July 9, 2014, Auburn, IL – Springfield Plastics and the Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC) will host a conservation drainage field day on July 16, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., at the SPI facility in Auburn, IL.
Admission is free of charge and attendees will learn about drainage water management (DWM), saturated buffer systems and bioreactors.
DWM is the practice of using a water control structure in a main, sub main or lateral drain. DWM allows the farmer to manage the timing and amount of water discharged from agricultural drainage systems. Water quality benefits are possible by minimizing unnecessary tile drainage and reducing nitrate amounts that leave fields. DWM systems can also retain water needed for crop production.
The second system, a saturated buffer system, has a control structure that diverts the flow from the outlet to a lateral distribution line in a buffer strip. The lateral distribution line runs parallel to the buffer and as the water is diverted to this line, saturation occurs. As this saturation (or lateral water movement through the buffer) occurs, the vegetation naturally removes the nitrates in the water.
Bioreactors are structures that contain wood chips (a carbon source) installed to significantly reduce the amount of nitrates in tile drainage water leaving crop fields. Typically, bioreactors are installed at the end of a tile system, just before the drainage water enters a drainage ditch or stream.
For more information, please contact Steve Baker, president of Springfield Plastics, at sbaker@spipipe.com or 217-438-6167.
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