Agricultural Drainage 101

Craig SchraderRegional Extension Educator, CropsUniversity of Minnesota507-389-6745schr0118@umn.edu

Agricultural Drainage: Why it's needed, how it works and what are the consequences?

Gary R. SandsAssociate Professor & Extension EngineerBiosystems & Agricultural EngineeringUniversity of Minnesota612.625.4756grsands@umn.edu

Outline

Definitions

History & status

Need for drainage

How drainage works

Impacts of drainage

What’s being done?

Where to get more info

What is Artificial Drainage?You might be familiar with:

Foundation drainage for homes

Perimeter “tile” drains

Artificial Drainage for Agriculture

Subsurface (“Tile”) Drainage

Surface Drainage

History&

Status

Drainage: An Ancient PracticeUse of buried clay pipe as old as art of potterySome dated in Crete to 5,000 B.C.Farmers in ancient Egypt and Babylonia drained wet soils for crop productionRoman author, Cato, wrote in 200 B.C. extensively on farm drainage as practiced by Roman farmersFirst subsurface drains were converted ditches (Roman times)Mole “ditchers” were developed and used extensively in the 1800’s

25% of Ag Soils are Artificially Drained

Extent of Subsurface Drainage (’92)51 million ac of corn-belt (est.)

Drainage Was a Factor of Change on the Landscape