Combines Micro trak in a 2366

if you have a grain cart, put a scale on it...pattern tile all your fields. When your tile is paid for (assuming 3-4 year R.O.I.) You will have plenty of $ to play with useless maps. This philosophy may not work if your farming light soils or in Dakota where drainage is a sin. Good luck

You are right about not being able to tile here in S.Dakota, we could farm more and have land worth more if we could tile. I wonder why they are so against it hereIJ

are you saying your not allowed to tile at all in SDIJ never heard of that and i've got some cousins that farm in SE SD and SW MN. they've never said anything about not being allowed to tile. just curious.

From what I was told, a couple of years ago, it is next to impossible to get the nrcs or whoever here to let you tile, they said it was more or less that it would have to drain on the neighbors ground and we all know that will not fly, we have no drainage ditches here in S.E. South dakota, there were a couple of guys east of me that did it but they said it was a very long and tiresome process.

My understanding of how things work here in SD. No new drains can ever be added or augmented. Drain maintence is allowable only by express permission of the local FSA_County Committee. Several years ago all existing drain ways (including tiling) were identified and mapped by the FSA. Of course not everything was found but now it is too late. For example, even if clear evidence of previous drainage methods (pre-swampbuster) are present the farm operator_owner is prohibited from repairing_maintaining the drain. Even if the farm owner does not participate in any goverment farm programs if he does "a illegal drain" he is still subject to civil legal action from the FSA. Also I don't know if this is nation wide but here in South Dakota if you check a farm loan security agreement it will note that in order for the agreement to be valid the farmer must not be in violation of any FSA regulations including those regarding drainage. Doc

Doc: Are you serious and this is the way it isIJ What happened to cause backward laws such as thisIJ Did the greenies get control of the state governmentIJ I have never heard of anything so stupid as that before. We would throw out the politician that proposes something like that here. Underground tile drainage is a must here for any kind of crop of wheat, corn, or soybeans.

George, I'm afraid I am dead serious. like I said, as long as the drain was "mapped" by the FSA years ago and you basically go in and beg they will possibly let you "maintain" the drain. But rest assured there will be a representative from the FSA there to oversee the work. As far as adding a new drain..... NOT A CHANCE! The drainage laws even go so far as to prohibit any changes when regrading a road. If the township decides to regrade a road the culverts can be replaced with only the exact same size culverts as before. And on top of it they must be at the same exact spot and at the same elevation. And the FSA has maps that show exactly where each culvert is and what size it is. Doc

Yes he is correct..it totally sucks in SD. It has gotten slightly better the last year, I think you only need permission from the 2 landowners downstream vs the 2 miles or perhaps more that would affected by the drainage increase...It was and still is for the most part very very anal the way it is being enforced in this state. Just goes to show you that money talks and BS walks when it comes to special interest groups forcing their beliefs on others. Dave

JR.. I just took out a mt grain tracker out of a combine I just bought. Previous owner said it blew a fuse before I got it, I never chased down the short. I have it all out in a box and would be glad to sell it to you cheap for head, moisture sensor, and mass sensor. I think it is about 5 years old. GS

Dov: Out of interest who were the special interest groups that pushed such backward laws into being. Here in Ontario there are some people with similar views but they do not prevail, at least not yet. It is always good to know who your enemies are.