Grant Evans with Wahpeton Daily News in Wahpeton, ND, where tile drainage is growing in popularity, wrote a breakdown of what tile drainage is in the state.
Evans starts with Gavin Kratcha, a high school freshman who comes from a third generation farm, who recently studied the effects of a tiled field versus a non-tiled field as a part of the Hankinson Science Fair. Kratcha’s findings were specific to how non-tiled fields hold up to tiled fields.
“Because even when it rains on a non-tiled field, it makes pathways to make the roots grow. That was very unique to see and it’s very important because that’s how those plants can get deeper in the soil and get more nutrients and water. I also saw a big difference in shoot length. They have much longer shoot and root lengths.”
Evans then explains what tile drainage is, the different forms it takes, and concerns surrounding nutrient runoff. The article offers a good preliminary breakdown of the agricultural drainage industry for outsiders, read the full article here.
Print this page
