Drainage installation, drainage water recycling and soil health will be the focus of a field day being held on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, beginning at 9 a.m. at The Ohio State University at Lima. 

Field demonstrations will be conducted by the Ohio Chapter of Land Improvement Contractors of America in an open house-style format throughout the day and a variety of conservation practices will be on display featuring Extension and industry experts. The event is free and open to the public and parking will be available on site. Registration is required to attend. The event and registration details are available at go.osu.edu/limadrainageday.

The field day will also feature implementation and demonstration of conservation practices aimed towards water quality improvements and ecological protection. Experts will cover two main practices: drainage water recycling and saturated buffers. The DWR system will feature a recently constructed 5 million gallon-capacity water retention pond that will collect runoff and drainage water from about 40 acres. The stored water can be used later in the growing season for irrigating crops. Representatives from Valley Irrigation will discuss a center pivot irrigation system. These practices have been implemented as part of the agricultural nutrient runoff treatments project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through an assistance agreement with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. A lunch will be provided and will include a short a program. 

The organizing team includes Ohio State Lima, Ohio State University Extension in Allen County, Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District, and OLICA. 

For more details and/or sponsorship information, contact Nic Baumer, agriculture and natural resources Extension educator, at baumer.15@osu.edu or Dr. Vinayak Shedekar, assistant professor of agricultural water management, at shedekar.1@osu.edu. 
 

About the farm 

The field day will take place at the Ohio State Lima Regenerative Farm, which started in 2020 and provides research and educational opportunities focused on regenerative farming practices. The farm at Ohio State Lima is a learning laboratory for farmers to see how regenerative ag can work in the real world and how conservation practices can improve outcomes both on individual farms and collectively. 
Adequate drainage is a necessary step in the transformation of the farmland towards a regenerative farm. The team envisioned a project to implement farm drainage and associated conservation practices on about 120 acres in four years as part of a project funded by the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State. The project provides unique opportunity to demonstrate quality construction and installation practices for farm drainage through a partnership with OLICA and their associate members. 

Source: Vinayak Shedekar and Nic Baumer