Van Gorp Drainage was also doing work there.
“We’re always looking for niche things we can do to help producers,” says Ken McCutcheon of McCutcheon Farm Drainage, one of the partners on the site. There’s been a larger trend toward controlled drainage in the United States, and increased interest in Canada as land prices escalate and crops are managed more intensively. The downside is more time spent managing the field and the fact that the control boxes are in the way of free movement of equipment.
There is also a benefit in water control, with less moving off the property and into watercourses. “Hopefully it’s a sub-irrigation situation where the roots will absorb it if the roots need it,” says Merkley.
