Improving pasture surface drainage?

hslogger · Feb 18, 2016

Drain tile that is buried under the ground in regards to slope and central drainage works if it is done correctly. The water still needs a place to go. The idea is to drain it in accordance to how you want to drain it and when. The ground needs to be surveyed for slope and the perf pipe buried so that it does its' job. In Western Oregon it is more and more common to see heavy equipment ripping the ground first. Then big trenchers dig and bury the perf pipe which comes in big coils set on a big "lazy Susan". As it unwraps it is buried. Then they cover the holes and grade it. Then they come in and plow and disc and plant. It is all done with hi tech lasers, and GPS stuff.

The pipes sometimes end up in a sump area where they have a sump pump.

Contour plowing can help run off because it seems to change the way a "sheet of water runs off". Talk to your ag extension agent for the straight scoop

Cleirigh · Feb 22, 2016

oldnslo yes, the soil is highly compacted from flooding, happens several times a year so not sure if that is worth addressing. The compaction isn't all bad... if I can keep water from getting into a hole it will run right off the surface.

hslogger thanks, working on the contour sounds right and I'm not seeing any warnings to the contrary. The current grade has an overall drop to the river, there are just a few high spots here and there that I need to get rid of without creating any new ones. I might angle the box blade a little to encourage the dirt to stay upslope but maybe I don't have to worry about the disc pushing a lot of dirt in front of it.

hslogger · Feb 22, 2016

Plowing on contour means basically not plowing in straight lines. Your plowing from an the air would look like the lines on a topo map. Currrrrvy. After the initial plowing then you disc accordingly, and the ride can be rough at first. real rough.

Cleirigh · Feb 23, 2016

Contour it is. When you did yours did you start low and work high or the other way around? This is summer pasture, good clay loam bottomland but is compacted by flooding several times a year and stays wet into spring so is not good for a crop. I was going to start with the disc to loosen the top 4-6 inches/roots and then have the box blade level it out before I reseed. Would it really be worthwhile to turn it with a plow first?

OldMcDonald · Feb 26, 2016

Be very careful. The advice of some posters to talk to your Extension agent is sound. There is a reason why land is swaled - if it is man made, and it might well be. That is so the water drains off the higher ground into the swale. If it floods several times a year it might well be best left alone. What if you get a flood when it is all nicely cultivated or very newly sown? You could lose a lot soil. If it is not man-made but natural I would be even more wary of disturbing it.

If you are going to follow the contours you cannot use a mouldboard plough. You could use a disc plough, but I would recommend a tined implement. If you are interested in how to set out the land before doing any cultivation then I suggest you read "The Keyline Plan" by PA Yeomans. It is available from www.soilandhealth.org free - although the person who does all the work of maintaining this digital library rightly asks people to make a small donation. There is a video on YouTube that I have not watched Yeoman "Water for every farm" - Google Search

A Google search (maybe even YouTube) will bring it up - "Water for Every Farm" and PA Yeomans. I was fortunate enough to be given a copy of this book when I farmed in Australia. Basically the idea is that you encourage the water back onto the ridge rather than let it collect in the swale. It is not easy to get it right and Yeomans talks about much bigger areas than you have, but the principle is the same and I used it in Australia to correct some gully erosion - which is what you might get if you cultivate just before a flood. It might be best to leave well alone, and make what use of the land you can.

EDIT: I have just had a look at the YouTube video. Interesting, but does not give any detail about how keyline works. Probably not worth watching.

old243 · Mar 5, 2016

I did some tiling ,last summer. My farm was tiled in 1975, The drainage does mostly work well. The farm next to me is not tiled , I had problems with water draining unto my place and creating wet spots , so you couldn't get on the field till later. I installed tile risers at the property line and tied them in to my system, worked well. In your case if you have fall to an outlet. You could install a riser or a French drain, in your swale area and run a tile or tiles to the outlet. You would find that this would be the driest part of your field. I have a mini hoe an did my own work. You just have to get your grades right. old243