Farmers should plan for surprises if they’re deep tilling their fields, said a northern Alberta farmer.
Gary Sanocki called Alberta First Call, the agency that searches for buried pipelines and cables beneath fields and farmyards, and discovered a pipeline only 18 inches deep.
The Eaglesham, Alta., farmer was forced to pause in his post-harvest deep tillage process when the staff searching for the buried lines weren’t sure of the depth of the pipeline and phoned four days later advising Sanocki to halt his deep tillage.
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“Just got told by pipeline company they can’t find the depth of their pipeline and are putting a stop to my agroplowing,” posted Sanocki on Twitter.
Sanocki doesn’t know if the pipeline floated up or the line was put in incorrectly when managed by the previous owners.
In the end, the only harm was a frustrated Sanocki, who had to adjust the deep tillage in his field and had extra phone calls and delays. It was also a wake-up call for Sanocki, who farms in Alberta’s Peace River area, where many farms have under-ground pipelines and cables of varying ages and depths.
“It’s mostly a warning to other guys to make sure you know where the pipelines are and how deep,” he said.
“Some of the pipelines are not as deep as they should be.”
A year earlier, Alberta First Call disc ov e re d an abandoned and un-mapped pipeline crossing another of Sanocki’s fields.
He also had to adjust his deep tillage to go around that pipeline.
“Why do we as farmers allow them to take over our land for almost no compensation and then this…,” posted Sanocki on his Twitter.
It’s an example of farmer beware for those digging, ditching or doing deep tillage in their fields, said Graham Gilchrist of Alberta’s Farmers’ Advocate office.
Unlike regular agricultural practices that only disturb the top six inches of topsoil, different rules apply to deep tillage, he said.
“Deep tillage or deep ripping is one of those practices that is not inherent and assumed to be part of generally accepted practices. It’s not common.”
Gilchrist recommended farmers who find floating pipelines registered their complaint with the Alberta Energy and Natural Conservation Board, which will trigger a process to replace the pipeline.
There are plenty of regulations affecting farms and pipelines, depending on whether it is a federal or provincially regulated pipeline, said Gilchrist.
If there is a problem, it’s deemed that farmers should know, or ought to have known the rules. It’s up to farmers to know the locations and depth of pipelines that cross their land.
