Tri-state agricultural drainage forum set for Jan. 26 in Brookings

By Jarett Bies - News Editor/Ag Bio Communications

An informational forum on agricultural drainage will be held on Jan. 26 at the Swiftel Center in Brookings. The one-day event costs $30 per person for those who preregister or $40 for walk-ins at the door, which includes lunch. Seating will be limited, so pre-registration is highly encouraged to ensure that you have a seat. To register, contact the Brown County Extension office at 605-626-7120 or e-mail the office at this address: Brown.County@sdstate.edu. The forum will be an all-day event beginning at 8 a.m. and ending by 5 p.m. Topics will include drainage fundamentals; permitting, legal, and wetlands issues; drainage impacts on hydrology and water quality; climate impacts on drainage; and conservation drainage practices. For convenience, an online registration form that participants can fill out and submit electronically is available at this link:
http://www.sdstate.edu/sdces/districts/north/1/agronomy.cfm. The link takes you to an SDSU webpage, and there, click on the “Tri-State Drainage Forum Registration” choice to pull up the form. Participants can make payment at the door by cash or check. The South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service, North Dakota State University Extension Service, and University of Minnesota Extension collaborated to make the forum possible. The forum is intended for farmers, contractors, government agency staff, consultants, industry, land and water resource managers, and others interested in learning more about agricultural drainage issues. Extension Water Management Engineer Chris Hay said that with the flooding and wet conditions over the past few years, many producers are considering subsurface drainage. “For producers considering drainage improvements and others interested in agricultural drainage, this will be an opportunity to learn more about drainage basics, permitting, and some of the issues associated with drainage,” said Hay. Call Hay for more information at 605-688-5610 or e-mail him at this address: christopher.hay@sdstate.edu.