It’s a milestone episode for the Water Table Podcast! Episode 100!! We are on the road at Iowa State University with a panel of expert guests to talk past, present and future of agricultural water management. Jamie is joined by a professor, a farmer and a drainage contractor to talk shop. Learn why they believe the future of ag water management is so exciting and what new technologies are on the horizon. It’s a special episode you won’t want to miss!

Chapters:
00:00   Welcome to the Water Table Podcast
00:31   Meet our guests
02:06   The future of water quality
03:55   Drainage water recycling
06:00   City cousins – what technology?
07:00   How to explain it all…
08:45   The biggest hurdles
09:30   3 ½ years for approval
10:45   Frustrations…
11:45   Leaps in technologies
12:45   It’s a young industry
14:00   A right to manage your water
16:30   What’s new?
17:00   Micro wetlands
19:53   Resiliency in water management
22:00   Seeing results
24:43   Slowing down the water
26:00   Progression from introduction to implementation
27:00   ACPF
28:20   We’re not plugging the tile lines…
30:28   A huge network
34:00   Adding to existing systems…(Jacob’s soapbox)
37:20   Audience questions…
39:00   Not a cookie-cutter process
41:12   Batch and build
43:30   Efficiencies
46:20   The next decade???
48:00   A long time to get dry…
50:56   Capturing the opportunities
52:10   The last word.

Related Content: 

• Hands-On Tiling & Excavating
• Blair Farm, LLC
• Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework

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What kind of students are seeking out careers in ag? It isn’t just kids on the farm anymore... Jamie catches up with Dr. Amy Kaleita, Department Chair of the Ag and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. They discuss how education is furthering the world of agriculture, why students are choosing career paths in ag, and how the opportunities to create change in the industry are endless.

Chapters:
00:00   Welcome to the Water Table Podcast
00:10   Dr. Amy Kaleita
00:45   NOT from Iowa
01:10   NOT from a farm
01:30   Engineers make cars?
02:30   Really important problems
03:40   Making a difference through Ag
04:40   I don’t know enough
06:00   Talk to a lot of people
07:00   Water quality education
08:00   Science vs. social science
09:00   Today’s student
11:00   The world is their oyster
12:30   The importance of a good question
13:30   Hope for the future
15:00   The second half
16:30   Sharing the expertise
18:00   A non-traditional education
19:40   Not an ag background
21:25   A national trend
22:40   A passion for connection

Related Content: 

• Dr. Amy Kaleita's Selected Works & Publications
• Iowa State University Department of Agricultural Biosystems and Engineering

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Jamie sits down with Tim Radatz for a conversation about Discovery Farms, a public-private partnership that is advancing research into water quality and agricultural drainage practices. Learn why getting real-time data from private farms across Minnesota is providing farmers with the information they need to implement the best practices for their area to not only increase yields, but improve water quality on their land.

Chapters:
00:00   Intro
00:21   Welcome Tim Radatz
00:40   The story of Discovery Farms
01:00   Private farms
01:19   Water quantity
02:41   Water quality
04:31   Drainage water management
05:40   Putting it into practice
06:30   Let’s use the data
07:15   Discovery Farms funding
09:00   Who gets to participate
11:10   Project lifespan
13:02   Cover crops
14:00   Establishment issues
17:00   A dry pocket
18:20   Continuous improvement
19:45   It’s going to get wet
21:46   20 years from now…
24:00   Managing drainage is essential
25:00   Politics
25:45   Long-suffering Vikings fan

Discovery Farms:
https://discoveryfarmsmn.org

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Jamie sits down for a conversation with Jacob Handsaker and Bob Lepper on this episode of the Water Table Podcast. Learn how a used excavator launched Jacob’s career, and how Bob’s expertise has been integral in passing on knowledge to the next generation – in excavating, show business and beyond. It’s a story about constant curiosity you won’t want to miss.

Chapters:
00:00   Welcome to the Water Table Podcast
00:30   Jacob Handsaker and Bob Lepper
00:40   Skipping school and still learning
01:41   Before Jacob
02:15   1981– Bob’s in business
03:10   Off to Branson
03:40   Back to dirt work
04:40   Just add a plow
05:45   Growing the 1st business
07:11   From Iowa to Idaho and lumberyards
09:49   Best employee ever
10:30   The hog boom
11:40   Into showbiz
13:50   Life lessons for the kids
16:00   After Jacob
17:40   A big “thank you” to Bob
19:26   You have to have passion
19:50   Long days, short nights
21:30   Continuous Improvement
23:00   Stay curious

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Jamie catches up with some special guests on this episode of The Water Table Podcast. College students Harris and Griffin Duininck sit down to talk about their summer road trip and video series about the water management industry that now has nearly 4 million impressions on social media.  The guys traveled across the US and learned some valuable lessons about why their generation should care about plastic pipe. Find out how the trip has impacted them and why it might mean a job for one of the guys in the very near future.

Chapters & Episode Topics:
00:00    Welcome to the Water Table Podcast
00:26    Road Trip Update
01:30    All the stats – nearly 4 million and counting!
02:45    A surprising impact
04:30    What about your friends?
05:51    Exceeding expectations
07:00    Relationships and the off-camera stuff
09:15    The A-Ha moment
12:25    Doing better
15:00    A valuable resource

Watch the full Resiliency Road Trip series here.

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In this episode of the Water Table Podcast, Jamie sits down with Alex Buseman, a graduate assistant at Iowa State University who is currently working on three research projects dealing with water quality in agriculture. Does the type of wood in a bioreactor matter? How does the only dual-chamber bioreactor in the world function?  What is the Forest to Farm program? How long do bioreactors last? Listen and learn how the next generation is carrying the research torch to ensure farmers can implement cutting-edge water management practices.

Chapters & Episode Topics:
00:00   Today on the Water Table Podcast
00:20   Welcome Alex Buseman
01:00   Why water quality?
03:15   What does the next generation think?
04:00   The only dual-chamber bioreactor in the world…
07:25   Forest to Farm
12:30   Decades old bioreactors – do they last?
14:30   Doing all of the testing
16:15   Site 1 – Story County, Iowa
18:57   Site 2 – Dyersville, Iowa
23:15   Site 3 – Washington, Iowa
25:20   Encouraging landowners going forward
30:20   Carrying the torch

Related Content: 

• Forest to Farm: Using Woodchips from Crowded Forests in Sustainable Water Quality Practices 
• Dual-Chamber Bioreactor: Evaluation of Nitrate Removal Dynamics and Unintended Byproducts

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And that’s a wrap on 2023! It was a great year on The Water Table podcast. We took our mobile studio on the road and caught up with people all over the Midwest, including Iowa LICA Field Days to Minnesota Farm Fest. We also had some great guests in the studio, including a few who kicked Jamie out of the host chair to do their own interviews. Listen in to hear the highlights from some fan-favorite episodes, from the International Drainage Hall of Fame to the Transforming Drainage Project to Married to Drainage, and a lot of topics in between.

Find all the highlighted episodes: 

• #70: The International Drainage Hall of Fame– It's a Thing!
• #71: Is Drainage Infrastructure More Valuable Than Underground Transit?
• #73: How Much is Your Water Worth? More Than You Think…
• #77: How 5 Million Dollars, 39 Test Sites & 29 Bright Minds are Transforming Drainage
• #81: Married to Drainage with Kitty Rodelius and Kristine Fladeboe Duininck
• #82: Getting #%@$ done in Iowa with Batch and Build... On the Road
• #88: A Road Trip to Resiliency– What’s Buried Beneath? with Harris & Griffin Duininck 

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Jamie sits down with Prinsco Ag Application Engineer, Trey Allis, for a conversation about a recent study on pipe perforation and sock fabric. They talk through how small-scale studies might contribute to misconceptions in agricultural water management, and why talking to a contractor in your area is the best bet for farmers who have questions about which drainage products will serve your farm best.

"Talk to a drainage contractor. To the people you trust in your area... They have decades of experience, and they're not going to steer you wrong." - Jamie Duininck

Chapters & Topics:
00:00   On this episode…
00:15   Welcome to Trey Allis
01:25   How was harvest?
02:15   The technical side of ag
02:40   Socks or no socks?
03:30   Michigan State Study
05:00   Standard perf, narrow perf, sock…
06:15   Accurate or not?
07:33   Take it with a grain of sand
08:27   What do I do now?
10:00   Contractors know
11:32   Soil type matters
13:15   Narrow slot – all the rage
14:15   Use some scrutiny
16:30   Do it right the first time
17:30   Laterals and spacing
19:30   Don’t spend the money
22:00   What about old pipe?

Related Content:

• FAQs From the Field: Applications, Materials & More
• Saturated Buffers: Stepping Up to the Plate… On the Road
• Contractor Conversations at Farmfest: Part 1 with Mike Litzau, Drainage Contractor (he knows what he's talking about!)

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From preparing for an early harvest to waiting out the rain… how did harvest actually go in Minnesota? In the rest of the Midwest? In the Dakotas? Jamie sits with Karl Guetter to get a harvest update and touch on a wide range of other topics, including land values, how interest rates might affect agriculture and whether more tile will get buried after Thanksgiving this year.

Chapters:
00:00   Today on the Water Table
00:33   Welcome to Karl Guetter
01:30   A wide-ranging career
02:20   What a crazy fall!
04:00   It’s going to be early…or late…
05:00   Such a variable crop
07:30   So, what about the Dakotas?
09:50   Sugar beet lifting
11:20   Hustle and bustle
12:40   Moving on to tile
14:00   The busy season
16:30   I think we’ll get warm again…
17:30   On the horizon – 2024
20:00   Land values

Related Content:

• 4 Factors Driving the Continued Demand for Tile
• Harvest Check-in 2022 with Karl Guetter

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It’s East meets West in this episode of The Water Table Podcast... On the Road. Eastern and Western Minnesota Prinsco Sales reps, Justin Sander and Tim Erickson reflect on Farmfest– what they’ve learned, conversations they’ve had, and why it pays to be a lifelong learner, especially in the world of agriculture and water management. Hear their perspectives on technology, tiling, and why visiting the Prinsco booth at Farmfest is all about relationships, not a sales pitch.

Chapters & Topics:
00:00   Today on The Water Table…
00:09   Intro
00:39   Live from Farmfest
00:44   East vs. West – Justin Sander and Tim Erickson
01:34   All the different roles
01:46   The fun at Farmfest
02:20   Back to basics
03:12   Farming is innovative
03:27   Drones and technology…everywhere!!
04:11   But why? It’s dry…
04:40   I wish I would have done it sooner…
05:30   Farmers collaborating – lifelong learners
06:33   New farm? But first, tile.
07:33   The turnkey farm
07:50   It’s all tiled, right?
08:54   Relationships and education – zero pressure
09:20   The number one question
10:00   3-inch or 4-inch?
11:05   Helping customers get there
11:37   Listen on all our platforms!

More episodes of The Water Table On the Road.

Related Content:

• Contractor Conversations at Farmfest: Part 1 w/ Mike Litzau
• Contractor Conversations at Farmfest: Part 2 w/ Andy Stevens
• Prinsco Sales– find a sales rep!

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Visit our website to explore more episodes & water management education