The Citizen, 2019-08-01, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019. PAGE 11.
Drainage demo day shows off new control methods
After a desperate spring trying to
plant or plow tile between the
rainstorms, hundreds of farmers
and drainage contractors from near
and far came to the Huronview
demo farm near Clinton on June
15.
The Huron Soil & Crop
Improvement Association
(HSCIA) spearheaded one of the
most innovative drainage research
and demonstration sites in North
America, in a 47-acre field
belonging to the County of Huron.
The Ausable Bayfield
Conservation Authority (ABCA)
also partnered on the project, along
with AGREM and the Land
Improvement Contractors of
Ontario (LICO).
June 15 was a dreary day, but the
rain stayed away and the rolling
field, covered in a thick cover crop,
was buzzing with four different
crews installing tile in various
sections of the field. The drainage
contractors were Parker & Parker,
KMM Farm Drainage, Roth
Drainage and Williams Drainage.
Every 20 minutes or so, tractors
pulled people in wagons around
the field so contractors could keep
working and visitors could get a
closer look. No one had ever seen
anything like this before.
Plows were burying drainage
pipe on a curve, with only a 0.1 per
cent grade, pushing their machines
to take tighter turns than ever
before. The purpose was to
increase the drainage capacity and
attempt to control drainage on a
slope.
Controlling drainage means
managing the outflow of a sub-
surface drainage pipe. With gates
or with an elbow and vertical pipe,
the tiles can be blocked or opened
as needed, controlling the water
table in the field for sub-surface
irrigation or just to limit
downstream flows. Controlled
drainage works in flat fields, but
the head pressure makes it
impossible to regulate tile outflow
on a slope. Unless the laterals are
laid flat, that is.
Roth Drainage tackled the seven-
acre controlled section of the
project. Each lateral was installed
on a precise contour with a control
structure at each lateral end. There
are 22 lateral control structures in
total. Mike Neeb, of Roth
Drainage, used their BRON 150
plow for the job.
“We used our shorter plow and it
did a better job of making those
tight turns,” says Neeb. “Installing
on contour was a slower process
than a conventional installation but
putting in the control gates wasn’t
as big a job as we thought it would
be.”
Four styles of control structures
were installed for a performance
comparison: Agridrain,
ADS/Ideal’s nyoplast gate,
Porter’s weir-type gate and a do-it-
yourself version that was designed
by AGREM for public use. These
gates were assembled by HSCIA’s
board and dubbed the “Gord
Gates” after the Huronview farm
manager, Gord Mitchell.
Next to that, Parker & Parker
installed conventional drainage
that will serve as a side-by-side
comparison with the controlled
section and ABCA will monitor
soil moisture levels, as well as
water quality and flow rates, both
from surface water and through the
tile. A third, un-tiled area of the
field will act as a control and
HSCIA will be monitoring yields
and plant health from all of the
sections.
Parker & Parker also installed a
conventional system under a six-
acre sub-watershed that will have
surface contoured terraces
installed later this summer. The
purpose of these terraces will be to
intercept surface water and redirect
it across the slope and into a
grassed ditch where it will outlet
into an existing wetland. The
wetlands will also be monitored by
ABCA for its ability to filter
sediment and nutrients to improve
water quality.
Williams Drainage spent two
days completing the contoured
drainage (without control gates) in
the northern part of the field, while
In his element
Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ernie Hardeman was a guest at the
Huron Soil & Crop Improvement Association’s demonstration day in late June. Hardeman,
Oxford’s MPP, took time from the educational event to talk to local journalists, above. (Quinn
Talbot photo)
Close call
Last Friday evening, the Fire Department of North Huron
attended one of the storage sheds at Watson’s Home
Hardware in Blyth. A small fire was discovered near the
roofline of one of the structures that the firefighters quickly
brought under control. (Denny Scott photo)
Continued on page 12
By Melisa Luymes
The Rural Voice