Maintaining the Soil and Farm Machinery

For any farm to be productive and healthy, the soil needs to be looked after and various pieces of machinery to help with the task. Here we will have a look at best practices.

Looking after the soil properly will pay dividends. Not knowing what state your soil is in could be catastrophic. It may be lacking in nutrients, or the PH level might be way off, and this will affect the growth of crops and the health of livestock.

Testing the soil will provide the necessary data to allow you to assess the state of the soil. This in turn will provide you with the correct information to choose fertiliser or other additives, and what you can grow on it. By choosing the correct fertiliser, you are providing your soil with the nutrients it needs and potentially, adjust the PH to a more conducive environment for crops or livestock to thrive.

Crop rotation is essential in protecting your farmland. By growing the same crop in the same field year after year will make the land sour, encourage pests and disease, and reduce the yield. Knowing which crops to rotate to which fields is good basic knowledge to any farmer.

Using cover crops between main crops or during the off-season can be hugely beneficial, particularly if using a ‘green manure’ crop. Such crops can help protect the land from erosion, fix nitrogen, and add organic matter when ploughed in.

The use of manure and/or slurry can improve the health of the land. It not only improves the structure, it also encourages beneficial microbes and can help with water retention. It is important not to allow manure or slurry to enter the watercourse as this is a major pollutant. Spreading slurry on dry days will allow it to soak into the soil instead of being washed off.

There is a place for chemicals on the farm and chemical fertilisers can be hugely beneficial. Being very careful about using weedkiller and pesticide will help wildlife to thrive. Using these chemicals at the optimum time is key and overuse is to be discouraged.

Maintaining farm machinery is very important as without the equipment in good working order, farming is going to be a miserable experience. Making regular inspections of the outside of the machinery enables you to notice when things start to wear or become loose.

Keeping the machinery clean will increase the longevity and enable it to perform efficiently. Removing mud, dust, and debris on a regular basis means that the equipment is less likely to deteriorate quickly.

This leads us on to lubrication of the machinery. Following the manufacturer’s guidelines, regularly and properly lubricating the moving parts will reduce wear and tear, friction and will help it to last much longer.

There are pieces of machinery that will only be needed at certain times of year, so storing them properly means they will last a long time. Being disciplined about proper maintenance before putting into storage is a very good habit to get into.

Modern farming methods gives us the tools and the knowledge to increase the yield and look after the environment, but we also have to play our part and actively use that knowledge to improve farmland.

For help in deciding just what sort of farm machinery you need, or advice on the best way to keeping everything working to maximum efficiency, talk to the experts at Heming Engineering (see https://www.heming-engineering.co.uk/ for details). The have decades of experience and will be able to help you whatever your problems are.