Minnesota farmers are putting in drain tile at a breakneck pace, according to the Pioneer Press. Read the article by Dennis Lien and David Orrick. The report notes that in the Bois de Sioux Watershed District, one of the few places in the state where accurate data on the extend of tiling are available, 1558 miles of new tile were approved last year. At today’s high commodity prices, tiling is one of the best investments farmers can make to increase yields. But environmental critics say the tiling allows marginal land to be taken out of wildlife habitat and converted to corn and soybeans, and that drainage increases riverbank erosion.