Piket™ Soil Penetrometer

MEASURE SOIL DENSITY: The Piket Penetrometer enables you to measure soil density and to identify compacted soil to enable you to take a calculated decision to improve soil health!

WHAT IS A PIKET™ SOIL PENETROMETER: The Piket™ Mechanical Penetrometer is a soil compaction measurement device for determining the compaction of soil on agricultural land. It measures the depth of the subsurface. Each farm has its own unique soil condition. It is important to know the quality of your farm’s soil condition to best monitor the impact of different farming methods on the soil. It works by piercing the ground to measure its penetration resistance and detect any compacted layers in the soil. This enables any loosening measures to be taken if necessary. Using the Piket™ soil penetrometer measurements means that you have knowledge about your soil’s condition and enables you to manage the soils quality better. This is one step closer in making use of conservative farming methods.

IDENTIFY COMPACTED SOIL

1. SIGNS OF COMPACTED SOIL: Signs of compacted soil are: dry soil, erosion, less plant material and areas with lots of mechanical or animal traffic. These areas will be the focus areas where you need to measure soil density first to be able to take the correct action.

2. ANIMAL TRAFFIC: Overgrazing can contribute a great deal to compacted soil. If you can measure your soil density, you can manage your animal distribution better.

3. IMPLEMENT TRAFFIC: Heavy equipment and tillage implements amplify damage to the soil’s structure.

PIKET™ SOIL PENETROMETER BENEFITS:

• Knowing the soil compaction is crucial for plant root development.
• Identifying soil compacted areas can focus attention on future problematic areas and allow for the appropriate action to be taken to eliminate unwanted soil compaction.
• Measuring and quantifying the effect that animal traffic has on soil compaction is key to managing your animals grazing, eg. density of animals per square kilometer or time spent grazing per square kilometer.
• Understanding the actual effect on the soil by using certain ground working implements and machinery by making use of measuring and quantifying the actual data.
• Helps to maintain good soil structure.