Field Ripping

Have you ever considered soil ripping your field? The Western Sales #PrecisionAg Team is trialing this new practice with the powerful 9RX 710 #JohnDeere pulling a 120 Unverferth 30ft Ripper on 30” spacing. The project is being conducted on the Davidson Kinsmen Community Crop to find out the impact of soil ripping depth, moisture retention and root development for next season. The team will work to find optimal ripping depth to enhance root growth and improve soil conditions. The primary goal of this trial is to alleviate soil compaction caused by years of heavy machinery traffic, which has created a dense hardpan layer. This compacted layer hinders root penetration, like roots attempting to grow through concrete. By ripping the soil, the aim is to restore a looser soil structure to accommodate deeper root growth, enhance moisture infiltration and reduce surface evaporation by allowing water to penetrate the soil profile more effectively. The second component of the trial focuses on ripping dry, low-lying areas or sloughs to potentially reduce standing water in the spring by improving water infiltration into deeper soil layers. By enhancing drainage, we could enable earlier seeding in areas that would otherwise retain excessive moisture, thereby expanding the arable land available for planting. The Precision Ag team will continue analyzing the soil leading up to seeding next year, taking into account Ripper direction/angle, depth, speed and configurations and type. With the possibility of improving producer's bottom lines, soil ripping could become a standard practice in crop rotation systems to improve soil health and productivity. Want to learn more? Contact your local Precision Ag Specialist, today. 🌐https://westernsales.ca/precision-ag-hardware