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The Grand Mesa prOject is adjacent to the Paonia Project an<;l the two projects both have project land on Redlands Mesa. Because the two projects are 10cated in the same genera 1 area, have similar soils, growing seasons, and crops, it would seem appropriate to apply the recent Grand Mesa Project agriucltural study completed. in 1969 to. the Paonia Project. Current normalized prices were used in the Grand Mesa Project analysis with an index of 243 for prices received and 314 for prices paid. Three budgets were used to determine the payment capacit'y. Cash crop and purchase calves 45 percent, cash crop and sheep 45 per- cent, and fruit 10 percent. Cash crops used were sugar beets, malting barley, and apples,. respectively. The 1969 crop report shows that the Paonia Project has 11 percent of its 15,300 acres in fruit which fits nicely with the Grand Mesa Project study. The size of farms analyzed in the Grand Mesa Project study are all under 160 acres. Fruit farms range from 27-37 acres and cash crop and livestock farms from 120 to 160 acres. These farm sizes are larger than those used in the Paonia Project analysis. No current data on farm size has been compiled for the paoniaProject put it is reasonable to expect that the national trend for fewer and larger farms through consolidation has had some effect in increasing farm size in the area. The average farm size was estimated to. be 70 acres in the Paonia Project Definite PIan Report. Small farms in thePaonia Project area do not necessarily mean 10w payment capa- city, especially if the small acreage is associated with fruit farm- ing or ranchetta type living. Either one of these type of farms could afford to pay as much or more per acre-foot for irrigation . water than larger livestock farms. For the above reasons, the Grand Mesa Project study is deemed . applicable and appropriate to be applied to the Paonia Project. -......../ Payment capacity by land class for Grand Mesa Project is as follows: Class 1 - $19.10i Class 2 - $14.40; Class 3 - $9.75. This payment capacity applied to Paonia Project weighted by land class would be $4 per acre-foot of water as shown below. . . Land class 1 2 3 Total 14.74 = $4.21, rounded 3.50 AF per acre I , I',. .1 Grand Mesa Project . . payment per acre . ($) i 19.10 .14.40 9.975 . Paonia Project land class (acre) . 3,150 10,020 2,130 15,300 $4.00 per Percent 21 65 14 100 . Weighted average per acre extension ($) .4.01 9.36 .1.37 14.74 .. acre-foot , , , . 4