Overholt Drainage School hosts soil water control training in DeGraff, Ohio

COLUMBUS — The Overholt Drainage School in west central Ohio will provide soil water control training for land improvement contractors, farmers, soil and water technicians, consultants and others in similar fields March 22 through 26.

The Winner Harvest Barn, 7317 state Route 47, DeGraff, Ohio, serves as the host site for the training event.

Overview

Basic concepts, principles and skills related to the purpose, design, layout, construction and management of soil and water conservation systems, will be taught, with emphasis on water management and water quality.

Larry Brown, Ohio State University Extension ag engineer and water management specialist, heads a list of instructors that includes additional university faculty, engineers, technicians and scientists.

Registration is possible for three individual sessions or the full five-day program.

Sessions

Session 1, from March 22 and 23, provides training on laser surveying, topographic mapping and GPS mapping of drainage systems. Extensive fieldwork, classroom instruction and evening work sessions are planned. A basic knowledge of elevations is required.

The second session runs March 23-25 and focuses on agricultural subsurface drainage and installation. Minor fieldwork is possible along with classroom instruction and work sessions. A general understanding of drainage and leveling is required.

The third session is on March 26 and details drainage water management, including controlled drainage system design and installation. Class and fieldwork will be included.

Practical experience, scheduled as part of the fieldwork, incorporates the design and layout of a complete subsurface system for an approximately 40-acre field near the site.

Registration

Early sign up by March 9 provides a cost savings over the final registration deadline of March 16.

The enrollment fee includes tuition, lunches, materials supplies, manuals, guides, design notebooks and certificates of completion. All participants are expected to bring a calculator, warm clothes and boots for fieldwork.

Farmers who already do their own tiling may be interested in enrolling in this program. Anyone considering the installation of systematically or patterned drainage design would be well advised to consider the Overholt Drainage School.

For more information, contact Brown at brown.59@osu.edu or at 614-292-3826.