ABSTRACT
The combination of high rainfall and low évapotranspiration rates for much of the year has tended to confine the area of tillage cropping to the southern and eastern regions of Ireland. Soils tend to be wet when worked leaving them vulnerable to soil compaction. This paper outlines research findings from cultivation and deep loosening experiments for sugar beet. Some cultivation treatments have a compacting effect on the soil and reduce yields significantly. Preliminary work with autumn cultivations indicate that they facilitate earlier spring sowing but that surface crusting may be a problem leading to reduced establishment.
Deep loosening as a means of ameliorating soil compaction has given positive results where the subsequent number of tillage operations has been minimised. Beneficial effects of soil loosening are often lost through recompaction.
