Improving Drainage & Structure for Healthier Soils, Kilmarnock – event summary

Soil & drainage expert Seamus Donnelly as guest speaker

This meeting was held on 24 Aug 2017 at Lochhill Farm, Mauchline and kindly hosted by the Taylor family.  Following a brief introduction and history of the farm, guest speaker Seamus Donnelly led the remainder of the meeting.

Seamus discussed how to go back to basics and check the soils maps for your farm and area.  These maps can be accessed online here.  Seamus also suggested that to understand the drainage on your farm, there should be drainage maps to refer to.

Practical discussions of assessing farm soils and drainage problems followed in the fields behind the steading.  Seamus discussed common mistakes he has seen during his career with drainage systems that haven’t worked. He stressed the importance of digging a hole to understand what is going on in the soil. The group then dicussed how best they might drain the field.  

Later in the afternoon, Seamus gave a presentation about how to stop compaction occuring to begin with. before taking the group outside to see some machines in action that can remediate compaction. The merits of each were discussed before stressing the importance of knowing the depth of the problem and the correct conditions within which to use any equipment.

Key messages

• Dig a hole – it is the best way to assess soil structure and drainage.
• Consider the cost benefit analysis of draining land – would you be better off buying some more land instead?
• Before carrying out any work find out the soil type you are dealing with
• Make sure you have sufficient pipe size for the water flow.
• Make sure soil pH is correct – magnesium and calcium levels can affect the drainage of a soil
• Remove excess weight in the field on tractors, and look at spreading the weight over a larger surface area, either wider wheels or more axles
• Gravel up to the top soil – most drains fail as the water cannot get to them.

You can see the presentation slides that Seamus used throughout the day here & printed information available at the event is available to download below.

There are more photos from the event on our Facebook page.