Cultivation and establishment for arable crops

This series of web pages covers the unique elements of soil management associated with cultivation and crop establishment in arable systems.

What is cultivation?

Cultivation is any mechanical act to prepare the soil to establish and grow crops. It is an essential feature of many crop production systems.

Soil factors

There are 10 key soil factors that need to be considered when adopting a managed approach to cultivations.

Understanding these factors will help you determine which cultivation and establishment options are feasible and economically viable in your system.

The use of machinery to loosen soils

Find out how to assess the need for soil loosening (including subsoiling) and how to get the best out of machinery to help restructure soils.

Ploughing pros and cons

Ploughing is a quick way to change the condition of the soil, but it can lead to longer-term issues. Learn about the benefits and disadvantages of the approach and best-practice measures.

Reduced tillage pros and cons

Compared to ploughing, reduced cultivations can lower costs, speed up operations and cause less soil damage. However, timeliness and planning are vital to avoid making things worse, such as weed pressures.

Direct drilling pros and cons

Direct drilling is when crops are established in one pass − direct into land without a prior cultivation pass of any type.

Broadcasting pros and cons

Broadcasting can establish crops with small seed, such as oilseed rape, and cover/catch crops directly with or before the combine.

Tools

Estimate compaction risk

Use this tool to estimate compaction risks associated with specific machinery, tyres/tracks, soil characteristics and soil water status.

Identify improvements across your farming system

Find out if a change in cultivation approach might be beneficial. Allocate a score for each of the 10 key soil management factors described within these pages. The higher the score, the greater the opportunity to adopt less intensive cultivation approaches.

Glossary of terms

Use this glossary to understand words, abbreviations and acronyms used in our crop cultivation and establishment pages.