Past Events

2025 Soil Health and Water Management Field Day

Thursday, August 28, 2025

Ohio State Lima, August 28, 2025, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Regenerative agriculture with the help of no-till, cover crops and water management technology and conservation practices will be the focus of the Soil Health and Water Management Field Day at The Ohio State University at Lima’s Regenerative Agriculture Farm on Thursday, August 28, 2025.

Featured speaker topics will include a farm business analysis of cover crop financials, linking soil health testing to management and water management in Ohio including both drainage and irrigation. The field day is intended for farmers, drainage contractors, state and federal agency personnel, extension educators, students and the general public.

In-field demonstrations :

  • Cover crop demonstration plots
  • Center pivot irrigation
  • Drainage water recycling
  • Water quality monitoring.

5.0 Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) continuing education credits available

RSVP Required – Register HERE

Registration is required to attend. Cost is $25 and includes lunch. Registered participants will pay at the door on the day of the event with cash or check only.

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Event sponsors include A.G. Irrigation, Valley Irrigation, Lower 48 Instruments, SARE and the Nature Conservancy-Ohio with funding support from the Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes Restoration, The Ohio State University Sustainability Institute and Sea Grant. Project partners include Ohio State, the Ohio Environmental Protection Area, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Allen Soil and Water Conservation District and the Ohio Land Contractors of America.

For more details and/or sponsorship information, contact Garth McDorman, agriculture and natural resources Extension educator, at mcdorman.15@osu.edu or Dr. Vinayak Shedekar, assistant professor of agricultural water management, at shedekar.1@osu.edu.

2025 Overholt Drainage School

Monday, March 10 to Friday, March 14, 2025

The 2025 Virgil Overholt Drainage School will be held at the Ohio State University’s Lima Campus in Lima, Ohio. See below fore important links.

REGISTERED ATTENDEES – CLICK HERE FOR PROGRAM AGENDA
Location Map and Parking Information
Flyer
Hotel Information
Online Registration
Print Registration Form
Download Event Agenda

Questions?

Contact us via email: Mary Henry (Henry.855@osu.edu) and Vinayak Shedekar (shedekar.1@osu.edu) or via phone at 614-247-9965.

Training Schedule and Topics

Day 1 – Monday, March 10 – 1:30PM to 4:30PM (Registration starts at 12:30PM)

(Day 1 is intended for those who do not have any background in topographic mapping and contour maps. For advanced users, day-1 is optional to attend)

  • Topographic mapping basics
  • Cover basics of topo mapping, drawing contours by hand
  • Work off of grid maps, practice problems etc.

Day 2 – Tuesday, March 11 – 8:30AM (Registration starts at 7:30AM)

  • Understanding drainage
  • Introduction to drainage design – Planning, information & survey needs, design steps
  • Modern ways to collect data for drainage design and installation (Survey, LiDAR, Google Earth), visualizing and reading contours and topographic maps

Day 3 – Wednesday, March 12 – 8AM to 5PM

  • Hands-on drainage design problems and exercises
  • Selecting drainage coefficient
  • Estimating subsurface drain capacity, pipe sizing,  
  • Economics of drainage, guidance for drainage projects on leased land

Day 4 – Thursday, March 13 – 8AM to 8PM (5PM-8PM is extra time for class project)

  • The “art” of designing drainage and conservation drainage: System layouts, tips and tricks for planning and design of systems
  • Drainage water management – design and installation considerations: Drainage and Water Quality, Benefits of drainage water management, drainage water recycling, and automation
  • Water and Drainage Law
  • Safety: Safety of humans and machines at job site, Utilities safety

Day 5 – Friday, March 14 – 8AM to 4PM

  • Class project presentations
  • Quality Construction, troubleshooting – Presentations by drainage contractors
  • Experienced Drainage Contractors panel
  • Wrap up – closing remarks – survey

2024 Drainage Technology and Water Management Field Day at Ohio State Lima

Held on Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

Rain Date: August 8, 2024

The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Science, Ohio State University Extension in Allen County, The Ohio State University at Lima, Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District, Ohio Land Improvement Contractors Association, and 7M Farms hosted a field day on the Ohio State Lima Regenerative Agriculture Farm. It included several topics and live demos of drainage installation, irrigation, and tile detection.

2024 Drainage and Water Management for Now and the Future

Held at Wilmington College on June 18, 2024. It was an agricultural drainage-focused educational event featuring speakers from The Ohio State University and OSU Extension.

2024 Conservation Drainage Network Annual Meeting

The 2024 Conservation Drainage Network Annual Meeting was held in Westerville, OH from April 3 – April 5, 2024.

 View more information here.

2024 Overholt Drainage School

The 2024 Overholt Drainage School was held from Monday, March 11 – Thursday, March 14 at the Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex in Columbus, OH.

Visit the event webpage for more information.

2023 Drainage Installation Field Day

A drainage installation field day was held at The Ohio State University at Lima’s Regenerative Farm on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM.

This event was attended by around 100 individuals! The field day featured numerous opportunities for learning and even received local news station coverage.

Visit the Lima Regenerative Farm website

View the event flyer here.

View highlights from last year’s field day here.

2023 Overholt Drainage School

The 2023 Overholt Drainage School was held at Ohio State ATI in Wooster, OH from Monday, March 13 – Friday, March 17.

Participants chose to attend either Session 1 (Monday – Thursday; focused on drainage design, installation, and conservation drainage), Session 2 (Friday; focused on advanced drainage technology applications (GPS, design software, machine control)), or the full weeklong program.

Visit the event webpage for more information.

2023 Soil Health Webinar Series

Webinar recordings can be viewed on the Ohio State University Agronomic Crops Team’s YouTube channel. See links associated with individual presentation titles below.

Programs included: 

2022 Drainage Installation Field Day

A drainage installation field day was held at The Ohio State University’s Lima campus on August 16, 2022.

The event featured subsurface drainage installation demonstrations, opportunities to interact with OLICA volunteers and OSU experts, and a Q & A session.

View the event flyer here.

2022 Overholt Drainage School

The 2022 Overholt Drainage School was held at The Ohio State University’s Lima campus from March 14 – 18.

The program featured 40+ hours of educational content and was attended by 55 participants, with instruction and support provided by 25+ instructors and guest speakers.

Visit the event webpage, or download the event agenda, for more information.

2021 Overholt Drainage Workshop Webinar

The 2021 Overholt Drainage Workshop was held in virtual format on June 9.

The webinar (full recording below) focuses on drainage design, installation, and management.

Features of the webinar include:

  • Updates on 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 discussing standard practices, common issues, and troubleshooting associated with drainage design, installation, and repair

Visit the event webpage, or download the event agenda, for more information.