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Conservation drainage addresses water quality
Drainage plays an important role in Iowa crop production. Despite its benefits, however, subservice drainage also increases nitrate losses from fields into surface water.
“When nitrogen’s in the nitrate form, it’s water soluble so it moves with the water very easily,” says Keegan Kult, an environmental scientist with the Iowa Soybean Association, “so these tile lines are conductors of nitrogen to our surface streams.”
Conservation drainage is an emerging practice designed to maintain drainage while addressing water quality and flow impact.
“We’re looking at ways that we can have tile drainage,” Kult told Brownfield Ag News, “but improve that environmental performance.”
AUDIO: Keegan Kult (4 min. MP3)
The more water that is used in the farming practices will equal more problems….! Your looking at the wrong end of this problem….it’s not the DRAIN TILE…..it’s what and how much is going onto the land….volumes…tons and tons per acre….12-19 thousand gallons of water per acre…..! Plug up the drain tiles and then test the soil….I’m betting that some or most of the fields would need nothing for years and years….your drain tile system is used to allow for more frequent and greater volumes of liquid manure per acre…..what has to be done is simple…..spread the manure over a lot more land and limit the gallons per acre….3000 per acre for the nest 5 years….perhaps the land will catch up and get health again….why not try….what you have been doing for that last 10-15 years is……NOT WORKING…..!