Almost everything about farming looks fun. From mechanised land preparation, selecting seeds, planting to harvest, all these steps look easy and fun. However, if you ask a farmer, they will tell you how frustrating farming can sometimes be. The most complicated thing about farming is dealing with things happening beneath the soil.  

There is a lot of factors beneath the soil that can affect your crops’ yield. The most frustrating of them all is dealing with water pooling, which makes it difficult to grow crops. Water pooling or poor drainage is a very common problem in Sydney. However, if you hire the best plumber in Sydney, NSW, they can fix the problem using the tile drainage system. It is a centuries-old land management system used for draining water from wetlands using drain tiles. 

What is Drainage Tiles System? 

Drainage tiles is a system that makes use of perforated pipes or tiles to drain water away. The technique has been around for centuries but was first used for farming in America around 1838. Over the years, the technique has been used to reclaim swamps and wetlands for agricultural use, including here in Australia. 

The drainage tiles system has spread from farming to other areas, including the construction industry. Today, homes built in areas prone to water pooling have tile drainage. The underground pipes around the foundation drain water away from the house and direct to the main drainage or the sump pump. That’s the same way the system works in agricultural applications. 

How Drainage Tiles Works On Farms 

The working mechanism is the drainage tiles on the farm is very simple. As with any other plumbing system, the system works by draining water from the farm. The perforated pipes are laid beneath the ground where water is pooling. They connect to the ditches, canals or estuaries, or any other place that collected water could be useful. 

The whole process aims at leaving only enough amount of water that will support crop growth. The technique works great in wetlands where most of the run-off after rains collect. The excess water drained away to prevent pooling, and that’s how crops can grow in a normal condition.  

Many factors are considered when setting up a drainage tile system. The most crucial ones are the type of material used for the pipe and the type of soil. The type of soil determines the best material for the tiles. For organic soils, clay tiles are the most recommended. If you are using mineral soil, concrete will do very well. 

How Drainage Tiles Help Improve Organic Farming 

The main reason for installing drainage tiles is to make land good for farming. If the land has been swampy, you cannot grow crops that do not love a lot of water. Only plants like rice will survive. Draining the water enables you to grow crops that require dry conditions. There are many ways that the drainage tiles system helps improve organic farming. In this guide, we looking at some of the main ways installing drainage tiles can make your organic farming better: 

High Fertile Soil 

One of the facts proven by various studies is that soil in swampy areas is very rich in organic matter. Due to poor aeration and poor drainage, very few plants can survive in this kind of soil. This means the organic matter in this soil is retained, and it keeps accumulating with time. That’s why lands that have been drained water are super fertile. 

If you are doing organic farming, tiles drained soil is very fertile because of the high organic matter content. You might not even need to add even the compost fertiliser for several crop seasons. That’s what organic farming is all about. If interested in 100% organic farming, then drain tiles provides the best solution. It will provide you with super fertile soil. 

Improves Aeration 

Another way that drainage tiles will improve organic farming is by improving soil aeration. Proper aeration improves the quality of the soil. Crops such as corn, soybeans, and alfalfa require deep aerated soils to grow healthy. In that case, they need soil that has to be well-drained to allow deeper aeration for sustainable organic farming. Draining water at least 4 feet deep will be perfect for most of the crops. 

The best way to achieve this kind of soil is by installing drainage tiles. As long as you have the equipment needed for digging trenches to lay pipes, you can drain even five and above feet of soil. However, the depth depends on soil characteristics and the crop to be planted. The distance apart of the tiles will vary with these factors. Farmers need to work with professional plumber specialised in drain tiles installation to this right. 

Timeless Crop Farming 

The biggest challenge with farmers in Sydney with land prone to water pooling is the rainy season. They have to wait for dry seasons to grow crops. This means low production and zero profit during the rainy season. Uncertainty in farming cycles also makes farming investment less viable. If you are practising organic farming, you can have timeless crop farming with a drainage tiles system.  

With a properly working drainage tiles system, farmers are not limited to growing crops to dry seasons only. What you need is to hire a good plumber in Sydney to install the drain tile system. If they factor everything right, from the soil to crops to be planted, the system should enable timeless field operations. You can have farm produce throughout the year without worrying when it’s going to rain. 

Conclusion 

If you are in Sydney and surrounding areas and your land is prone to water pooling or poor drainage, it can be fixed permanently with a drainage tiles system. The system will drain the water from the soil to allow crops to grow in normal drained soil. Make sure you are working with a reputable and experienced plumber in this field to get a reliable system.