It's always wise to keep all traffic off of wet soils. Without enough sizable pores, plant roots find it difficult or impossible to grow and penetrate into new soil. Air, water, fertilizers and pesticides fail to infiltrate through surface crusts or plowpan layers in compacted soils, robbing the roots of essential nutrients, water and oxygen. Plants are starved because roots are not able to function to capacity. Drought symptoms may appear, even with plenty of rain, watering, or standing water on the soil surface because water cannot get through the soil to the roots.
Compacted soils are also harder to work, taking much more power to plow.
Back to the top Tips to avoid compaction Inflating tires to the lowest safe PSI will help avoid compaction. Never work wet soil. Vary cultivation depth each year. Use flotation tires, dual tires, or tracks on equipment. Always inflate tires to the lowest safe psi.