Perry-based ag drainage firm presents services to Kossuth County supervisors

Representatives of Agrvia, an agricultural drainage engineering firm based in Perry, Iowa, described their services and recent projects to the Kossuth County Board of Supervisors during the board's regular meeting.

Agrvia co-founders Jacob Hagen and Tyler Beeman told supervisors the firm provides end-to-end services for agricultural drainage work — surveying, design, drafting and construction observation — and emphasized frequent communication with landowners. “We're the ones who survey it. We're the ones who draft it, design it, do the structure observation,” Hagen said.

The presenters said Agrvia started in April and focuses exclusively on agricultural drainage rather than municipal work. Beeman described a current project under design they expect could be roughly a $1,500,000 tile improvement in Greene County, and said the firm has worked on voluntary organization projects, reclassifications and ditch cleanouts across several Iowa counties, including Worth, Hamilton, Dallas and Palo Alto.

Agrvia answered supervisors' technical questions about on-site inspection and supervision. When asked whether the firm would be present frequently during construction, the presenters said inspection frequency depends on the contractor and the materials used: “If you're in plastic, you're gonna be there more often than concrete,” Beeman said. They said they have a part-time tile contractor committed to inspection work and a local surveyor available for professional land surveying when required.

The presenters said they bill for drive time but not mileage and that their rate is intended to be competitive. They also said they will decline FEMA work. “Like FEMA, we won't — we're not interested in any FEMA work,” Hagen said.

Supervisors and staff asked about the company's capacity and plans for growth. Hagen and Beeman said they intend to remain a smaller, low-overhead operation and to add part-time inspectors as needed rather than scale quickly. “We don't wanna be the world's biggest company,” Beeman said, noting the firm prefers to maintain close oversight of projects to protect quality.

The presenters offered to share a completed tile improvement report from Greene County as an example deliverable and to provide a rate sheet and references for supervisors to review. The board thanked the presenters and acknowledged their availability for county drainage projects going forward.