Show Transcript
0:00In the last 13 years since I started Farmers Friend, we've had hundreds,
0:03thousands of questions from customers and we've kind of consolidated that into some topics that we're discussing. I'm here with my dad, John. And one of the
0:12things that people ask about and have issues with is soil compaction,
0:19especially early on as you're developing your farm, developing your field beds. And you know, soil compaction, hard,
0:27rocky, sometimes clay soil can be really challenging. We dealt with that, you know, a lot here. We have very clayy
0:36soil. So, I remember as a kid spending a lot of time working on very compact soil. So, it's an issue other people are
0:44dealing with. What kind of uh wisdom could you share with our viewers and our customers on how to deal with just compacted hard soil and how to avoid it?
0:57Yeah. Well, I the the first thing I think it's important to understand is that soil compaction is is really just
1:06an issue with clay soils. You can't compact sand and um even lom anything
1:14that has a higher organic matter content. The the reality is you go into the forest and take the the soil from
1:23the forest floor, you can't compact it because it's got enough organic matter in it that it won't compact. So
1:32basically that's I think the the ultimate solution is to get enough organic matter in your soil that it
1:40won't compact. In the early years we we brought in a bulldozer to level off pads
1:46for for green houses and I can remember after the bulldozer was finished having to use
1:54picks to to work up our beds. They were that compacted. We had a guy here that was working with us at the time who was
2:03using a digging fork but using a a fiveB
2:09sledge to hit the digging fork into the ground. So we we know about compaction,
2:17but the point is you got to do whatever it takes. you know, if you've got access to somebody with a tractor and a
2:26subsoiler, if you're trying to do a larger area,
2:30um, I would look into hiring somebody with a subsoiler, which is just these big shanks that are, you know, this
2:40long, 18 in long or something that uh,
2:45just go down and, you know, just rip the soil up. So, that's a good place to
2:51start if if you have access and you're doing a larger area. But otherwise, if you're starting
2:59small, whatever it takes, you know, a pick, if it takes that, or um, you know,
3:06a digging fork, a really strong digging fork, or, you know, if there are some
3:13hard pan broad forks, I think you all sell one now, that might work, but, you know, when you get something wider, the
3:22more times it's the the harder it is to get them into the ground. So that's your
3:30first step is initially breaking it up and then adding organic matter. You know, I think
3:39the two main things there is compost or
3:46um Pete Moss. you know, there's there is some sentiment against using Pete Moss,
3:53which is understandable, but sometimes um that's that's the easiest way to get
4:00into it. Um just just trying to get that organic matter into the soil. What's the
4:08reason against Pete Moss? Well, it's interesting. Elliot Coleman has a bit of an essay on this, you know.
4:20It's the the thought is that it's well I know in Europe it it is it has been used
4:28faster than it's being replaced. So just because it's not really a renewable, I mean it is renewable, but it takes time.
4:37But Elliot's point is that Canada has so much Pete that it's not um being used at the rate that it's being produced. Okay.
4:50But I know another argument I've heard recently is that the extraction of Pete can release
4:59some I think it's methane gas or something that you know could be an issue for climate change kind of stuff.
5:08So well you know people can do their own research, you know, figure out what they feel comfortable with. But I know, you know, here we use a lot of Pete Moss uh
5:17in my personal garden. you know, we we used quite a bit. We had a garden down the road that we tried to, you know, develop. And again, it was very hard,
5:26rocky soil, and we had to do one real challenging, you know, uh, digging with
5:36just a a digging fork. I mean, you can't sometimes if it's so hard, you can't even use a broad fork. Even if it's a hard pan, you just you don't have enough
5:43weight to to get it in the ground. So you have to get something that just has like, you know, two or three prongs. And we dug it up and added
5:52Pete Moss. I don't know what rate, you know, but but pretty heavy. I would say 2 or 3 in. And then, you
5:59know, incorporated that into the soil as deep as possible. And that made a huge difference. You know, come the next year, it was pretty easy to dig it up.
6:09So, it's the it's the quickest way to build your your or to to loosen your soil. Yeah, you may still want to add
6:18some compost, but it's a lot of organic matter fairly inexpensively.
6:23And the beauty of Pete Moss is it's fairly um neutral or inert when it comes to to
6:32nutrients and stuff. The challenge with compost can be that if you don't know
6:39where your soils are as far as nutrients go, um, compost can really throw them out of whack depending on what's in the
6:49compost. We learned that the hard way as well. You know, our our soils are very high in phosphorus naturally. And any
6:57manurebased compost is also going to be high in phosphorus.
7:03So yeah, you got to look at that. But I I think the the last thing I would say as far as soil compaction is
7:12once you loosen it, don't compact it again. Don't be running equip heavy equipment on your beds. Don't be
7:21stepping on your beds. You know, the hard work is that in that initial soil
7:28working, but once you do that initial breaking up and as long as you're adding organic
7:37matter, you shouldn't have major issues with compaction anymore. Yeah, great. I think it's a lot of good good thoughts.
7:45So, you know, I think, you know,
7:47important take the time to lay out your your farm and your beds where you want them and and put some some thought into that cuz the last thing you want to do
7:55is spend a bunch of time developing ground and then rearranging it. And I know we've done that a couple of times here where we've invested a lot in in a field plot and then for various reasons,
8:06we've rearranged things whether it's efficiency or whatever and that's kind of frustrating. It feels like work down the drain. So, take the time to lay out
8:15your garden. And then you just have to realize that if you have clay soil and you got a lot of compaction, you're gonna have to do a lot of very backbreaking hard work. You're going to
8:24have blisters and uh you just do that work, incorporate the organic matter.
8:30And we didn't really talk about cover crops, but I know that's something we use a lot. You know, in the off season, even if it's just a couple of months,
8:37you know, you can do a a quick cover crop. Um, cover cropping is good and it will definitely help to to break up
8:45compact soil. I think my only thought there is if you're trying to do something quickly, cover crops are not
8:54the solution, you know. I mean, ideally with cover crops, you need to start 2 or 3 years ahead of time to to really break
9:03up that soil. Yeah, for sure. But, you know, if you're not going to be growing in an area for, you know, a period of
9:10time, like don't don't just leave it. I mean, you got to cover it with something. Either a silage tarp or cover
9:17crop. Um, either one's going to help minimize compaction. Um, so yeah, I think that covers it. I appreciate your
9:26input on this and hope this information has been helpful to our viewers. If you have questions like this, feel free to reach out and and submit those
9:35questions. And until next time, happy growing.
9:39[Music]
How to Fix Soil Compaction on Your Farm
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
Soil compaction is primarily a clay soil problem — sandy and high-organic-matter soils don't compact. The long-term solution is adding enough organic matter that the soil physically can't compress. In the short term, break compacted ground with whatever it takes (subsoiler, digging fork, pick, broadfork), incorporate 2–3 inches of peat moss or compost as deep as possible, and then never compact it again by keeping equipment and foot traffic off your beds.
If you've ever tried to push a broadfork into ground so hard that you couldn't get it to budge — or worse, needed a sledgehammer to drive a digging fork into your own beds — you know what soil compaction feels like from the business end.
Soil compaction is one of the most common challenges new market farmers face, especially in regions with heavy clay soil. It's frustrating, physically exhausting, and can make you question whether the land you're working with is even viable for growing.
My dad, John Dysinger, started farming at Bountiful Blessings Farm on very heavy clay soil. He's been building and managing those soils for 27 years, and the early days involved picks, sledgehammers, and some truly backbreaking work. Here's what he's learned about dealing with compaction — and more importantly, how to make sure you only have to do it once.
What Causes Soil Compaction?
Understanding the cause helps you understand the solution. Soil compaction is really only an issue with clay soils. You can't compact sand. You can't compact soil with high organic matter content. If you walk into a forest and grab a handful of soil from the forest floor, you can't compact it — there's too much organic matter in the structure for the particles to press together.
Clay, on the other hand, has tiny, flat particles that stack together tightly under pressure. Add moisture and weight — foot traffic, equipment, even heavy rain on bare soil — and those particles lock up into a dense, hard layer that roots can't penetrate and water can't drain through.
This tells you the ultimate solution right up front: get enough organic matter into your soil that it physically can't compact anymore. Everything else is just getting you to that point.
How Do You Break Up Compacted Soil?
There's no gentle way to say this: if your soil is severely compacted, the initial breaking is going to be hard physical work. But it's work you should only have to do once if you manage things properly afterward.
For Larger Areas: Hire a Subsoiler
If you're developing a significant area of new ground, the most efficient approach is to hire someone with a tractor and a subsoiler. A subsoiler uses long shanks — roughly 18 inches — that rip through the compacted layer and break it up at depth. This is the fastest way to open up a large area and is well worth the cost of hiring someone with the right equipment.
For Smaller Areas: Whatever It Takes
If you're starting small or developing individual beds, you're looking at manual tools — and you need to be realistic about what the conditions require.
On moderately compacted soil, a strong digging fork or a hardpan broadfork can work. But on severely compacted clay? My dad has memories of needing a pick just to get into the ground. He had a worker who was using a five-pound sledgehammer to drive a digging fork into the soil. After the bulldozer leveled pads for their greenhouses in the early years, the soil was so compressed they couldn't work it with anything less.
Sometimes a broadfork — even a hardpan model — isn't enough because you simply don't have enough body weight to drive the tines into rock-hard clay. In those cases, you need something with fewer tines that concentrates your force: a digging fork with two or three prongs, or even a pick to make the initial break.
It's not fun. You'll have blisters. But this is a one-time investment in your growing beds — once you break through that compaction and build organic matter, you shouldn't have to do it again.
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How Do You Add Organic Matter to Fix Compaction?
Once the ground is broken up, the next step is incorporating organic matter to change the soil structure permanently.
Peat Moss
My dad considers peat moss the quickest way to loosen compacted clay soil. He recommends spreading 2 to 3 inches over the broken-up bed and incorporating it as deep as possible.
The advantage of peat moss is that it's fairly neutral — it doesn't bring a lot of nutrients along with it, which matters if you don't yet know where your soil stands nutritionally. Compost, by contrast, can throw your nutrient levels out of balance depending on what's in it. At Bountiful Blessings Farm, the native soils are naturally high in phosphorus, and manure-based compost is also high in phosphorus — so adding heavy compost applications without testing first made the imbalance worse. That's a lesson they learned the hard way.
There is debate about the sustainability of peat moss. In Europe, peat has been extracted faster than it regenerates. Eliot Coleman has written about this and argues that Canada's peat reserves are so vast that extraction isn't outpacing production. Others raise concerns about methane release during extraction. It's worth doing your own research and deciding what you're comfortable with. But from a pure soil-building standpoint, peat moss is effective and affordable for loosening heavy clay.
Compost
Compost is the other main option and brings the added benefit of feeding soil biology. Just be aware of what's in it — particularly if you're using manure-based compost — and ideally get a soil test before applying heavy rates so you know what your soil actually needs.
Cover Crops
Cover crops are excellent for breaking up compaction over time. Living roots physically penetrate compacted layers, and the organic matter they add as they decompose improves soil structure season after season.
The caveat: cover crops are a long-term strategy, not a quick fix. If you're trying to get a bed into production soon, cover crops alone won't solve severe compaction fast enough. My dad says you'd need to start two or three years ahead of time for cover crops alone to really break up hard soil. But for areas you're not currently growing in, keeping them in cover crops (or under a silage tarp) prevents further compaction and builds toward better soil over time.
How Do You Prevent Compaction from Coming Back?
This is the part people sometimes overlook — and it's the most important step. All that backbreaking work means nothing if you re-compact your beds.
Don't drive heavy equipment on your beds. Keep tractors, wheelbarrows, and anything with weight on designated paths and aisles only.
Don't step on your beds. This is a discipline issue, especially during busy harvest days when shortcuts are tempting. Establish permanent bed layouts and permanent pathways, and train everyone on your farm to stay off the growing surface.
Keep adding organic matter. Compost, cover crops, and mulch all contribute to maintaining the loose, crumbly structure you worked so hard to create. Soil with high organic matter resists compaction naturally — just like that forest floor soil.
Don't leave beds bare. Bare soil exposed to heavy rain compacts more easily than covered soil. If a bed isn't in production, cover it with a silage tarp or plant a cover crop. Either one protects the soil structure you've built.
Plan Your Layout Before You Start
One final piece of advice from our experience: take time to plan your bed layout before you start breaking ground.
At Bountiful Blessings Farm, we've invested significant labor in developing field plots only to rearrange the layout later for efficiency reasons. When you've spent days or weeks breaking up compacted soil and building beds, having to redo that work because you didn't think through the layout is genuinely painful.
Think about bed lengths, pathway widths, irrigation runs, and equipment access before you start the hard work of soil development. The layout you start with is likely the layout you'll live with for years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Soil compaction is caused by pressure on clay soil particles, which are small and flat and lock together tightly under weight. Foot traffic, heavy equipment, and even heavy rain on bare soil can all cause compaction. Sandy soils and soils high in organic matter resist compaction naturally.
For large areas, hire someone with a tractor and subsoiler — long shanks rip through compacted layers at depth. For smaller areas, use a strong digging fork, pick, or hardpan broadfork. On severely compacted clay, you may need concentrated force (fewer tines, more pressure) rather than a wide tool like a standard broadfork.
Break up the compacted layer manually or mechanically, then incorporate 2–3 inches of peat moss as deep as possible. Peat moss is nutrient-neutral and adds a large volume of organic matter quickly. By the following season, the soil should be noticeably easier to work.
There's debate on this. Eliot Coleman argues that Canada's vast peat reserves aren't being depleted at current extraction rates. Others point to methane release during extraction. Do your own research and decide what you're comfortable with. From a soil-building perspective, peat moss is effective and affordable for loosening compacted clay.
Never drive equipment or walk on your growing beds — keep all traffic on designated pathways. Continue adding organic matter through compost, cover crops, and mulch. Keep beds covered with crops, cover crops, or a silage tarp rather than leaving them bare. Soil with sufficient organic matter resists compaction naturally.
Over time, yes — living roots physically break through compacted layers and the decomposing organic matter improves soil structure. But cover crops are a long-term strategy that requires two to three years to significantly impact severe compaction. For faster results, combine mechanical breaking with organic matter additions, and use cover crops to maintain and improve the soil going forward.
Both work, but for different reasons. Peat moss adds organic matter quickly without affecting nutrient levels — useful when you don't know your soil's nutrient status. Compost adds organic matter plus nutrients and biology, but can throw nutrient levels out of balance if applied heavily without testing. Ideally, get a soil test first, then choose accordingly.
The Takeaway
Soil compaction is a solvable problem — it just takes honest effort upfront and good management afterward. Break the compacted layer with whatever tools the situation demands. Add organic matter — peat moss for speed, compost for nutrition, cover crops for long-term structure. And then protect your investment by keeping weight off your beds and organic matter going in.
The good news is that once you've done the hard work of loosening your soil and building organic matter, compaction stops being a problem. The work gets easier every year. You just have to push through that first season.