West Central FS (309) 343-1600
(309) 343-1600
myFS Solution Center View My Account Agri-Finance Account
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
(309) 343-1600
myFS Solution Center View My Account Agri-Finance Account
Dynamic Weather Icon for Today's Forecast
Weather N/A
Futures
  • Who We Serve
    • Farmers
    • Homeowners
    • Fleet Owners
    • Turf & Landscape Managers
  • Products & Services
    • Agronomy
      • Crop Protection
      • Crop Nutrients
      • Seed
        • Yield Results
        • Seed Product Catalog
      • Agronomy Team
    • Fuels and Lubricants
      • Fuels
      • Lubricants
      • Other Petroleum Products
    • Propane
      • Residential Propane
      • Agricultural Propane
      • Commercial Propane
      • Autogas
      • Propane Tips
      • Energy Order Form
    • Energy Catalog
    • FS Agri-Finance
    • Technology
      • FS MiField
      • Precision Farming
        • Climate FieldView
        • Precision Planting Equipment
    • Grain Storage & Buildings
    • Turf
      • GreenYard Professional
      • GreenYard Consumer
    • FAST STOP
    • Western Grain Marketing - Cash Bids
    • Resource Center
    • DTN Weather
    • myFS Solution Center
  • Our Locations
    • Find Your Nearest Location
    • Adair
    • Bushnell
    • Carthage
    • Colusa
    • Colmar Seed Warehouse
    • Donnellson, IA
    • Ellisville
    • Galesburg Bulk Plant
    • Galesburg Main Office
    • Gilson Bulk Plant
    • Galesburg South - Seed and Technology Center
    • La Harpe
    • Little York
    • Macomb
    • Monmouth
    • Maquon
    • Ormonde
    • Roseville LP Service Center
    • Rozetta
    • Sciota
    • Stronghurst
    • Wataga
    • West Point
    • Williamsfield
    • Maintenance Shop
  • Sustainability
    • 4R Advocates
    • Pollinator Habitats
    • Enduring Farms
Futures
Dynamic Weather Icon for Today's Forecast
Weather N/A
Futures
Dynamic Weather Icon for Today's Forecast
Weather N/A
  • Who We Serve
    • Farmers
    • Homeowners
    • Fleet Owners
    • Turf & Landscape Managers
  • Products & Services
    • Agronomy
      • Crop Protection
      • Crop Nutrients
      • Seed
        • Yield Results
        • Seed Product Catalog
      • Agronomy Team
    • Fuels and Lubricants
      • Fuels
      • Lubricants
      • Other Petroleum Products
    • Propane
      • Residential Propane
      • Agricultural Propane
      • Commercial Propane
      • Autogas
      • Propane Tips
      • Energy Order Form
    • Energy Catalog
    • FS Agri-Finance
    • Technology
      • FS MiField
      • Precision Farming
        • Climate FieldView
        • Precision Planting Equipment
    • Grain Storage & Buildings
    • Turf
      • GreenYard Professional
      • GreenYard Consumer
    • FAST STOP
    • Western Grain Marketing - Cash Bids
    • Resource Center
    • DTN Weather
    • myFS Solution Center
  • Our Locations
    • Find Your Nearest Location
    • Adair
    • Bushnell
    • Carthage
    • Colusa
    • Colmar Seed Warehouse
    • Donnellson, IA
    • Ellisville
    • Galesburg Bulk Plant
    • Galesburg Main Office
    • Gilson Bulk Plant
    • Galesburg South - Seed and Technology Center
    • La Harpe
    • Little York
    • Macomb
    • Monmouth
    • Maquon
    • Ormonde
    • Roseville LP Service Center
    • Rozetta
    • Sciota
    • Stronghurst
    • Wataga
    • West Point
    • Williamsfield
    • Maintenance Shop
  • Sustainability
    • 4R Advocates
    • Pollinator Habitats
    • Enduring Farms
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
  • myFS Solution Center
  • View My Account
  • Agri-Finance Account

Soil Compaction is More Easily Avoided Than Corrected

03/24/2020
Soil Fertility Soil Compaction Platy Soil Plow Layer
E-mail Share Print
Soil Compaction
Soil Compaction is More Easily Avoided Than Corrected
  • Compaction is most likely in soils that are atfield capacity.
  • Compaction reduces pore space, changes physicalstructure, and increases soil strength.
  • Compaction prevents plant roots from developingnormally, inhibits nutrient and water uptake, and causes water managementproblems.
  • The four common types of compaction are plowlayer, surface, sidewall, and deep.

While we are sometimes anxious in the springto get busy in the fields, performing field operations when soils are too wetcan cause big problems with soil compaction – problems that are not easilycorrected after the damage is done. Soil compaction takes four primary formsand each has different causes.  All formsof soil compaction are negative to the crop and most can be avoided with soundmanagement and patience. 

 The different types of soil compaction haveone thing in common – the worst compaction does not occur with heavilysaturated soils, but instead with soils that are at field capacity.  Fieldcapacity is the point at which the soil will hold water against the force ofgravity, although the excess has drained out. At this point, some of the pore spaces are filled with air instead ofwater, but there is still enough water that it can serve as a lubricant betweensoil particles, allowing them to slide and collapse against each other.  As this happens, natural pore spaces alsocollapse, eliminating oxygen.  Crop rootswill not grow or function normally in oxygen-deprived soil. 

 With compacted soils, we’re really dealingwith two major issues: 

 1.       Compactionalters the natural soil structure and increases the physical strength of thesoil, preventing crop root systems from fully exploring to take up nutrientsand water.  Soils that are compacted inlayers often will hold surface ponds of water early in the season, but canbecome dry and impenetrable to water later in the season.

 2.    Compactioneliminates air (oxygen) from the soil, so crop roots cannot take up nutrientsor water, even when they’re surrounded by it.

 ‘Plow Layer’ Compaction is the most common and widely known form ofsoil compaction.  This develops withequipment traffic and use of certain implements, such as the disk.  A well-defined layer develops just below thedepth of tillage.  Look for a distinctiveplaty or blocky structured soil layer between six and eight inches deep (seeImage 1).

 Surface Compaction develops when repeated tillage destroyssoil structure in the top inches of the soil profile and/or heavy rainfallcauses soil particles to settle together into a dense layer.  Surface compaction also readily develops withno-till cropping when field traffic occurs before soils dry adequately.  Surface compaction may or may not includesoil crusting, and it need not be as dense as the plow layer to cause cropproblems.  Look for soil that appears tobe lacking in pore spaces, will not easily crumble in the hands, and has ablocky or platy structure. 

 Sidewall Compaction is another familiar form ofcompaction.  In wet soil, one type ofsidewall compaction develops when the opener disk of the planter smears theside walls of the seed slit or furrow which roots have difficulty penetrating.  In many cases, shrinkage of the drying soilcauses the seed slit to pull open.  Lookfor the distinctive seed slit with smeared walls, and roots that grow in a fanshape as they grow the only direction that they can.

 Sidewall compaction can also develop withanhydrous ammonia toolbars and side-dress applicators, again when operationsare done under adverse soil conditions.  Sidewallcompaction may interfere with lateral root growth and may result in a soilfracture that allows nitrogen to be lost to the atmosphere as ammonia gasfollowing application.  Initial diagnosisis as simple as occasionally walking over applied acres immediately following anhydrousammonia application to see if you can detect an ammonia odor. Use a spade to cut perpendicular sectionsacross the application track to check whether sidewall compaction is occurring.

 Deep Compaction is the general compaction that developsbelow the eight to ten inch depth in the soil. This compaction is usually caused by heavy equipment loads on wet soilsor soils at field capacity.  Effects cansometimes be detected twenty inches deep in the soil or more.  Correction of deep compaction can take manyyears and often includes deep ripping under dry soil conditions, as well asplanting and maintaining alfalfa or other deep-rooted forage or cover crops forseveral years.

Related Articles

Fall Nitrogen Application
Sep 29, 2020

Proper soil temperature combined with a forecast of downward-trending, assures you of the best chance of preserving your fall-applied anhydrous ammonia. Read about other useful practices that will help keep N available for next spring's crop.

Read The Full Story
Strategies for Fall Fertilizer Application
Aug 25, 2020

This growing season is one for the history books, and one most want to forget. While some fields may not have been planted to the intended crop, not been planted at all or just planted late, the fertilizer strategy with regards to the soil chemistry does not change.

Read The Full Story
Is Spring the Best Time to Deal with Soil Compaction?
Apr 1, 2019

Depending on its depth, spring might not be the best time to alleviate compaction. In shallow compaction conditions, soil amendments like Gypsum can aid in compaction management. On fields with deeper compaction layers, deep tillage in the fall is the recommended practice.

Read The Full Story
  • News
  • Careers
  • Our Locations
  • Resource Center
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • About Us
  • Site Page Map
  • Who We Serve
    • Farmers
    • Homeowners
    • Fleet Owners
    • Turf & Landscape Managers
  • Products & Services
    • Agronomy
      • Crop Protection
      • Crop Nutrients
      • Seed
        • Yield Results
        • Seed Product Catalog
      • Agronomy Team
    • Fuels and Lubricants
      • Fuels
      • Lubricants
      • Other Petroleum Products
    • Propane
      • Residential Propane
      • Agricultural Propane
      • Commercial Propane
      • Autogas
      • Propane Tips
      • Energy Order Form
    • Energy Catalog
    • FS Agri-Finance
    • Technology
      • FS MiField
      • Precision Farming
        • Climate FieldView
        • Precision Planting Equipment
    • Grain Storage & Buildings
    • Turf
      • GreenYard Professional
      • GreenYard Consumer
    • FAST STOP
    • Western Grain Marketing - Cash Bids
    • Resource Center
    • DTN Weather
    • myFS Solution Center

West Central FS

1445 Monmouth Blvd.

Galesburg, IL 61401

(309) 343-1600

[email protected]

© Copyright 2025 West Central FS, Inc.

Your choice regarding cookies on this site:

We use cookies to optimize site functionality and give you the best possible experience.
Privacy Policy

Your choice regarding cookies on this site:

We use cookies to optimize site functionality and give you the best possible experience.
Privacy Policy