Drainage AND Subsurface Irrigation Using The Same Pipe?
In Fall of 2021, Miles Farms installed drainage tile on 35 acres as a trial with ADS. Drainage tile isn’t used in the Arkansas Delta where Matt and Layne Miles farm. However, they didn’t stick plastic pipe in the ground just to be different. Their objectives: Faster farming by being able to get on the field earlier. Changing their practices to allow no-till planting on 15” rows versus raised beds. Better irrigation by reversing the flow of water when the Delta heats up (and it always does!). Matt and Layne explain the early results of their drainage and irrigation install.
Presented by ADS with support from Loveland Products.
00:01 Welcome to extreme AGS cutting the curved podcast where you get a guaranteed return on investment of your time as we cut your learning curve with 00:11 the information. You can apply to your farming operation immediately extreme AG, we've already 00:17 made the mistakes so you don't have to managing. Your Farm's Water Resources is a critical component to a successful and sustainable farming operation Advanced 00:27 Drainage Systems helps Farmers, just like you increase their yields up to 30% with their technologically advanced Water Management products visit 00:37 ads pipe.com to see how they can keep your business flowing. Now, here's your host Damien Mason. Hey there 00:47 welcome to another fantastic episode of extreme AG's cutting the curve. We're talking about drainage results as seen 00:54 from Miles Farms. Got Matt miles and Lane miles McGee Arkansas in the flat Delta Region down there and I've been there and you 01:04 know what not a lot of hills. A flat ground a lot of ground that's got a high water table and you're like wait a minute you do drainage down here and I 01:12 was told nope. Not really a thing. We do down here in this part of the world. So Matt miles and Lane miles are gonna tell us about what they did when they 01:18 put in drainage and the results are seeing. They've had two Springs and one fall Harvest on their trial of 01:25 tiling ground and from the sound of it. They're going to be putting more tile in the ground. All right. So we've talked about this before you're kind of 01:34 a little bit out there. Most your neighbors don't do drainage tile. You said let's give this a try tell us about the size 01:40 of the field and what your thoughts were heading into it. Yeah. Well, it's a it's a 35 acre field. 01:47 And of course, we're always looking even though something's not done in in a certain area like our area. We're always looking what 01:53 it what what if it was, you know take for instance, you know. an application of some type of fertility you 02:01 say well, you know that might not make but what if it does, you know you so you don't know so We decided we partnered with ads and come up 02:11 with an idea of trying this. So this is something that's not done in the South. We are pretty much all surface drainage, you 02:18 know in the fields of precision level or close to Precision level so that you know, the water comes off the service goes into drainage ditch from that ditch to you know, most time a canal 02:28 from the canal of the Mississippi River. So it doesn't really look like there would be a need for drainage tile when you're already have, you know Precision level 02:38 land but who knew or who knows so ads asked me to pick out my worst feel 02:46 And you know that was I had the most trouble draining and put a trolley in to see what would happen. So that's how 02:52 that's how this thing started. The 35 acres and they said worst field meeting. They didn't want to start off with the easy one. They won't start off with the one they had the most problems in 03:00 terms of the water. You put it in there and it was done fall one half years ago. If you're listening to this episode, by the way, we were recording this 03:07 at the end of April 2023. So this stuff was installed Autumn 21, they had 03:13 their spring of 22 and let's go back there what visible results there's some people try and say well if you're putting drains talent and ground it's gonna 03:23 take a few years for that thing to really start doing its job. Did you think it took three years? Obviously, you're only a year and a half in this start doing his job in the first year to 03:32 to a certain degree. I mean, we thank you to get better as we go but we were able to get on the ground quicker, you know, we're probably a week to 10 days earlier than 03:42 we would normally get on that that field and some of the worst parts of the field that you know a Sharky clay. So it's the type Soul if it rains a half inch 03:51 and you walk across the field by the time you get a hundred yards your feet will be as big as a truck hood. 03:58 That's the kind of ground that we're looking at and it stays so, you know, so wet and so we've started seeing results. 04:05 We started seeing results from the from the beginning. We started planting. Actually we started seeing the results in the 04:11 in the January. Of 22 when normally we would never be able to get on that field and and we were able to get on that field 04:19 to get it tilled and get it back into shape to put a crop home. So I remember in the extreme AG Tech stream that you were talking about that 04:25 though obviously things started a little sooner and you're part of the world needed to do and you know, we're Lee and Kelly are up and 04:31 the Upper Midwest. So you're it's not you would like to start doing some stuff in January and you're part of the world maybe getting on the ground doing some groundwork, whatever and that 04:41 kind of field and kind of year. You normally have with moisture you're not normally in there Lane was not in his head. 04:48 You've been farming for what 10 years now with your old man. First time earliest in the field earliest in that field January because 04:56 it actually started working that quick. Yeah, and we were actually we were in there whenever we planted those February beans last year. So I've been February 18th and like Dad 05:06 said 10 out of 10 years. You don't get on that field February 18th. Oh and you know, we were 05:13 we were in there Bill cultivating land playing and just you know, prepping the field but because we had big big 05:19 lady Mounds out there from from putting in the tile and we were able to get those knocked down get them let them settle and and 05:27 prep field Do you think you said you think it's going to get better? What needs well, it's interesting what needs to get. Why does it 05:38 need? Why is it not start working immediately? I mean because I want to answer the question that your neighbor has cuz like you said 05:44 drainage tiles not something that's normally done and you're part of the world and they're saying well, wait a minute. I've spent the money. I put it 05:50 in why doesn't it start working immediately? That's kind of a valid question. You know, it's the same thing. It's a piece of 05:56 perforated plastic pipe. It's at what three feet deep or whatever you're depth was. Why does it take a few years for it 06:02 to get better? Well, and I don't know that it takes a few they say three years for it to get to his full potential and immediately we 06:08 started seeing results. But when you put the drain tile in as fastly on 20 foot centers, like we did like Lane said, you've got these big they look like rice savings, you 06:18 know, so you have to you know, you're digging a 36 inch trench every 20 feet across the field. So basically, you know, 06:25 you've got to let that ground kind of let nature get that ground back to it's original state and that they 06:31 say the three years so, you know, you're gonna have Some settling, you know selling issues, you know, you dig a hole and you feel it back up. You never have the dirt that you had when you when you started. 06:40 I thought that I thought you just had to dig it deeper then so you get that dirt all back in the hole and not the trick well, but 06:47 it but you got the pipe laying there. So there's there's several. It's just nature. I was throwing that out there for our buddy 06:53 that we just decided as a millennial. You know, what that's the kind of stuff old person humor there laying he's just say wait a minute. All that dirt is not back 06:59 in a hole go dig it again and dig it deeper this time. Anyway, it's it's just old-fashioned stuff right there. Hey laner answer me 07:06 this. You're gonna be farming presumably longer than Matt. Is there gonna be more Acres five years 07:16 from now that are drainage tile on Miles farms, and there are right now. Oh, you know that's still to be determined. 07:24 I mean because it is it is a pretty expensive deal. And I mean if it if 07:30 If it works, I would say yes, and right now it looks like it's working. So, you know, you know take that how you want to but I mean it it does 07:40 it does look like it's gonna be a pretty good deal. So when the decision are you gonna give it three years you get five years. When do you make when 07:46 do you start? When do you start making decisions about whether to add more Acres of drainage tile? 07:53 Damien I'm gonna be honest with you. Those are those of them them big dollar decisions. That's that's for that's for 07:59 the big man. You know, it's a big investment interest rates are high the higher than it used to be the installations hiring. It used 08:08 to be, you know, we can't jump out of here after one year data, which we got a we got a 10 bushel increase over 08:14 the previous year that we had beans in there. Now that was a five or six years ago. So, you know, when you see some of 08:24 the data that we show in ads shows, you know, it's a it's the the last time that we had it beings. So I think will not 08:30 have been 2017 15. I can't 15 so you know what the reason why it's been that long several reasons prevent plant be good rotate the 08:40 corn rotate the rice. So that's the next. Time we had beans we got a Tim bushel increase. Okay. So here's the thing the person that's listening to this is trying to say 08:50 wait a minute. 10 bushels more 15 bushel beans at 150 more dollars an acre you amortize that over because I know on taxes you can depreciate you 09:02 and use the expense of tile for like five years or something. I think at least it's a long term investment. So the point is a person saying wait a minute those numbers work, 09:11 but you can't attribute that all to the drain style In fairness from 2015 to 2022 that's seven years of you getting 09:21 better at farming seven years of seed and Technology getting a little bit better the United States of America soybean Harvest 09:30 average usually goes up by about eight tenths of a bushel per year. If you look at the you know, the the line so the reality is in those 09:40 seven years. You probably would have gotten five bushels better just from 09:45 Just from us getting better at farming right I think so in in everything you said is spot on as far as you know, what's happened with being production. I'm a better 09:54 soybean farmer by far then I wasn't 15. Where I think it's where I think it's making a difference here in the south. 10:02 To two things one the earlier we plant the better yield we get I mean that improving if we you know that feel normally would get planted in May maybe May and 10:11 and we're able we went in there this year planted on March 31st, right? So, you know, we're picking up we know we're 10:18 gonna pick up more yield this year than we did last year. So we're gonna be able to compare last year against this year. 10:24 We're a little too soon to say. Hey, it's a hundred fifty dollar an acre payback. Okay, another thing Sharky clay. Well whole nutrients better than our Sands 10:33 we make better yield on our sins because we get in a field earlier. Yep, we can if we can take this Sharky clay 10:40 it hold the nutrients in the roots on like we needed to and not Leach them out. And and at the same time we plan 10:46 our Sans I think there's big potential. Yes. So the thing here because again, it's it's not like a real trial like we do 10:55 a lot of or Labs like we do with our business partner. I grow liquid we say here's 40 acres. 11:02 On 20 of it, we're gonna do exactly this on the 20 right next to we're gonna do this other thing and then we 11:08 can say it's a true trial you're kind of comparing it to past years on that same field or the field across the road. So it's pretty much a trial but 11:18 then an exact trial but the hell of it is what you just said is the interesting part you can compare it to stuff that's not even exactly the same as well as compared 11:27 to stuff. That's like the Sharky compared to a sand what you just said right? There is what if the advantage here is not just it's the 11:37 timing it's that it allows you to get in there sooner and that's the biggie and all sudden it puts it on the same. 11:44 Put on same comparative and schedule as you're saying. Yes, absolutely. And that's where we're making our better yields. Yeah, and the other part of it is now it doesn't. 11:56 I'm guessing by the timing now everything can be on the same schedule. I mean, that's one thing like okay while the guys are doing beans. It's time to 12:05 plant all of them as opposed to now we got put stuff away switch to something else and then come back in two weeks when this property is 12:12 that kind of me. I'm guessing that on the one hand. It was probably okay because it spread out your labor. But the other thing is it also held up your schedule, you know, it does it's 12:22 way more fishing if we can get in those clay fields at the same timeing because for instance for this field is 12:29 There's two Sam Fields and in any so we in the past we've always had to go in there and plan to Sam Fields leave, you know, we maybe 25 miles from there when it dries up on 12:39 a clay when it's dry you better get there because if you go to lunch, it's gonna be too dry when you get back. I mean, 12:45 that's the way Sharky clay and it's kind of your soul. So your soul that you have on your farm with a 12:51 heavy clay content so you can imagine what it's like, you know, I want to I want to talk about the numbers. I'll talk about the money because 12:58 obviously we're here to help our farm listeners and members make money. And while we're speaking of money. I want to talk to you about this now more than ever. You've got to squeeze every Penny's 13:08 worth of available nutrients out of every acre you farm. Okay, we know inputs are obviously more expensive. We know the Machinery cost 13:14 more expensive labor. If you have Labor more expensive everything, we got inflation air pressure. We got price increases. So you need 13:20 to get more out of every nickel you spend on your farm and on your inputs Titan XC from a Loveland products improves nutrient availability increases plant uptake. 13:30 So you get the most from your drive fertilizer investment visit Loveland products. Calm to 13:37 learn more Speaking of money. Okay. We just did the rough math there 10 bushels more. But again, that's come going back from seven 13:45 years ago or whatever this year. The field is in p***. No, it's back in soybeans the trial and and the 13:54 preface what I said earlier, I could have planted that field in February when I planted my February beans. We didn't do that because we're wanting this trial to be normal farming 14:05 operations. So most people are not stupid enough to go plant beans in February. So the trial needed to be planted at a normal day. So, you know 14:15 that that's where we are on there. But I really think just in general that I mean, we're doing a lot better 14:21 job with this field then what it was if it was a towel now all so something else we're doing 14:29 For test plot, you know for the trial is we're planning this flat like y'all plant in the midwest, you know, we plant everything 14:35 on raised beds. Well, if you raise that bed in that tile's gonna be another five or six inches from the from the base of the plant. So yeah, and that gives 14:45 us a chance to go into different row configurations, which theoretically 15 inch beans out yield 38 inch means every day. 14:52 So there's gonna be some advantages there. But to this year and last year we're planted just like we normally would to keep everything constant. Yeah. So here's the interesting 15:01 part. So the person that's tuning in from Nebraska saying what the hell they're talking about raised beds, you know, 15:08 it's not because you're growing potatoes. It's because of irrigation, right? Right. Exactly. So just kind of for the person that's Tuning In 15:14 For the First Time explain that real quickly and you explain it. You've been sitting over there. Just kind of like hanging out. 15:20 Raised beds. Why do I do them? How do I do them? So, you know we're on raised beds do to I would say 15:26 90% of irrigation and and we we fur irrigate which what that is is taking poly tubing on what we call the upper end 15:35 of our fields and upper end is is our filter all all level to fall from one end to the other that way whenever we do turn on our water you 15:47 poke our holes that I probably fight and it starts running down the field. Though Ray's beds gives give the water 15:55 direction to be able to go down the field. I kind of like it if I come down there and work for you. I'm don't like I don't like poisonous snakes. I'm terrified of alligators 16:04 and poisonous snakes. So I don't like that. But the one thing I want to do if I come work for you guys. I want to be the dude that you give that stick 16:10 with the little poker on it and walk down the hole and and whack that probably that Polly pipe so that it shoots the water out. I think that'd be a cool job, you like that for the 16:19 first two or three hours, but about three days in you'll be you'll get tennis elbow bad thing. You actually get tennis elbow before the end of the year interesting. 16:32 You know for guys like us and Lane's not there yet because he's young. I remember when I was young and tough and played Real Sports football and wrestling and 16:41 I heard people talk about tennis elbow. I'm like what kind of a wuss are you tennis elbow? And then 16:48 when I was in my mid late 30s, I slung a chainsaw and Sledgehammer for about a week straight on a renovation on my house. 16:58 And I try to pick up a case of beer and I dropped it because it felt like someone had taken a knife and jabbed it through my elbow and I went 17:04 to the doctor and said what the hell's that they said you have tennis elbow. So, you know paybacks are hell as they say I felt 17:11 the same way that Damon to be honest with you. I always thought that tennis elbow was for Wilson's but but you can get it 17:17 from several different ways. By the way, it's tendonitis. And anyway, if you have it from overuse, it does feel like sometimes you 17:26 feel you get stabbed in your elbow. All right, so you didn't do raised beds on this field because of of the drainage thing. Did you have to change your planter set 17:36 up? Because now you're farming like like guys in the midwest now, we didn't we won't to once we get the trial over 17:42 with and we want to go to narrow narrow beans. Yeah because I think we increase yield but as far as right now 17:49 for the trial, we're doing everything exactly like we would do it if it was Furrow irrigated with raised beds. We 17:55 just don't have to raise beds. Which is almost unheard of on flat playground a plant without a raised bed. I mean it and and 18:04 that's where it's impressive too. You know, we're still in this thing new but being able to plant that flat and with 18:10 the floods we had on it. This year was it was amazing what it done? So here's the next question Lane if you're not doing raised beds 18:17 on this field. Can you still irrigate? Well, that's part of the trial. Oh, so one cool thing that we're trying is so, 18:24 you know tile is designed to to take water off the field subsurface right hip now with with this trial we're gonna try to actually pump water 18:34 through the tile and subsurface. Irrigate trying to push water from the bottom up. So by the way, I think that's the future. I think that's absolutely the future it when 18:43 it's when it's workable. I think it's absolutely the future now instead of having a bunch of different stuff in the ground. You got one pipe in the ground and use it both 18:49 ways. Is that the Future No, hopefully well, yeah and if that works if we can make that work that's gonna be a 18:55 big deal and when you ask how many actors or tile will have in the future, you're a third less water right off the bat. Yeah, and 19:02 we're having to use a I actually drilled well, you know on this field we got so many places we can catch run off and read that back on at a slow amount and a third 19:11 of the water usage and water from the bottom up instead of from the top down water from the bottom up is more efficient usage of 19:18 the water first off and also put to where it needs to be. Am I right? Yeah, you had control where you're putting your water. Well and 19:24 also will give us the opportunity to know till you know, we can't we we're hindered on no till and with raised beds and with fur irrigation because we gotta get that water from one 19:34 side of the field to the other, you know, one of the field the other so no till is very tricky for us. Yeah, if we 19:40 can ever get in these situations then no till would be very easy for us. We'd be farming like Midwest. So interesting thing about the concept here Lane on your trial 19:50 of using it obviously to get water away during the winter wet winter so you can actually get in there and farm it in the spring. When do 19:56 you think then? Well, when did you last year start putting water back through on reversing it? When when does that happen June? 20:05 Oh, yeah, so we were actually probably a little bit late on that which is you know, you you live and you learn but 20:13 probably about what we come up with about 30 days before we thought we really need water is when we need to start trying to pump that profile back up. So, 20:21 you know, we're we were steady last year, you know taking water off the whole time just that's mostly you know, and we start laying Polly pipe everywhere else 20:30 and okay, we're gonna start start watering beans. Well, we turn our well on and 20:35 Come back day later. Nothing's happened. You Days Later. Nothing's happened. Long story short by the time we got our profile pump back up. 20:45 You're going to season was almost over. We've basically had a and that's another thing impressive about the Tim bushel. We basically 20:52 had a dry land field in one one of the right what and one of the drives years we've had and it's still out yielded. 21:01 Before so well in like Lane said yes wasn't sure we wasn't either. It's it's a it's a trial and error deal and this year. We'll start pumping that profile up we 21:10 had to put profile completely gone. So the roots could get deeper. Yeah and our 30 days earlier building that profile so and 21:16 and it may end up being a combination to where you know where it takes 24 hours to irrigate a setting Pearl irrigation with the tile with the 21:26 with the subsurface irrigation. We may can do that in eight hours because even if we have to go back to fur irrigation, we're still going to cut the time because we've got 21:35 the soil profile built up through the tile. Interesting, by the way, because you know, we're talking about stuff that's not even done in your part of the world irrigation certainly 21:45 as as you said, it's usually Furrow irrigation. Now you're talking about drainage tile which is not typically done and then you're talking about using it also to bring in water and 21:54 it also can change your farming system and get away from raised beds, which I'm thinking you've got to put yeah install the 22:01 beds and you got to have the equipment and you think that you're gonna have one less trip a little bit less Manpower and 22:08 a more importantly you think you'll get better yields because like you said soybeans on 15 inch rows versus the way they are right now. So there's 22:14 a big benefit to that. Yes. Yes. We actually know till the field this year. Yeah, we did a light Tilly doing it last year just because it had a 22:23 little bit of settling issues. Yeah, when if we hadn't had to do that because the settling from previous you put might be 22:29 it was a hundred percent no deal. So we had one trip we had we had a burn down and then we planted it. That's it. 22:35 And you that feel there the Play Feels we have make small grips of light tillage because the ground gets so cloudy and 22:45 so we may go over that field four or five times. And then plant it and this year we planted. So the the other part of this Lane you 22:54 can chime in here on this you talked about, you know learning and learning curve about using it not only 23:02 get rid of the waters. You can get on the field and and you know, if you've got all your winter moisture, but then using that moisture when 23:08 you need it you missed out because you didn't realize things were as dry as they were so your lesson is 23:16 Probably 30 days sooner than you did you should have been putting water in her to build up that profile. 23:22 Was that just a mistake or is there a was there a physical or mechanical reason why you couldn't 23:29 it was just a mistake like kind of like we said earlier. I mean he nobody knew that it should 23:35 have took 30 days. Yeah. Oh, you know by the time we we started doing it, we waited a couple weeks and and 23:43 all of us trying to figure it up and we kind of did the math on what we're putting in and what what it would take per acre to bring it up, you know? 23:50 Yeah it come up to be about 30 days bonehead move us and ads wants to take to the blame for but it wasn't just them we should have enough common sense to know 23:59 we should have started that earlier. Well, it makes you think now, you know, that's got soil moisture testers. Typically, 24:06 we don't put them down two or three feet, but you could right. Oh, yeah, we've got them at what six not six of three 24:17 Eighteen twelve and six. Yeah eighteen twelve and six and after this debacle. Yeah like that that we put 34 of them in a 36 of 24:26 them in a 34 acre field. Okay, and we had put all those up to plant. So we got to put them back out there again, but we will we're gonna we'll we're in a lot better position this 24:35 year than we have been but that's what a trial is. Yeah. It's a trial you're learning on this and that's the important part and the other thing is 24:41 if it's a hundred degrees which gets that way you're part of the world because I've been there. 24:46 Does it bring the water up faster, you know like we talked about by August and my part of the world that you're 24:53 relying on that subsoil moisture and people don't understand. Well, how's that coming up there? What's coming up? Because that's part of the hydrologic cycle. And there's you 24:59 know yet the hot warm day bringing that moisture up from two feet. Do you think that maybe 25:05 You could have just were pushed water fast Harder Faster since you were playing catch up and it would have gotten to the surface. I mean 100 degree day. Wouldn't that 25:14 be just trying to come to the top? I don't know. Well, I don't play like that. I mean literally during that time of year when 25:21 it's 100 degrees. You can take ratchet reach our ratchet and drop it in the crack and never see it again. 25:29 So that ground cracks into into probably they're usually about three inches wide. Yeah, there'll be at least two foot 25:36 deep. Maybe three foot deep. Is it when the clay that's what the clay does it cracks and then it seals back up. So it don't quite work like the 25:44 midwestern soil where you get the we don't have subtle moisture of hardly any work in our 25:51 area. You're always two weeks from a drought it can rain 10 inches today and in two weeks still be a drought you need 25:58 a rain. I mean it's crazy, but that's why it is. All right. Let's talk about the money part of it because first that's wondering, you 26:04 know, especially where it's not commonly done. We just answered there's a whole lot of benefit you get on a field sooner spaces out your timing and your 26:14 ability to be efficient with the rest of your operational, you know processes planting there Etc. 26:21 We talked about 10 bushel bump and we qualify we qualified that with an asterisk. We talked about the ability to use it as then irrigation. There's 26:31 a whole bunch of benefits are there any negatives and then we'll talk about the money. 26:36 Well, the negative is going to be it's expensive. I mean, you know it and everything's more expensive now. 26:42 So but I mean they've got data to show the ROI somewhere around seven years this time next year. We'll have 26:49 so much better information because a lot of the mistakes we made last year and a lot of the ground having to kind of get get itself 26:55 back acclimated to you know, being dug up. Well, we'll show us some stuff but I know enough about that field I've been farming for 25 years. Yeah, I know 27:06 enough about What I made in 15 to know that that I see some really good benefits here and some of them we won't be able to capture yet because we're still in the 27:17 trial phase. So when when ads says, okay, we're through with the trial phase. I'm gonna go to 15 inch beads, you know, 27:23 and the cool thing is if we can get this subsurface to work correctly. Just think about rice. So no levies. 27:32 You know, well first off that's a big end thought about most people don't know about rice. Remember Arkansas number one rice producing state and I'd never been in a rice field in my life until I was in yours. 27:41 So and and most by the way, if you've never heard Matt miles on one of these cutting the curve podcast talk about it. 27:50 I learned rice does not have to be flooded. It was just done for weed control. Not any person I've ever 27:57 asked outside of rice country knows that by the way, yeah. You're saying that now on Rice you'll still probably drill 28:06 it plant it by drill and then you could avoid the levees which you don't care about the levees. If you if you deconstruct them, it's more than that. You don't to farm 28:16 around them. I'm guessing right? Well, you put them up take them down every year which is in that 35 Acres. There's 18 of them. 28:22 Yeah, so, you know it it messes your ground up. You got to come back to a lot of tillage you get it smooth back down and and water usage. So if we 28:31 can do if we sub service and grow rice, it's gonna be an absolute Game Changer, but we've got to get vacation piece down, right? Yeah subsurfers and grow rice because it does it does 28:41 require more water. Doesn't it? Yes, well rocks doesn't encourage you see it encourage more water. The sub-service is gonna be a major player if this 28:50 work, okay, so you get rid of the levies. You don't have to go out in construct them also into Farm around them don't have to actually gaining 28:56 some Acres just because of that. It's actually like growing week. I mean, you know, we'll go out there and plant it with the drill and and there's no levees. There's no shoveling. There's no, 29:05 you know, it's it's if it works it will but see what it's got to do on the rice is it's got to keep the ground muddy muddy. 29:14 So to keep the ground sealed off where I was talking about the cracks you get cracks you get weeds. So, you know 29:20 if we can keep that ground what I call Monkey to wear sticking your feet and it's not cracking if we that was subsurface irrigation and it keeps our chemicals activated and everything 29:30 will be when we do that Dad and we keep that monkey ground when David comes to do stuff. We'll just send them across the field. See if you can make it back. Yeah, that'd be 29:39 good exercise and also have a try and unpin some alligators and some cotton mouse and have them chasing after me other things. There's a whole bunch of benefits that the one 29:49 thing is, there's a cost to it. I don't know. I mean there's a trial so you don't know I asked somebody in my part of the world. They told me I should count 1500 dollars 29:58 an acre. Does that seem like a reasonable number? Yeah, that's gonna be a reasonable number, you know depend ever feels gonna be different some 30:04 feels see we have to have the lift station because our drainage ditches are not as deep as the tile is 30:11 we're not pumping that out into our granny, but you know, there's some areas, you know in the midwest where the ditches are way deeper than right. So it just 30:20 depends on the field, but that's a good round about number I would think. yeah, and so then you start running the numbers and you'd say what's my 30:27 payoff timeframe on that and again Diamond if we can get government assistance, you know, we're not only we're saving water we're having 30:37 less runoff, you know less top soil coming off think of all the environmental sustainability things that that tile 30:47 promotes so and I think there's assistance in the midwest but in in the Delta, there's not because nobody puts down tile. So if we can ever get you know the government to 30:56 come in here and help us with this like like they do in other ears and they help us with other things definitely will 31:02 be a game changer. Yeah, and so the the pole and the trigger on whether to do it more this will be the Big Year seems like the drainage was immediate immediately apparent the benefits 31:14 the the using it as subservers irrigation. You're gonna you've learned you're going to do a better job of it this year. And then what's the 31:24 next thing what happens in crop your 2024 with this that you just just get more more dialed in on both things or what 31:33 if the sub-service irrigation piece will work like we hope Then we're going to we'll try our rice. 31:41 If you know it, so that's gonna be a big deal and then we'll start changing our row configurations and no-till and cover crops and things that we can't do we're limited 31:51 doing because we have this tile and and it kind of sum this up, you know, we plan that field March the 31st. We got six or seven 32:00 inches of rain in a couple of days right deal one underwater for 60 hours. And I sat down there watch the pump and it would come on pump the tile out 32:08 now it was Backwater. So there's nothing you can do about Backwater. Okay? But I just knew the field was lost. You know, there was no way that 32:17 those beans could survive. So how long were they in the ground before the seven inches came? Oh, they were probably in the ground four or five days before it came. So they 32:27 hadn't it Lane was her emergency. No, no, there's no emergence on those soybeans and you got seven inches of rain and why we said 32:37 back water to somebody doesn't know what that means what that mean. That means water that's actually coming down the 32:43 canal that can't get down the canal fast enough. So it goes at least resistance, you know, like flooding in River, you know, you have the Backwater from a river. It's the same scenario and 32:52 that water's gonna go to least resistance, which that's one of my sorry is feels so therefore it's one of my lowest Fields. Yeah. 32:59 So just it's all drainage drainage water. They can't it's nowhere to go. So it backs up onto your field. It was underwater for 60 hours. So you're talking about okay two and a half 33:08 days. This this is sunk. These soybeans are not going to emerge and this field is going to need to be planted after this all goes 33:14 away. That was your thought exactly and it had we planted 150,000 which is how population because it's a risky field. I would 33:24 do Tyler no tile and we got a 135,000 average stand after he'd been underwater 60 hours. It's almost unheard of 33:33 And it was flat. So in any other situation in the world, that would have never worked. Now my son-in-law has the field across the road with no 33:42 tile and he got to stand too but he had raised beds and he got about half the population up that we did. So yeah, so I was kind of when he has came up mine came 33:52 up. I'm like well is the tire really working but then when we done the population counts and then he had a little bit maybe that 33:58 he had to you know, go back and address and he was on a raised bed and we were flat all those are advantages to what 34:04 we doing. Hundred and so you lost yet 90% emergence ninety percent emergence after after sitting 34:13 underwater literally for two and a half days. And so the tile the tile helps 34:19 and if this had been raised bed though, would you you the water would have gotten away from the plants a little quicker right would have got away from the plants a little quicker. 34:29 But I don't think without the towel we'd have probably been looking at about 65% population at best got it. 34:36 Which almost marital replant? Yes. Yeah, you you'd have been if you kept it. You would have been you're on the wrist side of being 34:44 too low. Yeah. All right, get me out of here Lane. What do I need to know? 34:50 I mean, we just got to keep our eyes open on what's gonna happen next. I mean, is it gonna is it gonna continue to work? Like we think 34:56 it is and and how much better can we do on this irrigation? Are you already mapping out where the next Field's gonna be if you if you're 35:02 gonna pull the trigger, I'm putting more tile in. Yep, by the way 20 foot on Center to the person that's brand new to this. 35:09 It means 20 foot and it kind of a grid pattern I'm guessing. Yeah, grid pattern and then the size diameter of 35:17 drainage tile on those 20 foots is like the minimum which is what four inch. 35:21 Three inch and in Bridge three inch and in the main line is is it's neck down for the irrigation piece. So it starts out at 35:30 8 maybe 10 then goes dating and six there's three zones in there and it next down with a valve water over 35:37 hydraulic valve to actually stop the water when we're trying to irrigate. Yeah. So three inches three inches on the 20 foot centers and then it goes into the feeds into 35:46 is a six inch and then when it gets to where the capacity it's like a piece of ductwork, I guess the person that doesn't doesn't understand drainage talents about 35:53 like a piece of ductwork getting to a building right? It starts out bigger and keeps getting a little and all that kind of thing. Yeah. 35:59 Except for it's backwards ductwork goes from bigger to smaller and it goes just the other way from drangstyle because you're handling increasing volumes 36:06 of water. All right, I think it's cool ads is the company that is one of our business partners that's doing this Chad Henderson has a big drainage a project that he 36:15 did and we've talked about that and like four different episodes. If you're interested in more about drainage tile, I'm gonna be with the miles 36:22 guys and Chad Henderson in May at his field day. The field day is May 10th. I got that right don't I May 11th? I'm sorry in Alabama, 36:31 and we're going to be there and we're going to be talking about drainage among other things. So if you want to learn more about this stay 36:38 tuned and we appreciate if you are listening to this and you're not a member I'm gonna tell you about a great investment you can make we just got huge accolades from somebody that 36:47 said I really like this group because they're so open with the information. It's 750 bucks a year 750 bucks a year. 36:53 Think about it. If you're only Farm 750 Acres, it's a buck and acre. You probably far more than that. You'll get Says to people like Matt and Lane miles you build to watch our monthly 37:02 webinars, which happen every month first Thursday of the month. We cover topics and let you interact and 37:08 ask questions that can improve and up your farming game extremeag.farm share this with someone who can benefit from it. Stay tuned for more great information, and 37:16 if you could up your game with 750 bucks a year, and you're not a member I encourage you to do so till next time Lane miles and Matt miles. 37:25 They can't see you holding your thumb up playing. It's a it's an audio podcast. Thank you. You're supposed to say thanks. I've enjoyed this 37:32 Damon. It's brilliant conversation as always right lane as the conversation Damien. I really appreciate you having us on today. I appreciate you being available. All right. 37:41 So next time I'm Dave Mason, this is Extreme Ice cutting the curve that's a wrap for this episode of cutting the curve, but there's plenty more 37:48 check out extremead.com where you can find past episodes instructional videos and articles to help you squeeze more profit out of 37:57 your farm cutting. The curve is brought to you by Advanced Drainage Systems the leader in agriculture Water Management 38:05 Solutions.
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McGehee, AR