Top tips to improve farm drainage
- Work out where your ditches are and clear any blockages.
- Make sure drainage outlets are running.
- The cheapest way to improve your drainage is to use a mole plough. The more you encourage water to sink into soils, the better your drainage will be.
- One of the most important things with drainage design is working out where the wet patches are. There is no point in draining the whole field. Record wet areas of the field using a fencing stake as a marker and don’t leave it until it’s dry or you will forget.
- Find any old drainage systems on Apple Maps, Bing Maps or Google Maps. Any straight, regular patterns are likely to be land drains.
- Alternatively, look at old drainage plans.
- Talk to older people who worked the land!
- Gravel back accounts for up to 40% of the cost. However, cheaper forms of permeable fill can be sought in an attempt to reduce bills. The best gravel to use is something that is rounded and fairly small in size.
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