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Rotary tillage every year: the tilled layer gets shallower

The rotor makes a floor.

Hard-packed soil
Speed
  1. The tilled layer shallows; the top ponds; a shiny layer appears when you dig.
  2. The whole layer hard is texture or organic matter; a plough pan is the strip underneath.
  3. Drought eases after water; a hard lid is wet above and dry below, or dry above and wet below.
  4. Don’t invert raw subsoil every year to bake it; don’t smear wet soil into ribbons.
  5. How deep to loosen: Usually 25–40 cm. Follow the profile. Don’t turn raw subsoil every year
  6. Name what you see before you feed.
  7. If leaves, roots and the surface disagree, stop.
  8. Rotary tillage is a haircut of the top.

What you see in the field

The tilled layer shallows; the top ponds; a shiny layer appears when you dig. Roots turn.When a hoe bounces or footprints sink, dig twenty centimetres and look for a shiny hard pan. Roots that turn sideways count. Cracked dust is extra. Keep machines off wet soil.

A sketch. Do not fertilise from the picture alone.

Tap to enlarge. The caption says what to photograph. Missing field photos are marked as to-be-added.

Why it looks like this

The field looks like this because the root cannot take water or nutrients the usual way. Fix the soil condition first — drainage, salt, acidity, compaction or a salt of fertiliser — then a thin feed. Rates live in the range on this page; confirm with a local station and the label.

Easy to mix up

  • Looks like “The whole layer packed hard”

    The whole layer hard is texture or organic matter; a plough pan is the strip underneath.

  • Looks like “Drought”

    Drought eases after water; a hard lid is wet above and dry below, or dry above and wet below.

Do this / don’t do that

  1. 1The tilled layer shallows; the top ponds; a shiny layer appears when you dig. Roots turn.
  2. 2Subsoil in alternate years deeper than the rotary layer. Keep off mud. Straw and organic matter give the loosened soil meat.
  3. 3Don’t invert raw subsoil every year to bake it. Use the range on this page only as a range. Confirm with a local station and the product label.

Don’t do this first

  • Don’t invert raw subsoil every year to bake it; don’t smear wet soil into ribbons.

Rate range

How deep to loosen

Usually 25–40 cm

Follow the profile. Don’t turn raw subsoil every year.

Rotary tillage

Don’t work the same depth every year

Rotate the tillage depth.

These are ranges. Confirm with your local extension station and the product label.

Topsoil thickness

How deep a root can still grow

Getting shallower: rotate the tillage.

When you see The tilled layer shallows; the top ponds; a shiny layer appears when you dig. Roots turn, test. Take soil from the bad patch and from a greener neighbour, separately.

Lesson video

2026-03-23 · Li Zeyu · For learning. Serious damage: local agronomist or a soil test.

For learning only. Fertiliser and pesticide decisions need a local agronomist and a soil test.

Not sure? Photograph the field to identify the problem