Surface drainage is a very important component of a successful water management system. Subsurface drainage can help to establish more optimum conditions for field operations and crop growth by lowering perched watertables. Although subsurface drainage is a very popular water management practice in southern Minnesota, there has been very little installation in small grain growing regions of Minnesota or the Dakotas. Anecdotal evidence from northwest Minnesota farmers who have subsurface drainage suggests that there are real benefits to be gained from this practice, but flat topography, tight soils and a historical surface drainage culture still limit its widespread appeal. The question many farmers need answered is whether subsurface drainage represents a profitable investment.
Producers also lack regional, research-based data on crop response to subsurface drainage.
Although much drainage research has been conducted in other parts of the country, it is critical that drainage performance is assessed locally, to take into account the unique climate, soils, and landscapes of northwest Minnesota. The University of Minnesota has established two 8-acre research and demonstration sites near Crookston and Brooks, Minnesota, to investigate the hydrology, water quality, and crop response of wheat, soybeans, and sugarbeets to various drainage spacings, as compared to an undrained condition. The drain spacings will correspond to three different daily water removal rates. Fields will be planted in a direction perpendicular to the drains. Shallow watertable wells will be established in each plot for automated monitoring of watertable depths to four feet.