flooded field drainage - FIW

Pull the plug or turn off the tap?

A holistic approach to drainage and flooding issues will help us do both

The bathtub is almost full. It will begin to overflow momentarily, unless I do something right away. Do I pull the plug or turn off the tap? And maybe, just maybe, I could do a little of both to solve my impending dilemma. After sitting in on a series of meetings in the southwest corner

One more webinar remains in the four-part series, sponsored by the Red River Basin Commission.

Four-part webinar series takes tile drainage education into the digital age

A recent educational effort by Agriculture Manitoba and the Red River Basin Commission means farmers are staying home to take in information on tile drainage

Manitoba Agriculture and the Red River Basin Commission have taken to the web on tile drainage. A series of four webinars is running until March 18, with topics spanning the on-farm benefits, downstream implications, environmental concerns and government considerations of tile drainage. “It’s established in other places, such as south of the border, but here


Mitchell Timmerman speaks at St. Jean Baptist Farm Days.

Retention not needed for tile installation

Tile drainage can increase yields, but increased returns require carefully crunched numbers

Tile drainage installation is on the upswing in Manitoba, but producers need to take a hard look at their operations and evaluate beneficial management practices before making the plunge. “Addressing excess moisture is definitely a worthy pursuit,” Mitchell Timmerman told producers gathered for St. Jean Baptist Farm Days last week. “In this province, we know

A small dam holds back water at the Morden research centre.

How much nitrogen could a wood chip chuck?

Researchers investigating wood chip bioreactors under Manitoba conditions 
say half the nitrogen in tile drainage run-off could be captured

Often considered a byproduct of forestry and landscaping, wood chips could also become central to decreasing nitrogen run-off from tile drainage systems. Dipping his hand into a plastic container full of wood chips at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Research Centre in Morden, Steve Sager said that increased use of tile drainage in Manitoba, as well


Literature review for research on manured, tile-drained land being sought

Literature review for research on manured, tile-drained land being sought

Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative Inc. wants to see what scientists 
have already discovered and consider how it might fit under Manitoba conditions

Tile-drained fields can remove surplus subsurface moisture improving crop-growing conditions, but there’s also a risk after manure is applied that nutrients and pathogens could leave the field in that water. The Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative Inc. (MLMMI) wants to find out what scientists already know about mitigating nutrient losses in fields with controlled tile

The receding waterline of Lake Hodges is seen in San Diego County Jan. 17, 2014, when California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency.

Considering the true cost of agricultural production systems

Externalizing the cost of production is becoming less acceptable to society

California is in the midst of a multi-year drought that has reduced the snowpack and rains that fill the reservoirs and irrigation canals that provide water for the cities of the state as well as agricultural production. The result is lower allocations and higher prices for all water users including agriculture. Some farmers have responded


installing drainage in a field

Interest in drainage expected to grow

As the province’s newest water management association pulls away from the dock, new members are invited on board

The fledgling Manitoba Agricultural Water Management Association (MAWMA) is looking for members, particularly farmers and landowners as well as others with a interest in water management. Formed in late 2012 with a focus on the tile drainage industry, the organization’s board of directors includes three producer members, representing potato, grain and speciality crop growers at

Water management — drainage is expensive, but so is flooding

Panellists at last winter’s Potato Production Days discussed
options for handling the excess rain of recent years

Any farmer will tell you that flooding is a major hassle and cost to any farm when it happens — but just how big that bill can be has always been a bit of a guess. A recent report by BMO Economics (Bank of Montreal) put a figure on it though, says Dr. Ranjan Sri


Letters – for Mar. 3, 2011

In “Delaying the drainage” (editorial, Feb. 3) you referred to the Red River Basin report about storing water upstream, with an estimated 885,000 acres of one foot of storage being adequate to reduce peak levels. This probably wouldn’t take up 885,000 acres because some storage would be more than one foot deep, but nonetheless it

Tiles Reduce Risk Of Crop Loss –Wiebe

It’s not easy to calculate the direct payback of installing drainage tiles on farmland, but Stan Wiebe does know one thing. He sleeps better at night. “We have a lot less stress,” Wiebe, part owner of Beaver Creek Farms, told farmers attending a session on drainage at Ag Days. He believes drainage tiles have been