The Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) Network is a subscription club, managed by NIAB, providing:
- practical and independent information relevant to CTF
- networking opportunities for new and established practitioners
- visits and events on farms running or implementing CTF systems
Join today for only £90/year
CTF is a field machinery management system using high-level satellite guidance technology, coupled with autosteer, to confine all vehicles to the least possible area. This creates permanent traffic lanes.
Tracked areas, in CTF systems, are just 15-25% compared with existing randomly trafficked systems of 45-85% of fields each season. CTF typically reduces energy and fuel for crop establishment by 35%, as well as markedly improving soil structure in the non-trafficked areas.
In practice, CTF involves matching up machinery widths and aligning, as closely as practicable, the track gauges of the running gear on all vehicles.
A transition to CTF would be carried out alongside the farm’s machinery replacement policy, and can lead to a substantial reduction in capital investment and operating costs.
CTF Membership benefits include:
- Reports of CTF events
- Summaries of new relevant research outputs
- Farm case studies describing pathways to CTF
- Links to relevant information/video etc held by others
- Introductory materials on satellite guidance and autosteer
- Guidelines on the introduction and maintenance of CTF systems
- Register of consultants/experts willing to talk through their CTF experience
- Invites to regional on-farm events