Tiling of soil, placing drainage pipes underground to improve surface drainage of crop land has been a common practice in many parts of Kentucky for years, but has not made its way to far western Kentucky until the last few years.  Myths about our soil types and the predominance of smaller fields has slowed the adoption.  The 2020 growing season was a perfect example to show the benefits as well drained sloping fields had plenty of water all year long and yielded well over 200 bushels of corn per acre.  Creek bottom fields that suffered from too much water had yields depressed by 30 to 50 bushels.

Several growers in Ballard County in Ballard County contacted Agent Tom Miller to explore the possibility of tiling areas of their farms.  Jerry McIntosh, USDA Soil Scientist with NRCS  was brought in to help with site visits on individual farms and then an educational meeting was hosted for interested growers.  With Covid restrictions and social distancing in place, the meeting was limited to 8 producers who spent the afternoon learning about soil types, tiling response, expected yield response and many individual questions.  At the conclusion of the meeting, several growers indicated that it was the best meeting they had ever attended and they learned many new things about their individual soils.  Tiling is a slow and expensive process but is money well spent in the right situations.