Modelling the readiness of soil for different methods of tillage

• Trafficability and workability methods are combined in a new decision support tool.
• The decision support tool estimates field readiness without requiring in-field tests.
• Field trafficability is estimated with respect to the specific machine used.
• The annual number of available days for two types of tillage are compared.
• The decision support tool is tested against historical estimates of field readiness.

While research has been conducted on the workability and trafficability of soils separately, it is the combination of these two factors which allows a decision to be made about a field’s readiness for a given operation. Knowledge about when a field is ready for an operation is essential when planning when and where operations should be executed, so that they can be executed in an efficient and cost-effective way. In this paper, methods for evaluating workability and trafficability were combined to produce a novel decision support tool for assessing the readiness of a location for tillage operations over a period of time.Three soils within a field were examined using the proposed tool to estimate the number of days they were in a state of readiness for conventional tillage and minimum tillage over an 11 year period. The soils were assessed for when they were trafficable, when they were workable and when they were both trafficable and workable. The assessments were made based on the soil texture, simulated soil water content and physical parameters of machines likely to be used for the defined operations.All of the soils were ready for longer periods of time for minimum tillage than for conventional tillage. During autumn tillage, it was approximately twice as likely that the field would be ready for minimum tillage as it would be ready for conventional tillage. The tool offers the means for comparing operational management decisions either as a standalone tool or as a part of a larger farm management information system.