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Post by oliverman on May 4, 2015 23:37:56 GMT -5
I had to repair a broken drainage tile in one of my fields today. Many of these drainage lines were buried 80-100 years ago using a man and a shovel. There are at least several miles of such under our 220 acre farm. I discovered the problem while plowing a couple weeks ago. One of the tiles had broken and partially blocked the flow of water, resulting in turbulence, that eroded a hole about 3 feet in diameter, and within a foot of the surface. This field was seeded to a mix of clover, alfalfa, and grass in 2003 and has been used as pasture and hay since then. I plowed it this spring due to a significant portion of the grass suffering winterkill. It will be planted to corn later this month. That is the background story. Below is a picture of yours truly working in the hole to get an idea how deep it is (I had a neighbor dig most of it out with a backhoe). The number of earthworm channels that reached to the bottom of the hole, and beyond was significant. I was also able to find living roots that extended 5 feet deep. Many of these roots were using the earthworm channels as pre-drilled holes to more easily reach to such a depth. Thought some here would find this interesting. Last fall I taught one of the local fertilizer salesmen what earthworm castings looked like. He is a conventional farmer and doesn't value earthworms like I do.
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Post by OregonRed on May 4, 2015 23:55:06 GMT -5
wholey cow batman!
oh sorry....
sheesh, cant imagine being a farmer :~\ so much work! 220 acres golly
keeps ya good and healthy :~D in more ways than one.
(I see your canine helper snooping around there too :~)
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Post by Mumsey on May 5, 2015 3:20:27 GMT -5
Looks like you were able to repair that section. Hope you don't find other failed sections.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 5, 2015 3:52:53 GMT -5
Why were these buried there? When one of our highways was undergoing some work last year they had to build up alongside so the road could be expanded to create new lanes. There were drainage ditches created and piping laid down then dirt laid over that. There are places where piping comes up out of the ground. And I wondered why this was necessary.
Looking at the fields there ya would never know there was piping under there instead to just...ground.
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Post by Mumsey on May 5, 2015 5:16:20 GMT -5
Field drainage tile is common and necessary in the corn belt. At times there is just too much water and crops suffer. Excess water has to be drained away somehow. Imagine that, too much water, when some areas are experiencing severe drought.
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Post by brownrexx on May 5, 2015 7:30:09 GMT -5
That's so interesting OM. 5 feet seems like a LONG earthworm tunnel! I knew that they went deeper than 18 inches when it gets cold but 5 FEET, wow!
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Post by octave on May 5, 2015 8:41:27 GMT -5
Love the white office shirt. That truly is farming with style! (thank you for not wearing overalls)
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Post by desertwoman on May 5, 2015 8:53:42 GMT -5
Fascinating. Not only about the 5ft plus channels, but I love how the roots are using the earthworm channels to make their life easier.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2015 10:03:04 GMT -5
The loess soil of the plains had depressions with water in them. I dunno if those were the result of glacial resession or not. Draining those took tiling. If you break the drain, things flood up pretty quick.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 5, 2015 10:18:46 GMT -5
I would never have thought there was too much water. So the tiles are hooked up to the pipe or are laid over the entrance to the pipe? And the pipe can be how long? Across that stretch of field? Where does the pipe go to? a drainage hole of some sort I would guess?
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Post by Mumsey on May 5, 2015 15:25:58 GMT -5
Usually they go into ditches or waterways. Waterways are not an actual stream, but where excess field water goes. Drainage tile these days has tiny holes in it, the water goes in and flows away. They are no longer made out of clay, rather the black type you see in the pic above. There are companies who tile entire fields, imagine it's kinda pricey, but it's got to be done. Otherwise you have wet swampy areas where crops drown.
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canadiyank
Blooming
Central WA, Zone 6B
Posts: 125
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Post by canadiyank on May 5, 2015 15:41:19 GMT -5
Man, that's so interesting! I've heard of "drainage tiles" but I've never seen any. Here in the desert we have the opposite...canals bring surface water from the rivers to the fields, then are either pumped in through sprinklers, or flood irrigated (long channels are carved through the fields, then periodically flooded).
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Post by wheelgarden1 on May 5, 2015 15:46:12 GMT -5
Interesting thread, and I can't help but say, "Wow! Look at that soil!"
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Post by Mumsey on May 5, 2015 16:53:19 GMT -5
That's midwest cornbelt soil! We do enjoy it.
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Post by oliverman on May 5, 2015 23:23:48 GMT -5
Mumsey, I was able to repair this section without too much trouble, but most of the old clay pieces are cracked and only held in place by the soil around them. One of these years I may need to have a new plastic line put in.
Octave, I don't always dress this nice for work. Primarily, I choose my work wardrobe based on comfort and price. Thin, light colored shirts with a collar and long sleeves are the most comfortable thing for summer work. They can be had for a bargain at the local Goodwill too. I would wear bib overalls much more often than I do, but they are rather pricey. My wife really doesn't like the camouflage pants, but I got a bunch of them from a military surplus company for a few bucks a pair years ago. Some of the most comfortable work pants I have found.
About the worms, I was reading that they can consume between 4 and 10% of the top six inches of soil annually, when present in large numbers.
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