The interviews and experiments conducted in the making of this article were completed to help explore the fundamentals a farmer should know when investing in subdrains and drainage systems for their land. Modern drainage technology and knowledge have scientifically proven that close drainage systems and proper subdrain installation will increase crop yield for better long-term profitability.
For additional questions, we’re here to help on-site at 5377 Elcho Road, Wellandport. Or both phone and email at 905-386-1744 or sales@ontarioagra.ca.
Original article was published in the June 2021 edition of the Niagara Farmers Monthly.
Ontario farmers have a valuable new partner in increasing crop yields: Ontario Agra, through their recent exclusive association with Bluewater Pipe.
Ontario Agra is a Wellandport-based landscape materials, piping and plastic tank supplier. Their yard also boasts a unique selection of drainage piping as well as plastic septic and water tanks to get the job started. Additionally, Ontario Agra provides many different mulches and stone as well as the all the tools needed for the job.
“Whether you are a contractor, farmer or homeowner who needs some advice on drainage, landscaping or have a project in mind – we’re here for you”, says Kyle Wasylin, Ontario Agra’s sales manager.
Kyle says that the association with Bluewater Pipe is a game changer, however. In addition to supplying culverts, subdrains, septic tanks, cisterns, geotextile fabrics and aggregates to the agricultural and construction industries, “we’re now positioned to be the go-to spot for all drainage projects, which can help our customers achieve much better long term profitability.”
“We can help farmers with close-drainage projects in particular, advising them on some significant advances in technology and helping them understand how different tile spacing can improve their crop”, he adds.
For decades, farmers in southwestern Ontario have depended on tile drainage, at first draining depressions and valleys, then in the 1950s and ‘60s using patterned four-rod spacing. By the early 1970s, 3-rod spacings became common thanks to the advent of plastic corrugated drainage pipe and the development of the drainage plow.
In the 1990s, GPS and yield monitors allowed farmers to see yield improvements over the tiles, which began a push towards closer and closer spacing. Today, it is common to install 15-foot spaced drainage in fields with heavy clay soil. But how close is too close?
The answer to that question started with Tony Kime, president of Bluewater. Tony says he noticed numerous farmers in the area of his business, located in Huron Park, Ontario, were pushing limits on fertilizer and seed but never mentioned anything about the tiling system underneath.
He reached out to those farmers and in an early experiment helped one complete a plot with 12.5- foot tile spacing on a 10-acre piece of a larger farm in 2019. The corn crop harvested off the plot showed a $25 per acre profit increase on the part of the field tiled at 12.5 feet versus 25 feet, approximately a four to five-bushel increase.
The increased yields are the result of better drought management, says Tony.
How? Desaturating the soil early in the season allows soil to warm quicker, increases air in the soil, and improves microbial activity. “It gives a deeper root zone through the whole field because the water table becomes more level to the field tiles.” All of these factors allow plants to root more deeply, ultimately giving the roots more ability to withstand later season drought.
He suspects the narrower spaced tile will work better in clay soils, as you find in much of Southern Ontario, compared to loam because lateral water flow is lower in heavier soil conditions.
In Southern Ontario, Tony adds, “We have a colder winter. As we come into the freeze of January, late December you really want to have dry dirt. Dry dirt when it freezes isn’t an ice block. Therefore, the calories that it takes to heat up the soil when it comes time to thaw are way fewer than if you have frozen saturated dirt.”
Drainage tile can also help later in the season. Big rain events in the summer often occur on the hottest and most, to a certain point, ideal growing days. Tighter-spaced tiles can get excess water out more quickly during high-rainfall events, allowing plants to get growing again more quickly.
“If you agree with the assumption that waterlogged soil stunts growth for a short amount of time, then de-waterlogging the main root area as fast as possible means you’re giving plants hours more growing time. When you’re looking at pushing management practices to the limit, hours of growing time matter,” Kime says.
“Tony has basically been doing this his entire life”, Kyle says. “Now we’ll be educating our customers and taking on these projects directly. It’s the big focus for the new year and beyond, and it’s an exciting time for us.”
Kyle invites calls at 905-386-1744 or emails at sales@ontarioagra.ca.
“We’re here to help farmers understand how different tile spacing can improve their crop”. -Kyle Wasylin, sales manager of Ontario Agra Ontario Agra in Wellandport supplies landscaping materials, a unique selection of drainage piping, plastic septic and water tanks, tools and many different mulches and stone.
