55 Drainage Directory | August 2024 Advertising Section | All content supplied by LICO ESTABLISHED 1968 ‘Being on top of what goes below’ We provide: MARQUARDT FARM DRAINAGE LTD • Plastic and Concrete Tile Installations • Land Clearing, ditch excavation • Erosion control contractor • Free estimates • Competitive pricing • Personal service • GPS, surveying, mapping and installation • Drainage knowledge and expertise Steve Cronsberry (Owner) 5483 Fifth Line Minto, Palmerston I 1-888-534-0393 I 519-343-3233 marquardtfarmdrainage.com Of providing professionally designed and installed drainage systems. 6 Efficient drainage systems increase crop yields and profits. and because he isn’t making the ruts from harvesting, he can also reduce his tillage for increased savings. Still, he is careful to not rush on the field too early as he can see the impact that compaction has on impeding water infiltration, even in tiled areas. During installation, Laidlaw and his crew are in the field with shovels and can also plainly see the results of a farmer’s field management over the years. Farms that have had good crop rotation and plenty of alfalfa have soil that has plenty of worms and organic matter, good soil structure and good infiltration rates, even in Haldimand clay. But continuous corn or beans leads to poor infiltration and cracking, which increases erosion and gully formation. According to the Drainage Guide for Ontario, the Haldimand soil series is an S1 soil, imperfectly drained with low hydraulic conductivity, extremely slow infiltration and high runoff potential due to its two to five per cent slope class. The Guide requires tighter spacing and shallower depth of drainage tile than other soil types. Now retired from OMAFA, Don Hilborn did interesting research in Haldimand in the early 1990s on smaller diameter tiles. He looked at both 1” and 2” diameter tile and was quite positive about the opportunity for smaller tiles in clay soils. Due to its small diameter, this pipe is more resistant to crushing from heavy equipment and could be installed closer to the surface, above a restrictive layer in the soil. It would require less plastic and closer spacing means it could be installed two runs at a time. Many were concerned with silting within the pipe over time, due to the reduced velocity, but if installed at a sufficient grade, Hilborn’s research demonstrated that velocity could be sufficient for tiles to be self-cleaning. And if installed at closer spacing, the drainage capacity would be sufficient, and the water table maintained at a height adequate for crop growth. There are other considerations with drainage in clay soil, however. When soils dry out, they can develop deep and wide cracks that are preferential flow paths that bring surface water and nutrients to the tile very quickly. University of Waterloo’s Dr. Merrin Macrae has well-documented the difference that soil type plays in water quality in tile drained systems. Typically, soils function to filter water before it enters the tile, but clay soils don’t work the same when they are dry. This is something to manage, whether it be with strip-tilling or pre-tilling to disturb the preferential pathways, changing the timing of nutrient application or treating tile water through a woodchip or slag filter, removing nitrogen and phosphorus respectively. All this to say, there will be plenty to see on McQueen’s farm and plenty to learn from the speakers on Aug. 29. For those that are interested, the cost is $25 per person to cover the BBQ and the event runs from 2 to 8 p.m. Register at ontariosoilcrop.org by Aug. 16. See you there!
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