Nine Tips to Minimize Field Ruts

Field ruts create a plethora of issues for farmers—they increase wear and tear on equipment, reduce operator comfort, and can indicate soil compaction. Furthermore, water can create channels and result in the erosion of valuable soil. Need another compelling reason to control ruts? A Minnesota State University Extension educator found that ruts led to a 17% decrease in yield in observation fields.

The best way to deal with ruts is to mitigate the issues that cause them in the first place.

One U.S. Farmer Feeds More than 160 People 

The number of people fed by a single U.S. farmer has grown steadily over the years. In the 1800s, a U.S. farmer grew enough food to feed between three and five people. According to the website Statista, the number has continued to grow over the decades:

• 1940 ~20
• 1960 ~45
• 1980 ~100
• 2005 ~144
• 2022 ~165

While the statistic isn’t perfect, it does show a massive improvement in the efficiency and productivity of U.S. farmers. It might surprise you to learn that tires play an important role in helping farmers grow the number of people they feed.  

Best Practices for Safer Winter Ag Tire Inspection 

In order to ensure everything is ready to roll in the spring, it’s common to inspect the tires of tractors, implements, and other farm equipment in the winter. Farms are filled with potential hazards and winter only ups the ante of something going sideways. Factors like short dark days, bitter cold, slick snow, and treacherous ice all pose additional challenges to farmers, tire dealers, and other ag tire personnel. 

Ben Franklin famously said, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Follow his sage advice and take a few simple steps to improve your safety while working or visiting the farm this winter.  

New Alliance Agristar II Radial Tire Size Introduced 

Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America, Inc. (YOHTA) announced the release of the new 800/70R38 size of its popular Alliance Agri Star II farm radial tire. The new, larger size features a 173D high-load rating and is rated for speeds of up to 40 mph.

Make These Common Farm Tire Mistakes a Thing of the Past 

It’s not just common for people to make the same mistake over and over again, it’s science. The human brain isn’t wired to learn from errors. Rather than admitting to making a mistake, it searches for anything but itself to incriminate, then reinforces the bad behavior. This explains why we see so many farmers repeatedly making the same tire mistakes. Fortunately, it’s possible to break the cycle by looking to the future instead of dwelling on the past.