A good portion of the Midwest’s mid section suffers from low rainfall. Droughts have been declared from Nebraska through Illinois.

While there’s no chance in the battle with Mother Nature, some farmers are finding ways to increase their viability in droughts and drier areas of the region.

Striking it Rich – Farmer Finds "Gold" in French Drain System

After nine weeks without rain in a bone-dry October, Kevin Smyth perforated his southeastern Ohio farm landscape with a post hole digger in search of water. Most patches were parched and dusty, except one.

"It certainly wasn’t like a geyser, but it was a sticky spot," Smyth said. The next day, that hole had collected a foot of water. Because Smyth’s remote rural area had no municipal water service and many dry wells, finding this spring was like striking gold.

Smyth’s next challenge was to develop the spring to irrigate his 10-acre Community Supported Agriculture farm, where he grows 40 different types of vegetables, plus some fruit and mushrooms, for about 40 households near Columbus, Ohio.

Enter the SARE program and the French drain system.

Eureka! Moisture in a Dry Land

Smyth shared his water triumph with a neighbor who introduced him to the French drain system. With a SARE producer grant, Smyth installed this unconventional plumbing on his farm for about $4,000.

Used primarily in urban areas and at construction sites, a French drain is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe in the bottom. The pipe collects subsurface water from poorly drained areas and carries it to a main drainage line, dry well, ravine, or the street.

With no written plans, Smyth employed the French drain on his farm to develop a spring for irrigating his crops.

He started by hiring a backhoe operator to dig a 100-foot trench perpendicular to the slope where subsurface water was collecting. The trench was shaped like a "V," with the point of the "V" down the slope.

Smyth notes that he had help from Soil and Water Conservation District personnel to advise him on how deep to dig the trench in order to avoid disrupting the soil’s fragipan – an impermeable layer of clay.

The "V" trench was filled with perforated pipe with 1/4-inch holes every two inches. He backfilled trenches with 2 feet of river gravel, covered that with a sheet of plastic and then backfilled with dirt.

From the point of the "V" Smyth dug another trench downhill about 100 feet, where he installed a 1300-gallon concrete cistern. Smyth laid black polyethylene waterline and buried it in the second trench.

For part two of this French drain system, Smyth ran a third trench from the cistern to a high point above his vegetable fields and installed a second 1800-gallon cistern.

A standard submersible 12-volt pump in the first cistern carries the spring water to cistern two at about 600 gallons/hour. From the second cistern, water is gravity-fed to fields through drip irrigation.

Smyth’s original plan involved using solar panels to power the pump in the first cistern. He started out with two 53-watt panels, but they provided only about 60 gallons/hour – insufficient moisture for his crops. Because additional panels were cost prohibitive, Smyth opted to use electricity.

"I still recommend solar panels," he added. "especially for people who can’t run an electric line."

Water, Water Everywhere

Before installing the French drain system, "It was terrible," Smyth said. His former irrigation consisted of either using a pump in a tiny farm pond and dragging a hose to surface-water crops or using the scoop on the back of his tractor to dump barrels of water.

"This new system is just the cat’s meow," Smyth said. "It’s made life so much easier. It’s 80 percent less tedious and 80 percent more effective."

During drought season last year, the French drain provided about 15 gallons/hour, sufficient for his watering needs. Outside of the dry season, the pump provides about five times that much water.

In fact, Smyth uses water from the French drain for plumbing in his house. He suggested this system could also be used to water livestock.

Smyth said that the major challenge of his French drain system was the initial expense and labor, but he said that limited labor and investment down the road makes the system worth the time and money.

Smyth’s neighbors and fellow growers have shown interest in this innovative irrigation, and Smyth showcased the system at a summer field day sponsored by the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association.

"There are many different ways to develop a spring," Smyth said. "But this is one of the best ways."

NCR-SARE Names New Regional Coordinator

Administrative Council Updates

Calls for Proposals, 2000 Grant Awards

It's your last chance to submit a Research and Education Grant Program preproposal, due September 8. A call for Professional Development Program (PDP) proposals will be released in mid-October and due in mid-December. All calls for proposals can be found at www.sare.org/san/ncrsare/cfp.htm. Or call 402-472-7081 for print copies. For more information on applying for a PDP grant, call PDP Coordinator Paula Ford at 785-532-5328.

Scholarships Available for Business Planning Course

Tilling the Soil of Opportunity is an exciting new program for innovative producers starting or improving a direct marketing business. North Central SARE is offering a limited number of scholarships to farmers and ranchers to take this business planning class.

Resources from SARE and SAN

The following products are new from SARE and the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN).