Controlled traffic farming (CTF) aims to leave 80 – 90% of fields permanently without compaction by confining traffic to permanent tramlines. The benefits of controlled traffic systems are highlighted in the main Farm of the Future Report and include reduced fuel consumption (and reduced power need), plus reduced tillage costs, more timely operations, less compaction of harvested areas, greater precision and increased yields.
Controlled traffic farming (CTF) has been boosted by access to affordable Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). With CTF, the portion of the field that is driven should be reduced from up to 80% down to 30% with conventional equipment. By adding GNSS, the area can be reduced to circa 15%.
This approach can include gantry technology, where modular attachments are fitted to motorised wide-span vehicles. This has been proposed in the past, but adding GNSS guidance could deliver new momentum to a system that has been ignored for several decades. Companies such as Nexat GmbH may have the solution to transform farm mechanisation for a range of field operations.
Nexat GmbH (founded in Germany in 2017 by Kalverkamp Innovation) is focused on development, manufacture and sale of innovative farm machinery. Its ground-breaking gantry system has been awarded the 2022 gold medal at Agritechnica.
Nexat has developed a versatile system for multiple on-field operations that currently require a range of agricultural machinery. The wide-span system uses fixed tramlines for all arable farming operations.
In the 1980s, development work took place at the Silsoe Research Institute (SRI – formerly the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering) - on the concept developed by Cotswold farmer David Dowler. Removing traffic from the cropped area resulted in sustained benefits, but the SRI did not survive the restructuring of agricultural research in the 1990s and a significant engineering resource was lost. More info on the evolution of the Dowler system can be seen here: Silsoe Arable Gantry
© Photo: SRI: The original Dowler gantry system at Silsoe
A diagrammatic comparison between the RTF approach and a gantry-based CTF system is shown below.
The 2022 Nexat system is based on a wide-span carrier platform that takes interchangeable, modular implements that perform tillage, sowing, crop protection and harvest tasks. It is ‘AI compatible’, with potential for autonomous (driverless) operation, electric drive and the potential for adaptation to hydrogen fuel options.
CTF systems, including the evolution of the gantry system, can help reverse soil damage from heavy cultivation systems, enabling greater precision and increased flexibility of field operation.
This extract was taken from the Farm of the Future: Journey to Net Zero sector report - Decarbonising Farm Vehicles and Future Fuels.
