US Fish & Wildlife

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

Watch the full Resiliency Road Trip series here.

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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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In this episode of The Water Table on the road, we’re at Minnesota Farmfest. Guest host, Justin Sander, caught up with a couple of drainage contractors to find out where they think the industry is headed, the challenges they think lie ahead, and what keeps them going.

This conversation is with Mike Litzau of Litzau Farm Drainage in Atwater, Minnesota. He’s been working in the industry since he was 10 years old, so he knows what he’s talking about!

Chapters & Episode Topics:
00:00   Intro
00:39   Live from Farmfest
00:50   Litzau Farm Drainage
01:57   What’s new in equipment
02:28   It’s a challenge…
03:33   A crystal ball
04:50   Watersheds
05:43   Be proactive
06:50   It’s so rewarding
10:20   Education, education, education
11:42   Permits and easements…oh my
13:30   I can’t tile…or can I?
15:37   Justin on the spot

More episodes of The Water Table On the Road.

Related Content:

• Litzau Farm Drainage and Directional Boring
• Agricultural Water Quality Best Practices on YouTube

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In this episode of The Water Table on the Road, we’re at Minnesota Farmfest. Guest host, Justin Sander, caught up with a couple of drainage contractors to find out where they think the industry is headed and what keeps them going.

This conversation is with Andy Stevens, a farmer and tiling contractor from Vernon Center, Minnesota. Get his take on the outlook for farming and drainage for the next few years, and find out why consistency is so important.

Chapters & Episode Topics:
00:00   Intro
00:39   Live from Farmfest
00:50   Welcome Andy Stevens
02:00   What’s new?
03:00   Business outlook
04:00   Any rewards?
04:48   It’s the consistency
06:00   All the misconceptions
07:00   Feed the world
07:45   What’s new at Farmfest?

More episodes of The Water Table On the Road.

Related Content:

• Stevens Bobcat and Backhoe
• Agricultural Water Quality Best Practices on YouTube

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It’s a conversation with a legend in this episode of The Water Table Podcast. Jamie is joined by Merv Hilpipre, who reminisces about his long career in auctioneering, his sled-dog racing days, why he always wore a tux to an auction, and more. You don’t want to miss this episode of The Water Table... On the Road at the Iowa LICA Farm.

Chapters & Topics:
00:00   Intro
00:32   On the road at the Iowa LICA Farm
00:51   Welcome Merv Hilpipre
01:50   110 years of family auctioneering
02:18   A career at five years old
03:50   Lazy French people
04:50   German prisoners of war
05:30   All in the family
06:30   50th time’s a charm
07:15   The biggest auctions
08:32   Selling on horseback
09:00   Nothing runs like a Deere…
09:45   A sharp-dressed man
10:15   A thousand caterpillars, the queen’s car and more
11:30   St. Jude
12:40   And then there were sled dogs
14:30   Hall of Famer and World Record Holder
15:45   All the Memories

More episodes of The Water Table On the Road.

Related Content:

• Hilpipre Auction Company
• Iowa LICA Farm

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Listen on these Podcast Platforms :

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Visit our website to explore more episodes & water management education