AMES, IA – The 2025 Tri-State Drainage Research Forum will meet in Brookings, South Dakota, Sept. 9-10, bringing experts from around the region to discuss agricultural drainage research projects, drainage permitting, wetland banking and related issues. The forum will be held at McCrory Gardens Education & Visitor Center.
Topics are geared for drainage stakeholders, including state and federal agency staff, county supervisors, crop consultants, academics, contractors, farmers and others interested in drainage issues and research.
Field tours on Tuesday begin at 3:00 p.m. and end with an evening social at 6:00 p.m. The tours will be led by Jay Gilbertson, manager of the East Dakota Water Development District in Brookings, and Wayne Smith, with the South Dakota Ag Wetland Exchange.
On Wednesday, the meeting convenes at 8:30 a.m. and ends by 4:00 p.m. Morning presentations focus on evolving drainage systems for a new era and the socio-economic aspects of evolving drainage systems. In the afternoon, sessions will highlight permitting conservation drainage systems, drainage and nitrogen use efficiency and state updates.
The planning committee for the event includes partners at Iowa State University, the University of Minnesota, South Dakota State University and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Additional sponsors are SDSU Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension, the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, the East Dakota Water Development District and ISG Group Inc. The annual event is part of an ongoing USDA Hatch multistate project IOW03750.
“This is the 24th year that drainage specialists have held this forum,” said Matt Helmers, INRC director and Iowa State University Extension drainage specialist, one of the event facilitators. “The meeting always provides a valuable opportunity to share findings from research efforts around the region and other relevant updates. This year I am especially interested in discussions of the human aspects of drainage, a topic which is often neglected.”
Registration is open through Sept. 1. Details, including the schedule, registration and lodging information, are available at the 2025 Tri-State Research Forum website.
Contacts:
Matthew Helmers, Iowa Nutrient Research Center, 515-294-6717, mhelmers@iastate.edu
Sushant Mehan, Ag & Biosystems Engineering, South Dakota State University, 605-688-5487, Sushant.Mehan@sdstate.edu