales@farmtech.com.au.