Contour farming maintains soil fertility by preventing erosion of fertile topsoil.
Use less fertiliser, reduce erosion, and use less energy and resources.
Enable better yields with sustainable farming methods.
Soil erosion is the silent thief of your farm's productivity. Replacing lost fertile soil is almost impossible, which is why prevention is better than cure. When done right, creating contours and waterways has been shown to reduce soil erosion by more than 50%.
Get your farmland into shape with contours and waterways
Why use contours and waterways to prevent erosion?
- Ploughing and planting across slope contours allows enough time for the water to enter the soil, and also to settle the topsoil without washing it down the slope. Maintaining fertile topsoil means reduced fertiliser use and less money spent to purchase it. It also means that rainwater washes less into freshwater systems.
- Contour farming increases the soil’s water retention, which means that enough water soaks into the soil for good health of the plants.
- Water retention also improves soil quality, irrigation, and water conservation.
Contours and waterways make up an essential part of your farmland layout. They assist with working the land and effectively removing water from the fields, without erosion and damage to the crops and fields.
With a tilt blade bulldozer and excavator, we'll follow the natural contours of your fields so that you can plant crops across or perpendicular to the slopes. This arrangement breaks up the flow of water and makes it harder for soil to erode - the ridges will stop the rainwater, and the trenches will carry it safely away without a lot of soil loss.