Visitors to Tillage-Live will be able to see working demonstrations of cultivation equipment from leading manufacturers, together with industry leading experts on hand to discuss the latest agricultural developments at the technical-trade static exhibition area.

This year's ‘Knowledge Trail’ will also provide practical insight into topical areas such as soils and cover crops, as well as tyres and soil protection – and there's NRoSO and 4 BASIS points being available for those who complete the trail.

While it might not have been as much of an issue this year, soil compaction from last year's wet summer and harvest really brought soil health back into focus. One of the knowledge trail stations will feature the importance of the correct tyre pressure for different jobs and conditions.

Trelleborg will be visually demonstrating the importance of correct tyre selection, set-up and use. Its practical demonstrations will show how to improve farming efficiency through protecting soils, improving work rates and minimising fuel use.

This year, Trelleborg will be using two identical Valtra T174 tractors joined on a pulley to a Valtra S394, which will act as a brake tractor to ensure a constant load goes through the tyres.

Both tractors will be identically set-up in terms of speed and revs with the only difference being one tractor’s tyres are set at a generic pressure, whilst the other has been set up correctly using the Trelleborg Load Calculator (TLC) app.

The demo will show that the tractor with the correct tyre pressures, and therefore the larger footprint and greater traction, will arrive before the other.

An earlier footprint test, in Italy, using a Fendt 939 S4 Profiplus tractor fitted with Trelleborg IF 710/60R34 TM1000 High Power, front tyres, and IF 900/60R42 TM1000 High Power, rears – and using the tractor's Vario Grip pressure setting system – used two different pressures, 0.8 bar and 1.8 bar, to highlight the different effects on the soil footprint.

These highlighted the importance of choosing the correct equipment to increase the overall efficiency and productivity of agricultural activities, and using the correct tyre pressure to optimise that footprint. An infiltration test demonstrated that the compaction was substantially reduced, applying the lowest possible pressure, as suggested by the Trelleborg Load Calculator app, in the largest footprint.

This highlighted that it is important to avoid damage in the first place as soil compaction from tractor tyres can reduce the yield in subsequent years.

Visitors to Tillage Live will be able to visually see the potential time and fuel saving from correct tyre set up as well as the increased damage to soil that incorrect set-up can cause.