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<br />OVERALL SUMMARY <br />It is common for farmers to face serious adjustment problems in converting <br />from dryland to irrigated production under federal reclamation projects. <br />Dolores Project producers will not be an exception to this rule. <br />Several circumstances may make this adjustment process more difficult than <br />average. They are: <br />1. The poor national agricultural situation. <br />2. The fact that soils and terrain of the project area are not well <br />suited to irrigation and many crops. <br />3. The'lack of infrastructure for handling the increased production, <br />especially transportation and markets. <br />4. Competition from NAPI, the Central Arizona Project and other <br />producing areas with comparative advantage. <br />5. Related to (1), a lack of capital for investment in irrigation <br />systems. <br />6. The age of many farmers in the area. <br />Results of the linear programming analysis indicate that backgrounding <br />calves primarily with grown alfalfa may be the most promising management <br />alternative. Producers using all their hay to raise purchased calves might <br />earn 50 to 45 dollars per acre before interest on land is considered. However, <br />the interest cost on land of about $50.00 per acre will make for negative <br />returns if this must be paid as a cash cost, even under the most optimistic of <br />scenarios. Producers considering backgrounding calves need to consider the <br />large annual investment, potential transportation problems and pontential price <br />trends between purchase and sale of the calves. <br /> <br />11i <br />