u/Vraex

Hey guys. Question. Am I crazy for considering a network of drain tile on my property? I've been following Geoff Lawton and all the other big names since around 2008 and due to so many permaculture people being in deserts and high deserts, water management with things like swales are always high priority. I, however, am located in Central NY where it rains 40+ inches per year and snows several feet per year. It is muddy year round but especially spring our property is a swamp. There is about 100' of elevation change on my 32ac and even the highest point is so wet a 2wd tractor can easily get stuck this time of year. This is going on my fourth year and I'm kind of tired of it. Our horses don't like to roam on certain parts, I can't mow it with a tractor unless we get a drought, our pigtail fence posts that we use for rotational grazing fall over. Its just a mess. I'm thinking of installing some drain tiles and either completely removing the water off property, or maybe setting up a few small ponds (one per paddock) to aim the water to and then those could overflow off the property. Thoughts? I get nervous of the thought of a prolonged drought and my pasture dying off, but are there any other downsides beside cost?

For the record, the property I would be sending the water to is a bottom land marsh and large pond that feeds into the Tioughnioga River so its not like I would be flooding a neighbor, I could maybe even get some NRCS funding because of that.