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| Dugdale Farms from Pense |
1,062 miles
Jan 7 – The
Western Producer magazine held a photo contest in 2013 called Harvest13,
celebrating modern farm life and the abundance of harvest time. This photo by Scott Mckenzie was one of the
featured winners.
Evan Dugdale
is leading the way in local soil improvement by installation of “tile drainage”
in his fields of canola, durum wheat, and lentils. He and other farmers in his area are
struggling with soil saturation. Changing
climate and weather patterns have caused the land to become so saturated that
at times it’s difficult to walk on. Tile
drainage is designed to remove subsurface moisture and allow oxygen to get at
plant roots. The roots develop better,
which improves yields.
It’s
interesting to me that this area seems to struggle with arid soil as well as
soil saturation.
“Tile”
drainage actually involves pipes placed about a meter below the surface catch
water and move it to an outlet located at a lower elevation. Farmers want to provide effective drainage
without sacrificing too much of their cropland to open ditches. Typically, pipe drainage systems have only been
used on higher-value vegetable crops. Tile drainage will also clean up salinity
and increase production, particularly on irrigated land. Also, new computer software can analyze the
land to help farmers determine where to place the “tile”.
Justin
Dugdale said in 2014 that his family farm intended to buy the first unit available
with a view to draining into a nearby creek. However, the effect on neighbors is likely to
be a major concern. Some local farmers
are discussing forming a conservation and development district to work together
to develop a community drainage plan.
drainage
image: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/10-091.htm
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