How much does drainage mean to corn and soybean yields?

Drainage is our most common problem particularly in the spring and fall. You may ask yourself what does it mean to yields if I invest in tile? Bruce Clevenger, Ohio State University Extension Educator recently put together some data from the Northwest Agricultural Research Branch of OARDC. The data helps put some economics to the importance of drainage for us here locally. The soil type is Hoytville Silty Clay and the data goes back to the 1980's but the most recent years are shown here.

The data from 200-2008 shows a 7 bushel advantage to soybean and 43 bushel advantage to corn from drainage over un-drained plots. Star putting in some commodity prices to this shows how quickly returns can be seen from drainage. At 9 dollar beans or $3.50 per bushel corn returns of $63 to $150 per acre are worth a look at.