AMES — Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and US Department of Agriculture will host a Farmland Drainage Workshop from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Dec. 10 at the Polk County Extension office in Altoona.
“This workshop is being offered due to increased interest in this topic the past year,” ISU field agricultural engineer Kapil Arora said.
The morning session will focus on sub-surface drainage design concepts, wetland determinations, Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy and long-term benefits of tiling. The afternoon session will include discussions on economics, nutrient cycling in soils, controlled drainage, bioreactors, saturated buffers and managing drainage water quality with wetlands. Legal issues related to tiling and Iowa drainage laws also will be covered.
Attendees will learn information essential to designing and planning a new drainage system or retrofitting an existing system while learning about environmental impacts and new technologies that may be useful in minimizing negative environmental impacts.
Registration fee for the workshop is $40 before Dec. 7. Workshop materials, morning refreshments and lunch are included in the fee. Registration forms are at www.extension.iastate.edu/polk and making payment to Polk County Extension.