HAVANA, N.D. – Prairie farmers think tile drainage is just for high value vegetable crops, but a North Dakota farmer says it can also pay in field crops like corn and soybeans.
The key to making it pay is to do the fields where there is the most to gain, says Joe Breker, who started with a 380 acre trial project in 2005 on his farm near Havana.
Years of heavy rainfall were increasing his salinity problem in some areas, while perpetual mud kept him out of other areas.
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The payback period for tile drainage on broad acre field crops is typically seven to 10 years, but Breker said the tiles gave his farm enough extra bushels in the bin to accelerate the payback to three years.
“If it hadn’t been for the continuous wet weather, our payback would have been closer to the normal seven to 10 years.”
Half his 2,400 acre farm is now tiled.
“So in a wet spring, which we always seem to get now, there’s 1,200 acres I can get onto when I want. I don’t have to wait for those fields to dry up. I just go.
“I have another 300 acres that need to be tiled. Once that’s done, mud and salinity will no longer be a con-cern on this farm.”
One of the most dramatic examples of the financial benefit of tiling is a field that Breker tiled in 2005. He had not tried to crop it since the early 1990s.
“This is beautiful looking soil. You would think it should grow bumper crops, but seeds wouldn’t even germinate. I had given up on it. It wouldn’t even grow weeds,” he said.
This particular field had been part of the southern most beach of Lake Agassiz following the retreat of the glaciers thousands of years ago.
Today, a long line of hills on the southwestern horizon collects rain and snow melt and channels it northeast toward the old lakebed and the Red River Valley.
The water table flows down from the higher elevation until it reaches an impervious layer below Breker’s farm, at which point it travels sideways. The area where this water chooses to seep to the surface happens to be this long northeast-sloping field with prime soil.
“I figured that if I could intercept and remove some of that seep water, this soil should be productive. Otherwise, it’s land which I own that’s of no value to me or anyone else.
“Since I tiled it in 2005, it’s on par with some the best ground I have on the whole farm. It went from absolute zero production to 40 bushel soybeans and 85 bu. spring wheat.”
Upgrading land from low or no yield to average or high yield is Breker’s way of ensuring he isn’t wasting his money on a new drainage project.
Tile drainage in his area costs $500 to $750 per acre, depending on how far the equipment has to travel to reach the farm and how many acres are to be tiled at one time.
The economics aren’t difficult. The value of 100 acres that produce little or nothing because of salinity or mud is zero.
Paying $750 per acre for tile drainage to make those acres productive is about the same as buying productive land for $750 per acre.
In many situations, tile drainage can ensure a decent crop and eliminate enough risk that the new value may exceed $750 per acre.
This may not be prudent where land prices are low but it could turn out to be an excellent investment in regions with productive soil and higher priced land.
“I’m only interested in tiling a field that has problems with salinity or the water table is so high I can’t get in there to work,” said Breker.
“On most of these saline spots, it’s only taken three years to move salts down in the soil profile to the point that saline sensitive crops such as soybeans and corn grow fine. Before tiling, they wouldn’t even germinate.”
Salts in the worst patches move down as much as two feet into the lower soil profile within three to six years and the fields now yield as well as any average area on his farm.
Prairie farmers often worry that tile drainage might extract so much moisture that even a slight dry spell will turn into drought.
“That’s a legitimate fear and one I pondered myself before I made any decisions. I certainly won’t say it can’t happen,” Breker said.
“But where we farm, at some point in a typical growing season, we get so much water that the crops suffer. It’s predictable. That causes de-nitrification, leaching and all kinds of nasty things associated with waterlogged soils. I know this limits our yields.”
Breker’s area experienced a dry spell last August. Crops on his tiled spots acted droughty but still produced an average yield.
However, it was a reminder to him that the salt was still down there.
“There’s a chemical bond between salt and water down in the soil profile. That bond can create droughty looking crops.
“You can have plenty of moisture, but the roots can’t access it because it’s tied up by the salts.
“In the spring, plants on the tiled patches need to go searching for soil moisture. That’s a good thing. It builds a better root network. Those plants are healthier throughout the growing season, and probably more drought tolerant.”
Breker is satisfied that tile drainage was a good investment but he doesn’t consider himself a promoter. Many people see tile drainage as an agronomic tool, but Breker believes it is mostly a risk management tool.
“We pay careful attention to crop rotations. This allows me to do the kind of rotations I want without factoring in what the weather has handed me.
“I no longer have to apply fertilizer in the fall because now I know I can do it in the spring without waiting for fields to dry up on their own.
“I get my seeding done when I want, and that plays into getting my harvest done earlier. It’s all about eliminating risk.”
