Can drain tiles do more than just drainage?

There is about 1000 ft. of drain tile per acre (assuming 40ft lateral spacing). Ever wondered if the miles long tile drains in your fields could do more than just drainage? Most would agree that tile drains do more than just draining the fields. My recent article in Ohio’s Country Journal’s December Issue will “dig deeper” and revisit what all a drainage system can do? If you can think of more than what’s in this article, send us a note!

Drain Tile

Here are some glimpses of what you will get to read in the full article…

Primary functions of modern-day drainage: The main purpose of drainage was to bring historically wet soils under agricultural production, with additional benefits of improved human health due to lesser risks of pests and diseases associated with waterlogged or marsh lands. Surface and tile drainage transformed the swamps of northwest Ohio into some of the best farmland in the state. The primary function of a modern-day drainage system is still the same – to remove excess water from land surface and soil profile to sustain and enhance crop production. In arid climates, drainage is essential for salinity control, especially in irrigated agriculture. A July 1982 Newsletter by Mel Palmer, then OSU Drainage Extension Agricultural Engineer describes “Twenty Benefits of Drainage” (available at https://go.osu.edu/20drainagebenefits). Most of these benefits still hold true 40 years later!

Benefit to crop yield and profitability: Long-term research at the Ohio State University showed that compared to lands with adequate surface drainage, subsurface drainage improvements may increase yields by 25-30 bu/ac for corn and 3-12 bu/ac for soybean. This translates into a payback period of 7 to 8 years based on economic price data in recent years. Now one may think, that’s it! The system paid itself off, and there is no need to think about additional benefits. Well, the same system can bring you some additional benefits. Here is how:

The function of drain tiles changes from one season to another. The drainage system that is intended to “Drain” in spring starts to “De-Rain” your fields in late summer! Could you conserve some of that rainwater and soil moisture for the periods when your crops may suffer a drought stress?

The article further elaborates on the following:

  • Drainage water management and (sub)irrigation can further boost yield and profitability
  • Why haven’t we seen too much irrigation of grain crops in northwest Ohio compared to central and southern Ohio?
  • Conservation drainage for improved water quality

Full article is available at https://ocj.com/2022/12/can-drain-tiles-do-more-than-drainage/ 

Twenty Benefits of Drainage in 1982!

While digging through the old records, we just came across a July 1982 Newsletter by Mel Palmer, then OSU Drainage Extension Agricultural Engineer describes “Twenty Benefits of Drainage”. It is so well written that most of these benefits still hold true 40 years later! Here is a copy of the original article.

 

Here is a list of benefits from Palmer’s article:

  1. Better soil aeration,
  2. Better soil moisture,
  3. Better soil structure,
  4. Soil warm up quickly in spring
  5. An increased supply of nitrogen from soil,
  6. Longer growing season,
  7. Certain toxic substances and disease organisms are removed from the soil,
  8. Winds are less liable to uproot plants,
  9. Soil erosion and sediment loss can be reduced,
  10. Good drainage saves fuel,
  11. Good drainage reduces winter crop damage,
  12. Good drainage promotes earlier crop maturity and earlier fall harvests,
  13. A greater variety of crops can be grown,
  14. Weed control is easier with good drainage,
  15. Well-drained grazing land supports more livestock,
  16. Good drainage reduces diseases,
  17. Valuable livestock water supplies can be obtained,
  18. Plants are better able to withstand summer droughts,
  19. Drainage is essential for salinity control, and
  20. Overall, good drainage results in higher crop yields, improved crop quality, and reduced risk of crop loss.

 

2021 Overholt Drainage Workshop – June 9, 2021

By: Vinayak Shedekar, The Ohio State University

Event Flyer

Click image to view details and Agenda. No cost to attend. Registration required.

Ohio State University’s Overholt Drainage School has been held annually for the past 50+ years. The school provides comprehensive training to farmers, land improvement contractors, soil and water conservation technicians, engineers, consultants, sanitarians and others on the purpose, design, layout, construction and management of drainage systems. The five-day program is usually held in March and involves hands-on learning activities as well as educational talks on drainage water management and water quality.

Click HERE to Register for Overholt Drainage Workshop

Considering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 drainage school will not be held this March. A virtual workshop and webinar series covering a range of drainage-related topics is currently being planned. The series will launch with a half-day workshop focused on drainage design and installation on June 9, 2021. The workshop will feature updates on recently passed H.B. 340 – Ohio’s “petition ditch laws” that address the installation and maintenance of drainage works of improvement in Ohio. A panel of professional engineers representing state and federal agencies, drainage contractors, and tile manufacturers will then discuss some standard practices, common issues, and troubleshooting associated with drainage design, installation, and repairs.

Following the half-day workshop, the Overholt Program will also offer a webinar series (schedule coming soon) focused on drainage-related topics. The hourly webinars will feature experts and panels to discuss various design and installation aspects, use of advanced tools, software and technology for drainage design, and conservation practices for soil and water quality protection. For any questions about the upcoming drainage education programs including the drainage school, contact Vinayak Shedekar at shedekar.1@osu.edu.


 

Understanding Transitional No-till and True No-till!

https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2134/cs2018.51.0603

Jerry Grigar, State Agronomist at USDA-NRCS, East Lansing, MI and Randall Reeder, Retired Extension Engineer from The Ohio State University, recently co-authored an excellent article in the Crops & Soils Magazine, published by the tri-societies for certified crop advisers, agronomists, and soil scientists. The article talks about “Transitional no-till” that is rarely thought of as an important phase when converting a conventionally tilled farm to “true no-till”.

I highly encourage you to read this article that elaborates the differences between a transitional no-till system versus a true no-till system. Grigar et al. further question the validity of some of the published studies that report to have conducted no-till research in a short-duration. According to the authors, the early years of no-till should be treated as “transitional no-till”, until the system matures and becomes a “true no-till”. This is an interesting take that may be important for researchers as well as producers.

Here is a link to Jerry’s article. If you cannot find a copy of the article, please contact me or any of the authors.

Transitional no-till: What is it and how does it differ from ‘true’ no-till?

First look at Irrigation in Ohio

We have started doing some preliminary trend analysis of changing water requirements for Corn and Soybean in Ohio. Below is a link to my 5-minute rapid talk at the Soil Science Society of America Meeting in Sand Diego, CA. I decided to share this, because it generated a lot of good discussion in my session. Feel free to comment below or contact me.

Modern drainage design and installation

Precision Conservation: Agronomy Monographs 59

Agricultural drainage removes excess water from the soil profile and helps sustain crops by improving the aeration and providing better trafficability of the soil. The benefits of drainage include reduced risk of crop loss from excess water stress, improved control of pest and diseases, and consistent crop yields under climate variability .

Book Chapter on GIS-GPS applications in Drainage Planning, Design, and Management

Although, the primary purpose of drainage has remained unchanged since 1800’s, the field of drainage has evolved significantly with respect to design, installation and management. Unlike the old drainage tiles installed randomly, the modern drainage systems tend to be more intense (narrow spacing) and more systematically installed with the use of modern machinery and better precision.

Recently, I contributed a chapter that describes the application of various GIS and GPS tools available for the planning, design and management of surface and subsurface drainage systems. We discuss steps to acquire and process relevant GIS and GPS data, methods for applying such data to the planning and design of drainage systems, and guidelines for managing drainage systems.

You can view and download a copy of the chapter at:

GIS and GPS Applications for Planning, Design and Management of Drainage Systems

I encourage you to take a look at some of the other chapters from this collection:

Book: Precision Conservation: Geospatial Techniques for Agricultural and Natural Resources Conservation, Agronomy Monographs 59, 2016 

Published by: American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America, Inc.

Growing irrigation demands in Southern Ohio

A Center Pivot System in a field along US-23 near Waverly OH.

Every day, on my way to work, I pass through four Ohio Counties – Franklin, Pickaway, Ross, and Pike. In a stretch of 75 miles, you get to see a variety of crops, soils, and businesses. A majority of farms with grain crops (corn and soybeans), a few with specialty crops (vegetables, blueberries), and the pumpkin farms near Circleville – the city that hosts the annual pumpkin festival.

Most of the specialty crops require irrigation. However, we are seeing more and more overhead systems (center pivots and linear move) being installed in Southern Ohio for corn and soybeans. Irrigation of grain crops hasn’t been a major concern in Ohio until recently. To our surprise, we are seeing some irrigation systems being installed in Northwest Ohio.

Number of farms and irrigated area in Ohio since 1982 to 2012 (Source: Gunn, 2015)

Recently, one of my colleagues, Stephan Gunn looked at the future changes in Irrigation demands in Lower Scioto watershed. The number of farms and area under irrigation have consistently increased over the past few decades in Ohio.

Reported county-level water withdrawal for irrigation in Ohio (Source: USGS, 2010)

The demand for water and energy for irrigation is likely to grow substantially in future due to expansion of irrigated area in Ohio.

I am currently analyzing some historic data to estimate how the irrigation demands have changed in Southern Ohio in the past few decades for grain crops. More details coming soon!