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Laser guidance improves speed and accuracy"The question was would it work here," John Lorberg said. "It absolutely did." "The yield advantage was 75 bushels per acre between tiled and untiled fields," Jeff Lorberg said. By Doug Rich New technology should increase speed, improve accuracy and lower costs if it is going to be accepted by producers in the field. If that new technology can also increase yields and improve the soil, it is a sure winner. Laser guided tile outlet installation is accomplishing all of those goals for producers in southeast Missouri. John, Jeff and Tyler Lorberg were among the first to try this, on their farm near Jackson, Mo. "We knew that our bottom land fields did not drain well," Jeff Lorberg said. "Our four year average with corn on those fields was 85 bushels per acre. That told us we needed to do something different." Along with Mark Nussbaum, civil engineer with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in Missouri, and Gerald Bryan, area agronomist, they began searching for a way to correct this problem. They found an answer with tile outlet sub-surface drainage systems that had been installed in Ohio. Solution Research done in Ohio showed remarkable increases in soybean yields on fields with sub-surface irrigation systems installed. "But that is Ohio, a thousand miles from here," John Lorberg said. "The question was would it work here. It absolutely did." Tile outlet systems are nothing new. John Lorberg said his father put some in many years ago along Williams Creek and he saw some in Florida 40 years ago. What made this system an economic solution for the Lorberg family was laser guided field grading and a laser guided plow for installing the tile. The laser guided plow rips the trench, installs the pipe and backfills all in one pass. It can install tile at the rate of three feet per second. "The laser guided plow made this job possible and emphasized the difference between the old and the new technology," Mark Nussbaum said. Precision grading and accurate tile installation were needed for this system because they are using it for drainage and sub-surface irrigation. "This system was originally constructed for drainage only and then sub-surface irrigation was added to see if it would work," Nussbaum said. "We found that sub-surface irrigation was almost as valuable as the drainage." If drainage is the only purpose for the system, then laterals can be spaced 60 feet apart, but add sub-surface irrigation and the spacing goes down to 25 to 40 feet between laterals. John, Jeff and Tyler Lorberg set their system up for drainage and sub-surface irrigation. "We did 15 acres the first year," Jeff Lorberg said. "Then we planted a comparison plot across the highway, in the same type of soil but without drainage or sub-surface irrigation. The yield advantage was 75 bushels per acre between tiled and untiled fields." This proved to them this system worked. The second year, they tiled another 25 acres and the yield advantage was the same for that field. All of their bottom land fields that are in the flood plain are tiled now. First they surface graded the fields, so they would have a level plane to work with when they started installing the tile. Lorberg said this takes the risks out of getting uneven spots in the tile system. Next, using the laser guided plow, they installed a 6-inch main line or manifold and off of this, they installed 4-inch laterals. The tile lines are installed 36-inches below the surface of the field. That took care of the drainage. To control sub-surface irrigation, they installed a 48-inch weir box or water control structure that contains stoplog gates. This gives them the ability to "perch" the water table to the desired level during the growing season. Accuracy "This system is so accurate that we can control the water table with the control structures in the manifold system," Jeff Lorberg said. He said when the crop gets to about the knee high stage, they start backing the water table up and raise it to within 12-inches of the surface of the ground. The corn crop in their area will use about two gallons of water per minute per acre; so, for a 10 acre field, they will need 20 gallons per minute per acre to keep the crop growing. This summer was a drought in southeast Missouri. Lorberg said they supplemented their sub-surface irrigation with water from natural springs and ponds on their farm. In the spring when they are ready to start fieldwork again, they raise all the stoplog gates and drain the fields. "We can plant early now; where, in the past, we planted in May because the fields were too wet," Jeff Lorberg said. "Now we plant in April." In the fall when they don't need to do anymore field work, they can close the stoplog gates and fill the fields with water. This holds nutrient and chemical residues in the soil and prevents leaching. "I believe the soil gets more mellow all the time," said Lorberg. "It has oxygen that it never had before." Laser guided field grading and single plane laser guided installation dovetail together to make this a very precise system. Lorberg also uses a GPS system on his tractor to make sure the laterals are laid out correctly. Soil type Mark Nussbaum said this system works best on soil that has drainage issues in the first place. "The soils here are highly fertile with high permeability for the first 48 to 60 inches. Then there is an abrupt boundary or impermeable layer at that point," said Nussbaum. "It causes a perched water table during the growing season. This has been a real yield reducer. But now that we have the ability to lay this tile in a very accurate, high speed, low-cost manner, that floor in the soil profile has gone from being a problem to a real asset." "It forms an impermeable boundary for sub-surface irrigation," said Nussbaum. "We have a very, very efficient irrigation system in addition to a drainage system." Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is installing a similar system on 100 acres at their research farm. Dr. Mike Aide, chairman of the Department of Agriculture at SEMO, said the system, not including field grading, will cost them $110,000 to install. Dr. Aide said, while this is much cheaper than the old way of installing tile outlet systems, the speed and accuracy of laser guided installation is the real advantage. "The longevity of the system is much better with the laser guided tile plow, because those lines are now absolutely perfectly straight without dips that might collect sediment," said Aide. "That increases the longevity of the system." Add the dramatic increase in corn yield and a producer can expect to pay off the installation costs within 10 years. Nussbaum said this tile outlet system has been installed on 720 acres in southeast Missouri in the last year. Nearly 2 million acres in Missouri could benefit from this technology. Doug Rich can be reached by phone 785-749-5304 or by email at richhpj@aol.com. 11/26/07 Date: 11/21/07
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