The Rural Voice, 2019-08, Page 26After 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. Huron Soil & Crop
Improvement Association (HSCIA)
spear-headed one of the most
innovative drainage research and
demonstration sites in North
America, on a 47-acre field
belonging to the County of Huron.
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.
The Huronview Demonstration Farm field near Clinton is seen after installation of a controlled drainage systems was
installed on June 15 in a project spearheaded by the Huron Soil & Crop Improvement Association on June 15. The
photo shows contoured and controlled tile fields beside conventional and untiled land. Huron County’s Huronview
complex is in the background. ~Photo by Shawn Hathaway
•By Melisa Luymes •
Crops
Controlled drainage installed in Clinton
Hundreds turn out to see a controlled
drainage system installed on a slope
with tiles that can be blocked or
opened as needed
22 The Rural Voice