Irrigate or Aerate? How Your Soil Can Benefit From Aeration

Are you a farmer who relies on irrigation to prevent your pasture from turning brown and dry throughout summer? Or maybe you noticed a reduced pasture resilience to warm and dry spells. Subsoil compaction might be the problem. 

What is Subsoil Compaction?

Surface compaction affects all aspects of your soil quality. Surface compaction is often caused by livestock, farming machinery, natural soil characteristics and conditions. In Australia, the most common causes of compacted soil are because of livestock traffic and plough hardpans especially in paddocks under irrigation. The compaction causes the soil to form a hard layer, preventing root growth and restricting root access to water and nutrients. 

How To Overcome Soil Compaction

Compacted soil layer can be loosened with Aeration. Aerating your soil increases the porosity and permeability of your soil. This allows your crop’s roots to grow deeper and more vigorously into the soil’s lower layers. 

Aeration allows your pastures and crops to become resilient to dry spells and relieves the common problem of severe compaction in soil under frequent irrigation. 

How Aeration Works

Aeration works by shattering and perforating the ground, relieving compaction and allowing oxygen, fertiliser and moisture to freely flow into the ground. 

Oxygen activates microorganisms in your soil to produce plant nutrients. These nutrients increase crop growth. When your soil is too tight, these microorganisms don’t have access to the oxygen that helps them function and produce plant nutrients. 

Having a shattered soil structure also allows surface water to flow to lower ground levels. This prevents issues like excess surface water and ponding and runoff. 

Growing crops is a balance between providing your soil with enough oxygen to reach the roots for nutrients and providing the right amount of water. This is why aeration is an important agricultural practice. It gives farmers control over water and aeration levels, enabling you to precisely control your field conditions. 

Benefits of Aeration

Improve soil drainage: Aerated soil improves drainage, eliminating pounding and reducing surface runoff. 

Deep root growth: Removing soil compaction lets your crop’s roots grow freely, deeper and vigorously. 

Greater fertiliser response:  Compacted soil stops fertiliser from absorbing into the soil. A permeable soil helps fertiliser absorptions for better root intake. 

Improves soil porosity:  Aerating your soil makes it porous, which improves oxygen and carbon dioxide in your soil, which enhances your plant’s growth. 

Increase in pasture growth:  Aeration increases pasture dry matter yield. In the right conditions, it increases growth, production and profits. 

Choosing the right Aerator

GH Series Aervator

Features large rotor bearings, a multi-gang system, and a dipped galvanised finish. Configure the machine to 3PL or trailing, a fixed or folding frame and 2.0 to 12-meter working width

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Maxi Series Aervator

Ideal for pasture renovation. Features include heavy duty over spec steel frames, hot dipped galvanised finish, two rows of gangs, large rotor bearings, and a multi gang system. 

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CFT Series Aervator

Comes as either a GH or Maxi model with centre folding configurations that fold to 2.3m to fit through narrow spaces. The folding Aervator range from 4 to 6m in width and can be adjusted to provide as much or as little aggression as it works your soil aeration.

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SGH Series Aervator

Is the compact version of a GH Series focusing on smaller horsepower tractors with no compromise in heavy-duty construction.

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TURF Series Aervator

Is the ideal machine for aerating lawns. Includes a heady duty over spec steel-framed , painted finish, large rotor bearings, a single gang system, aeration fixed settings

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All our  machines  have been tested extensively on farms and are built for Australian farming conditions, to ensure they perform reliably day-in and day-out, under the harshest conditions.

If you’re interested in our 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.