Alternatives to Tile Drainage

The Original Problem

• In wet fields, crops rot. That elementary truth has always determined the value of farmland, the amount of farmland devoted to growing, crop choices, plowing, fertilizing and irrigation strategies, and ultimately the economic yields of food production. Farmers have used many strategies over the years, including terracing, crop rotation, contour plowing and redirection of water sources to maximize the amount of well-drained and therefore potentially productive land.

Current Solutions

• One of the most extensively used strategies to remove excess moisture from farmland is tile draining. A 2006 survey of the Mississippi River Basin indicated that tile draining was used on half the total cropland of Indiana and Ohio, a third of Illinois and Michigan cropland, and a quarter of cropland in Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri. In tile draining, farmers first used ceramic tiles and now increasingly prefer plastic pipe with small perforations planted underground to capture and move excess farmland water to channels that lead water away from fields. For farmers, tile draining expedites drainage without increasing labor intensity and constitutes an economical way to maximize land use.

Attendant Problems

• Tile-drainage fans note that excessive water in fields has the effect, among others, of diluting or washing away nitrogen and other needed nutrients. Environmentalists and alternative farmers point out that tile drainage can have similar, albeit more devastating effects. Water leaving fields flows into the river basin, eventually reaching outlets in the Gulf of Mexico. Nitrates and other chemicals in drained water are indicated in creating hypoxia, or oxygen-dead zones that cannot support marine life.

Possible Solutions

• Farmers have tried several solutions to reduce the need for tile drainage and the resulting environmental damage, but no one solution yet appears to address all concerns. Crop rotation and increased use of cover crops are among the leading strategies. Alfalfa, for example, planted as a cover crop, absorbs large quantities of soaking spring and fall rains, and is then fed to livestock without disrupting the planting of corn or soybeans. Planting alfalfa or other legume crops further fixes nitrogen in the soil.

Additional Ideas

• The Agricultural Foundation suggests gamma grass and rye as cover crops that hold soil, use water and improve drainage by contributing organic matter to soil. Improving drainage by this or other physical means, it proposes to lessen the need for tiling to remove water. Concerns remaining in this approach include additional labor needs and the possible delays in planting main crops caused by processing cover crops. Given the complexities of weather and soil conditions confronting farmers, many approaches to the problems created by wet soil may be needed to meet the varied needs of individual farmers.