By Brent Pringnitz, Department of Agronomy; Matt Helmers, Department of Agricultural Engineering and Biosystems Engineering; and Greg Brenneman and Kapil Arora, Agricultural Engineering specialists
Agricultural drainage is becoming increasingly important due to the critical role it plays for Iowa's bio-economy. Drainage systems that are properly designed and operating are essential to achieving maximum agricultural production capability. These issues will be addressed at the Iowa Drainage School Aug. 23-25 at the Borlaug Learning Center on the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Nashua, Iowa.
People planning to install a new drainage system or retrofit an existing system will want to attend this school. The workshop will focus on drainage design, economics of drainage, water management and legal issues related to drainage.
The intent of the Iowa Drainage School is to provide training about
- Agricultural drainage concepts
- Planning and laying out drainage systems, including surveying a profile
- Calculating tile line sizes and spacing using actual field data
- Making connections and setting up drainage control structures
- NRCS and IDDA regulatory considerations
- Fixing common drainage system issues
Drainage contractors, landowners, professional engineers and consultants, NRCS professionals, county administrators, and others who are involved in making drainage design decisions within their respective businesses and organizations are invited to attend.
This is a three-day school with each day including a combination of hands-on training, lecture and discussion, and problem solving using examples. By attending this school, participants will be able to plan and layout subsurface drainage systems and work out project costs.
Registration fees for this three-day school are $300 per person if registered by midnight, Aug 12. Late registration is $350 and must be received by Aug 19. Class size is limited to 40 participants and pre-registration is required. Registration fees include meals indicated on the agenda, refreshments and handouts.
Additional information, a detailed agenda, and online registration are available at www.aep.iastate.edu/ids.
Brent Pringnitz is an ISU Extension program specialist. He can be reached at the Field Extension Education Laboratory, (515) 432-9548 or bpring@iastate.edu. Matt Helmers is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering with research and extension responsibilities. Helmers can be reached at 515-294-6717 or mhelmers@iastate.edu. Kapil Arora and Greg Brenneman are ISU Extension Agricultural Engineering specialists. Arora can be reached at 515-382-6551 or pbtiger@iastate.edu; Brenneman can be reached at 319-337-2145 or gregb@iastate.edu.
Links to this article are strongly encouraged, and this article may be republished without further permission if published as written and if credit is given to the author, Integrated Crop Management News, and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. If this article is to be used in any other manner, permission from the author is required. This article was originally published on August 2, 2011. The information contained within may not be the most current and accurate depending on when it is accessed.
Matthew Helmers Dean's Professor in the College of Ag and Life Sciences
Dr. Matt Helmers is the dean’s professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University, where he has been on the faculty since 2003. He earned his doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Linc...