A Headland, in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, is the area at each end of a planted field. In some areas of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, this area is known as the Turnrow. It is used for turning around with farm implements during field operations and is the first area to be

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most l ...

ed to minimize

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

damage. The rows run perpendicular to the lay of the field and are usually two, three or four times the width of the implement used for planting the field.

Characteristics

The soil on headlands is subject to greater levels of

soil compaction In geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water (or othe ...

because it receives more traffic per unit of area than the field as a whole. Yields are generally lower than in the field itself due to additional implement traffic and crop damage from implements turning on them, as well as compaction.

Soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

levels are frequently higher than in the main part of the field due to overlapping applications of fertilizer coupled with reduced yields.

Steam ploughing

In the days when steam ploughing was common, the engine would often remain on the headland and pull the

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

across the field by a

wire rope Steel wire rope (right hand lang lay) Wire rope is several strands of metal wire twisted into a helix forming a composite '' rope'', in a pattern known as ''laid rope''. Larger diameter wire rope consists of multiple strands of such laid rope in ...

. There would be severe compaction of the headland but little compaction of the rest of the field. There would usually be two engines, one on each headland, and they would

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attach ...

the plough to and fro between them.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Headland (Agriculture) Agronomy Agricultural terminology Agricultural soil science