Controlled traffic farming is a system which confines all machinery loads to the least possible area of permanent traffic lanes. Current farming systems allow machines to run at random over the land, compacting around 75% of the area within one season and the whole area by the second season. Soils don't recover quickly, taking as much as a few years (e.g., >5 years, particularly in soils without swelling-shrinking properties).[9][10][11] A proper CTF system on the other hand can reduce tracking to just 15% and this is always in the same place. CTF is a tool; it does not include a prescription for tillage although most growers adopting CTF use little or none because soil structure does not need to be repaired. The permanent traffic lanes are normally parallel to each other and this is the most efficient way of achieving CTF, but the definition does not preclude tracking at an angle. The permanent traffic lanes may be cropped or non-cropped depending on a wide range of variables and local constraints.
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^Canarache, A.; Colibas, J.; Colibas, M.; Horobeanu, I.; Patru, V.; Simota, H.; Trandafirescu, T. (1984). "Effect of induced soil compaction by wheel traffic on soil physical properties and yield of maize in Romania". Soil & Tillage Research (4): 199–213. doi:10.1016/0167-1987(84)90048-5.
^Tullberg, J.N. (2000). "Wheel traffic effects on tillage draught". Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research. 75 (4): 375–382. doi:10.1006/jaer.1999.0516.
^Tullberg, J.N.; Ziebarth, P.J.; Li, Y. (2001). "Tillage and traffic effects on runoff". Australian Journal of Soil Research. 39 (2): 249–257. doi:10.1071/SR00019.
^Hamza, M.A; Anderson, W.K. (2005). "Soil compaction in cropping systems. A review of the nature, causes and possible solutions". Soil & Tillage Research. 82 (2): 121–145. Bibcode:2005STilR..82..121H. doi:10.1016/j.still.2004.08.009.
^Håkansson, I. (2005). "Machinery-induced compaction of arable soils. Incidence – consequences – countermeasures". Reports from the Division of Soil Management (109). Uppsala: Department of Soil Sciences. ISSN0348-0976.
^Radford, B.J.; Yule, D.F.; McGarry, D.; Playford, C. (December 2007). "Amelioration of soil compaction can take 5 years on a Vertisol under no till in the semi-arid subtropics". Soil and Tillage Research. 97 (2): 249–255. Bibcode:2007STilR..97..249R. doi:10.1016/j.still.2006.01.005.
^"The potential of controlled traffic farming to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon sequestration in arable land: a critical review". Transactions of the ASABE: 707–731. 22 June 2015. doi:10.13031/trans.58.11049.