News

Mapping tile lines can help with future maintenance

A ag educator says farmers can benefit from knowing more about drain tile, and the location of older systems installed on their farms.

Kevin Erb with the University of Wisconsin Extension tells Brownfield well-drained soil helps improve crop yields, but there are a lot of old drainage tile systems that might not be working well anymore, and finding them can be challenging. “If I’m a cash grain farmer, how do I enhance or repair the system that I  have?”

Erb says figuring out where drain tile lines are located often depends on the location and soil type, but during the spring and away from sandy soils, one method usually works. “We can go out there with a drone or look at air photos. There’s really good sources like Google Earth online, and there is usually a fairly narrow window about this time of year in spring where the soil dries out a little bit quicker right above the tile and so it’s plainly visible when you’re up with a drone.”

Erb says during the growing season, the crops can often tell farmers where the tile is located. “Some people will take those drones up in wet years and look at how the corn grows because, obviously, it grows better and even the alfalfa sometimes in a wet year right above the drain tile, and by looking at that and combining that with some other things, we can start to get a really good idea of where tile is in the field.”

Erb says most clay tile lasts fifty to sixty years, and concrete tile usually breaks down after fifty years.  He urges farmers to work with a professional because he’s seen where several farms have bought their own tile plows and not have a good understanding of how to install tile or outflows, leading to poor drain tile performance.

AUDIO: Kevin Erb discusses tile mapping with Brownfield’s Larry Lee