The Iowa Learning Farms (ILF) conservation webinar taking place Nov. 19, at noon CST will feature Spencer Pech, civil engineer, ISG, and Chris Hay, owner and principal, Hay Water Solutions. Pech provides data-driven solutions for clients throughout the Midwest. His focus on agricultural water management is driven by a passion for providing win-win solutions to address agricultural and environmental resource concerns. Hay’s current work is focused on addressing the challenges of agricultural subsurface drainage and mitigating water quality impacts from agriculture.

In the webinar, “Economic Analysis of Drainage Water Recycling Systems,” Pech and Hay will draw on deployed projects to highlight the benefits of the practice and illustrate how drainage water recycling systems capture and store tile drainage water to be repurposed for irrigation that supports consistent crop production. They will also discuss promising opportunities to better manage irrigation, despite increasingly variable rainfall, to enhance both yield resilience and farm economics. The team will also share outcomes from their evaluation of practice costs, benefits and funding pathways.

“Drainage water recycling offers substantial farm-level and public benefits, including supplemental irrigation, cost savings and improved water quality, despite the initial investment,” said Pech. “However, implementation cost barriers can be mitigated through co-investment strategies that involve distributing costs among all beneficiary stakeholders such as farmers, landowners, drainage districts and downstream communities.”

Participants are encouraged to ask questions of the presenters. People from all backgrounds and areas of interest are encouraged to join.

The webinar will also be recorded and archived. All archived webinars are available on the ILF website, so that they can be watched at any time. 

ILF has applied for a Certified Crop Adviser board-approved continuing education unit (CEU) for attending this webinar. Those who participate in the live webinar are eligible. Information about how to apply to receive the credit will be provided at the end of the live webinar.

Up Next: Wednesday, Nov. 26, “We Can Do Better: Paul Johnson’s Legacy for Agriculture, Conservation, and Land Stewardship,” with Curt Meine, Aldo Leopold Foundation & Center for Humans and Nature

Dec. 3: Michael Otten, Shive-Hattery

Dec. 10: Matt Stephenson, Iowa State University