PIGEON FALLS, Wis. — The Extent of Tile Drainage in Wisconsin, a new publication from UW Discovery Farms, is now available at UW-Extension’s Learning Store. The publication highlights the extent of tile drainage in Wisconsin, how the total number of tile drainage acres vary by state, the differences in estimates across different data collection methods and possible trends over time.
The extension publication compares five different sources of data for eight Midwestern states. “Determining the extent of tile drainage has not received the attention it deserves,” explained Callie Herron, communications manager at UW Discovery Farms, a program of UW-Extension. In fact, 2012 was the first time in over 30 years that the USDA Census of Agriculture included a question about this topic. Understanding where and how much agricultural land is tile-drained is incredibly important to water quality.
“We are hoping to use our understanding of the extent of drainage in Wisconsin to better target our tile management outreach efforts,” Herron explained. In Wisconsin, the areas with the most extensive tile drainage are the Easternmost counties, which also drain into the Lake Michigan Basin. In these areas, the promotion of best management practices to reduce phosphorus loss must include emphasizing practices that reduce phosphorus loss from tile drainage.
Find The extent of tile drainage in Wisconsin publication (A4124), as well as many publications on managing tile-drained land (GWQ054, GWQ056, GWQ064), on the UW-Extension Learning Store website www.learningstore.uwex.edu or contact UW Discovery Farms at callie.herron@ces.uwex.edu or 715.983.5668 for more information.
— UW Discovery Farms
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