Tile Drainage Management Becomes A Priority

Aug 01, 2014

With the rapid expansion in tile drainage of farmland in southern Manitoba, figuring out the impact of tile from a water management perspective has become a priority for provincial and municipal governments.

Around two hundred provincial and municipal officials, as well as installers and farmers, met in Winkler on Wednesday for a tile drainage summit.

"We need to better understand how tile drainage systems operate, how they're installed and how they can be managed to bring benefit to people who use them," says Doug Chorney, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. "That's the reason why this meeting was pulled together, and clearly by the level of interest we think we're on the right path."

Chorney is a member of the province's working group that has helped craft new water management regulations, which will include a specific section on tile drainage. The government is seeking input for the proposed rules until the end of the calendar year.

"We want to get all the facts out early so that when the regulations do get developed, they'll better reflect what's needed," he explains. "We don't want to create regulations that impede the ability to use it as an important tool, because we know in other provinces and states where they've used tile drainage, it's been a real successful tool for them."

Several MLAs and other elected officials attended the meeting in Winkler.

"It's important that we have everybody in the Legislature taking time to understand this issue well," says Chorney. "We'll have a stronger regulation that works well for everybody if we have a good consultation process all along."

Source: SteinbachOnline

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.