Tile Drainage

Tile Drainage, It's Not Just for the Champlain Valley: Tile drainage considerations, return on investment, phosphorus and nitrogen issues and solutions.

Joshua Faulkner (UVM Extension, Center for Sustainability) presentation given at CRWFA meeting on Sept 9, 2026.

Included in the video:

• Benefits

  • • • Improve productivity, increase yield stability year-to-year (less yield variability from wet and dry years).  Yields increase in fields that tend to be wet.

      • Allow earlier and later field work.  Improve trafficability, reduce compaction risk.  You can get more done over more of the season, meaning you can use a wider variety of practices to improve your soil, production, and water quality work.

      • See benefits in drought years, too - roots go deeper in spring when a high water table would restrict early growth, so plants are better positioned to access water when conditions are drier.

      • Drainage is not just for heavy clay soils.  Drainage can be useful in any soil type where field moisture is a problem.

• Depth, Spacing, Filtering (our lighter soils benefit from pipe with filter "socks")

• Maintenance

• Cost Analysis and Return on Investment

• Regulation, RAPs, Nutrient Management & Remediation at outlets

Additional Resources:

Vermont RAPs for Tile Drains (2018)

UVM Tile Drainage in Vermont factsheets

• No. 1 Tile Drainage in Vermont: The Basics (PDF)

• No. 2 Tile Drainage in Vermont: Benefits and Risks (PDF)

• No. 3 Tile Drainage in Vermont: Pre-Installation Checklist (PDF)

• No. 4 Tile Drainage in Vermont: Best Management Practices (PDF)

• No. 5 Tile Drainage in Vermont: Annual Inspection (PDF)

• No. 6 Tile Drainage in Vermont: Manure Management (PDF)

• No. 7 Tile Drainage in Vermont: Edge of Field Tile Management (PDF)​

Contractors

Machia and Sons Dairy (Chad Machia) in Shelburn, VT might be the only contractor in Vermont and Northern New England.

Wetlands: careful to check before you install.  Violations are expensive in both Vermont and New Hampshire

• Vermont Farming in Wetlands and Buffers (when you might need a permit).  See our 

• Vermont Wetland Screening Tool (type in your address...)

• Check Before You Build

• NRCS: installing new or even modifying (or maintaining) an exisiting drainage system can violate Federal agreements like crop insurance or NRCS contracts.  Talk to your NRCS contact.

Tile Drainage report to Vermont Legislature