What Is Keyline Design? FAQ Keyline History, Concepts & Geometry1. Keyline Design history2. What is Keyline Water Management?3. What is ‘keyline subsoil ripping’? What are the proposed benefits?4. Is there more to keyline design than keyline cultivation?5. Where has this been applied?6. Has this been researched before?7. How are soil health, carbon and water management related? Practical Applications8. How is a Yeoman Plow different from a typical subsoiler?9. How is ‘keyline pattern subsoil ripping’ different than subsoiling perpendicular to slope or in a random pattern?10 What is Keyline Mound Formation? What are the advantages & disadvantages?11. What about small farms where there is no ‘classic’ keyline, or primary valley or primary ridge?12. What are the predicted regional climate effects that might impact water usage, drought and flooding? In Brief The central idea behind ‘Keyline’ water management is to consciously slow, sink and spread rainwater by relieving compaction, opening up pore space in compacted soil and distributing excess water towards drier parts of the landscape. This has the effect of buffering the natural concentration of water towards valleys and reducing flooding. By maximizing the flow of water to drier ridges (using precise plow lines or mounds that fall slightly off contour), we can infiltrate it across the broadest possible area. In this respect, keyline strategies can be both a flood and drought mitigation strategy. ‘Keyline’ water management has the potential to enhance the water efficiency of any production system. Applications can include: pastured livestock & grass farmingagro-forestry & forestry layout orchard layoutsilvo-pasture layoutalley cropping layoutannual vegetable production ecological restorationwatershed planning & managementurban planning (new developments) DisclaimerAgriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the BC Ministry of Agriculture are committed to working with industry partners. Opinions expressed in this document are those of Hatchet & Seed and not necessarily those of AAFC, the Ministry of Agriculture or the Investment Agriculture Foundation. 1. Keyline Design History Keyline design was first developed in the late 1940’s by Australian mining geologist and engineer P. A. Yeomans. He developed several farm properties with the goal of flood and drought proofing them. His focus was on accelerating the formation of topsoil by improving the soil penetration of oxygen, water and plant roots.His concepts are best described in his books:The Australian Keyline Plan (1954)The Challenge of Landscape (1958)Water For Every Farm (1965)The City Forest (1971)Keyline design has since been adapted to many different production systems across the globe. Nevellan, a farm developed in the 1950’s by P.A. Yeoman in NSW Australia. Photo Source: Google Earth Pro Back to Top 2. What is ‘keyline water management’? Why is it important? Keyline water management is any production system that applies ‘keyline geometry’ to cultivation patterns with the goal of slowing, sinking, spreading and storing of rainwater. Another main goal is the formation of topsoil as both water storage & fertility mechanisms.The central idea behind keyline design from a water perspective is to capture water at the highest possible elevation and distribute it outward toward the drier ridges using gravity, slowing the natural concentration of water in valleys. Maximizing the flow of water to the drier ridges using precise plow lines (or mounds) falling slightly off contour slows the movement of water and spreads it more uniformly, infiltrating it across the broadest possible area. It is both a flood and drought mitigation strategy. While permanent subsurface drains are commonly used for disposing of excess rain in winter, very seldom is there conscious effort to spread that water to areas that do not have the same large catchment area (eg: ridges in the landscape).Another important facet of keyline design is the establishment of effective water storage ponds on the landscape.With the threat of extended flooding and drought predicted with climate change, it is becoming even more important to better manage abundant winter rainfall for times of scarcity. Basic Keyline Geometry Notice: Main Ridges form the backbone of the landscape. Primary valleys are where water narurally concentrates after shedding off of primary ridges. Photo Source: Humadesign.org Natural Concentration of Soil Moisture. Photo Source:Campbell Wilson. PRI Australia Article.  Keyline pattern geometry in a ‘primary valley’. Notice: Only the keyline is purely on contour. The other parallel lines encourage water to shed towards the ridges. This is essence of keyline cultivation – allowing farmers to cultivate in parallel rows (something nearly all farmers do), while optimizing both drainage and water retention. Photo Source: Water for Every Farm. P.A. Yeoman. 1968. Back to Top 3. What is ‘keyline pattern cultivation’? ‘Keyline pattern cultivation’ is subsoil ripping done using keyline geometry. It is meant to penetrate the subsoil, to a depth of 2’’ below existing rooting depth without inverting the soil. The cultivation pattern uses keyline geometry to act as a micro-water management storage ditch as well, holding more water on ridges.The effect is to loosen compacted soil and open up micro-water harvesting & diversion ditches across the landscape. In some pastures, it is possible to increase the rooting depth of forage plants by breaking up hardpan and allowing root access into these micro-furrows.With water and root activity deeper than before the treatment, the opportunity exists to create carbon storage deeper into the profile via root exudates & soil microorganisms. To summarize, potential advantages of properly applied keyline pattern cultivation include: Increase farm water use efficiency and availabilitySupport the capture, storage, and utilization of precipitationReduce nutrient loading into local creeks and near-shore marine environmentsMore even distribution of rainfall across the site, reduced flooding and drought riskIncreased oxygen, nutrient and water infiltration, increasing soil healthImproved soil structure, tilth & internal drainageFracturing of hardpans creating a deeper rhizosphere and reducing compactionPotential disadvantages include:Added cost of productionLand too steep for safe tractor usePoor timing could open up soil to increased evaporationPoor timing could create compaction or tractor tire rutsApplication of the techniques when not required, such as where soil health and water-holding capacity are already optimized Second Pass, Keyline Cultivation Photo Source: Darren Doherty. Idealized soil formation on compacted pasture. Photo Source: Mollison, Bill. A Permaculture Desginer’s Manual. 1979 Back to Top 4. Is there more to keyline design than keyline cultivation? Yes. Keyline pattern cultivation (‘subsoil ripping’) is only one technique within the ‘Keyline Design’ framework. P.A. Yeomans best described this framework in his 1958 book, the Challenge of Landscape, when he originated the ‘Keyline Scale of Permanence’. In order to plan the development and management of land, the many factors that are involved should be related in some logical order. The planning of one aspect cuts across others, so some must have preference. Decisions have to be made on all sorts of apparently conflicting items of land planning. We need also to have an aim or an object, a basic plan. – P.A. Yeomans, the Challenge of Landscape, Chapter IVWhole farm planning is an important step before reaching out for any particular ‘technique’. There may be instances where effective and efficient water management do not include the need for keyline cultivation.Many modern practitioners are combining keyline design with other strategies like agro-forestry, silvo-pasture, “Holistic Planned Grazing”, and bio-fertilization.  Photo Source: Owen Hablutzel Back to Top 5. Where has this been applied? ‘Keyline subsoil ripping and keyline agro-forestry’ have been applied worldwide in all major biomes of the world. It has been applied to many different production systems. The following are a few of many examples: Australia Keyline agro-forestry layout in Australia. Photo Source: Darren Doherty. United States – Wisconsin New Forest Farm, a 106-Acre Keyline-inspired mixed farm in Wisconsin. Photo Source: http://ecologyartisans.com/restoration-agriculture-systems-san-diego-county/ United States – Iowa Newly established 145-Acre Keyline-inspired Farm in Iowa. Photo Source: Versaland Sweden Aerial View of Ridgedale Permaculture – a Keyline-inspired farm in Sweden United States – Wisconsin Keyline subsoil ripping takes place every year as part of a water management system. Photo Source: New Forest Farm Mexico A Keyline-inspired farm in Oaxaca, Mexico that integrates perennials, annual cash crops and animals. Photo Source: Rancho Sand Ricardo website. Keyline Farm Examples – Google Earth Coordinates Darren J. Doherty of Regrarians Ltd. has compiled a list of keyline inspired farms in Australia that can be seen using Google Earth.It can be found here. Back to Top 6. Has this been researched before? While there are many farmer testimonials about the effectiveness of ‘keyline water management’ in on-line farm forums, studies have been few and far between. Farmers often report better infiltration of runoff, better field retention/ drainage, better penetration of water into subsoil, and improved tree and pasture growth. However, there is little credible data to support or disprove these practices. Photo Source: Keith Ryans. There are unpublished reports of some monitoring parameters (like soil organic carbon & rooting depth) increasing greatly. A study mentioned in the On Pasture article “Keyline – Does it Work?” found little to no improvement in soil organic matter. However, the study did not monitor for moisture retention & distribution, a parameter that is central to our project. It was also completed on high quality, grazed pasture in a ‘summer-rain environment’, much different than our climate and soil types. Our monitoring is meant to address the spacial and temporal moisture distribution, both across the landscape and through the seasons. Back to Top 7. How are soil health, carbon and water management related? One of the chief aims of keyline farm management is the formation of topsoil. The more organic carbon in the soil, the more water holding capacity the soil has. This chart from Dr. Christine Jones shows the relationship between soil carbon, water stored per hectare and CO2 sequestered per hectare.Her research shows that for every 1% increase in OC, water storage can increase by up to 144,000 L / ha; that’s 58,000 L per acre!  Photo Source: Dr. Christine J0nes. Back to Top 8. How is a Yeoman Plow different from a typical subsoiler? Subsoilers have commonly been used in the agricultural, restoration and forestry sectors for breaking up restrictive soil layers. However, they are typically set to go as low as possible on the first pass and require very heavy machinery. The Yeomans Plow is designed to be used as part of ‘Keyline Cultivation’ to increase root penetration and is typically only set 1-2” below the existing root layer. As such (and because of its design), it requires less horsepower (HP) to pull than conventional subsoilers.A Yeomans Plow is specifically designed to:minimize surface disturbance and soil profile mixingreduce HP requirement compared to other subsoilers with thicker shanks and more blunt pointsallow the attachment of other implements, including seed boxes and liquid fertilizer injectionThere are other plows on the market with similar advertised features. They include:AgroPlowPanBuster Yeoman Keyline Plow Photo Source: Darren Doherty. Back to Top 9. How is ‘keyline pattern subsoil ripping’ different than subsoiling on other patterns? Keyline vs. contour layoutKeyline layout differs from contour planting in that rows remain equidistant from one another. Landscape contours are always irregular and never equidistant. Keyline layout seeks to optimize landform while still maintaining equidistance in cultivation rows so as to maximize density and efficiency. Contour layouts leave irregular shapes that are difficult to maintain. Keyline vs. grid layoutMost farms and orchards choose grid layout, typically based on the artifical property boundary so as to maximize planting area. That can be the major advantage of ‘grid-layout’. However, by ignoring the contours, we also ignore the water and nutrient holding benefits that come with slowing and spreading water. Keyline agro-forestry layout in Australia. Back to Top 10. What is ‘keyline mound formation’? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Keyline mounds or berms are planting berms that follow keyline patterning. They can be used for perennial plant crops (trees, shrubs and perennial herbs) or for annual crops.Potential AdvantagesIncrease loosened topsoil depth available for plantingCan include water harvesting gutter to slow surface runoff (if any) on keyline patternCan raise trees and shrubs up out of a high winter water tableCan be combined with subsoil rippingPotential DisadvantagesCan create permanent access difficultiesCan create difficult maintenance conditions for tractors and mowers   Keyline Mound Preparation           Source:  Darren J Doherty. Back to Top 11. What about small farms where there is no ‘classic’ keyline, or primary valley or primary ridge? On farms where no true keyline is available or where there is no access to both a … Continue reading What is Keyline Design?