Early Agricultural Drainage in North Central Iowa by Mary Tesdahl
Drainage is the practice of removing excess water from the subsurface of the soil. Soil types and slope dictate the number and size of tile needed. When done correctly, tile should be capable of removing ½ inch of water from the surface in 24 hours.
Early settlers talk about Wright County being so wet farmers could only farm the hilltops. To increase tillable acres, farmers drained water from the high ground and created permanent pastures. They ran surface ditches from one slough to the next. They dug in underground tile lines. The first job for many immigrants was working on a tiling crew and digging ditches by hand. As soon as drainage districts were laid out, engineers became part of the process. An engineer would determine and mark the grade and then come back to check on the progress of those digging. Because so much tiling needed to be done, farmers came up with creative ways to allow tiling to go on all year. They might dig one spade depth in the fall before the ground froze, then fill the ditch with straw. The next layer would not freeze and could be dug deeper when there was time. One farmer put cobs on top of the path for his tile line and set them on fire overnight. In the morning, the ground was thawed enough to dig. Sometimes ditches were saved for winter – the sides of the ditches would freeze overnight and would provide safe conditions. Digging in the winter was a cold job, so that would be the time to be happy to be digging in the bottom of the ditch. The advantages of removing excess water had been known for many years. Some old wooden tile have been found, but most tile were made of clay. Goldfield and Dows had clay tile factories for a while, but the clay was better quality near Sheffield and Mason City, so local factories did not last. The importance of keeping accurate records of tile lines has become more evident as telephone and other cable lines began being laid in ditches. Also, heavier machinery used today has damaged some tile. In Wright County, 65% of soils are drained in some way. This is approximately 236,595 acres and that work continues today. Clay tile worked well and acres of rich farm ground continue to be drained by these tile laid over 100 years ago. Today, long plastic tubes are used instead of clay tile and a GPS system tracks the slope. The goal remains the same: allow rich northcentral Iowa soils to reach maximum productivity.