On June 18, 2015, Laura Blunden attended the Manitoba Soil Science Society (MSSS) tour with the University of Manitoba Watershed Systems Research Program (WSRP). The tour stopped at the Classen Farm, which is currently being studied by Ph.D. student Kokulan Vivekananthan and other researchers from the University of Manitoba and the University of Waterloo to see the effects of tile drainage and water retention on runoff and nutrient export from agricultural fields. For more information on the Classen Farm research you can download the pdf brochure: Classen Brochure Final_ReducedSize.
Colby Desender from the LaSalle Redboine Conservation District discussed the engineering of the water retention pond, while David Lobb and Kokulan Vivekananthan talked about the science behind the research, and farmer Carl Classen discussed the benefits of enhanced water drainage for his field. Some benefits include reduced flooding, healthier crops and less runoff of nutrients. Mitchell Timmerman from MAFRD (Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development) is a pedologist who was also at the tour and illustrated the impact of nutrient management in soils using a rainfall simulator. A short YouTube video is also available to see what type of research is conducted at the Classen Farm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oui4WQbbQg0