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<br /> <br /> <br />o.'j <br /> <br /> <br />, <br /> <br /><::;> <br />,-;:) <br />N <br />o <br />"""" <br />~ <br /> <br />Table 3. - DISTRIBUTION OF TYPICAL CROPS <br />BY SIZE OF FARM UNIT <br /> <br />Crop <br /> <br />Average Size Unit <br /> <br />Orcha rd <br />Acres Percent of <br />Un i t's A rea <br /> <br />Part-time <br />Acres <br /> <br />Unit <br />Percent of <br />Unit's Area <br /> <br />Ful i~time <br />Acres <br /> <br />Unit <br />Percent of <br />Unit's Area <br /> <br />Apples 5 50 - <br />Peaches 5 50 <br />Alfalfa 10 40 .42 28 <br />Irrigated <br />Pasture 15 60 21 14 <br />Ba r I ey 15 10 <br />Corn-Grain 48 32 <br />Sugar Beets - ~ 24 16 <br />Totals 10 100 25 100 150 100 <br /> <br />Little change occurs in cropping patterns over the years. <br /> <br />2 Fruit orchards have decreased from 5,130 acres in 1969 to 4,2~0 acres in <br />3 1974. The number of orchards declined from 393 to 343 in the five-year <br />4 period (1969-1974). Urbanization is the main reason for the decline <br /> <br />5 In orchard acreage. <br /> <br />6 Orchard crops in the order of importance are apples, peaches, pears, <br /> <br />7 cherries, plums, prunes, and grapes. Total value of all fruit pro- <br /> <br /> <br />S duction in Mesa County during 1974 was estimated at $7,779,000 of which <br /> <br />9 about 94 percent is produced in the Grand Valley. However, it must be <br /> <br /> <br />10 noted that weather can reduce production by more than 80 percent in a <br /> <br />II given year. <br /> <br />12 .Levels of management in the Grand Valley are quite divergent and in <br /> <br />13 general, reflect the degree of profi tabi 1 i ty of the farm operat ion and <br /> <br />14 the efficiency of irrigation in the farming operation. Management <br /> <br />27 <br />