tile drainage field day
DESCRIPTION
For more: http://www.extension.org/67686 Seeing is believing and in August, 2012 a regional field day was held in southern Michigan in conjunction with the Michigan Land Improvement Contractors and Michigan State University Extension to bridge the management practices and new technologies between tile drainage and manure management. Tile drainage contractors, farmers and agri-business had the opportunity to see sub surface drainage installation and also learn about new management technologies to assist in reducing the risks of both manure and fertilizers from reaching tile outlets and surface waters. These technologies included installation of water control devices, bark bed bio-reactors, sub-irrigation to manage dairy waste water, cover crops and tillage to disrupt soil macropoures. The field demonstrations were teamed up with educational sessions under tents. Planning and developing a field event with onsite drainage installations is a time commitment but proves very important for awareness and education on an important topic.TRANSCRIPT
Don’t wait around for right answers, you can start today.
Opportunity knocked Right place at the right time
Golden opportunity Is the farmer nuts? Opening a can of
worms, location in state. I really want to retire rather than do this
Combination of Tile drainage
installation Fun stuff- kickin tires 5 vendors, on site
Mains Laterals GPS
Design and installations
Managing manure liquids on drained lands. Preventative and remediation:
Look at systems/goals Cover crops Slurry seeding Rate/calibration Tillage Water control devices Sub-irrigation Bio-reactor General Management Multiple applications Etc.
OPTIONS
Joint partnership Land Improvement Contractors
Organization Farmer’s Field Extension-Educational component Local and state support from agri-
business
Logistics Picked a wheat field, planned tour after
harvest, August 2012 Goal: end of two days, 80 acres would
be drained.
Prevention
Calibration and rates, especially liquids on drainage
Photo by MSU ANR Communications
Slurry Seeding: adding cover crop seed directly into the manure tank and seeding while spreading manure with a low disturbance tillage tool.
Slurry seeding
Tillage
Varying degrees of tillage Salford, John Deere, Landoll and
Kuhn-Kraus Soil type interaction Goal of tillage
Liquid manure? Residue management? Break macro pores
Water Control Device
Photo by MSU ANR Communications
Constructed Bio-Reactor
Total Contained system:
sub irrigate and capture
back from tiles
West Sub-irrigation
East subirrigation
Waste storage (Manure)
Waste Storage (leachate runoff)
3 chambered wetland
General management Farmer Panel Larry Geohring, Cornell Larry Brown, Ohio State University Richard Cooke, University of Illinois Tim Harrigan, Michigan State Universiy
Can you think of a more dynamic system than the interaction of soil types, soil moistures and weather?
Begin today for Awareness Use common sense Adjust as necessary to meet the daily
needs
