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Arkansas - CSU - EffectLandFallowing_Application_Nov2008
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Arkansas - CSU - EffectLandFallowing_Application_Nov2008
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Last modified
7/12/2018 11:03:59 AM
Creation date
11/17/2008 4:00:45 PM
Metadata
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Alt Ag Water Transfer Grants
Basin Roundtable
Arkansas
Applicant
Colorado State University
Description
Effect of Land Fallowing & Water Rights Leasing on Corn Yield, Nutrient Needs & Economics in the Low
Board Meeting Date
11/18/2008
Contract/PO #
OE09-83
Alt Ag Water - Doc Type
Grant Application
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Alternative Agricultural Water Transfer Methods -Grant Application Form <br />January 2008 <br />rotational land fallowing in the Lower Arkansas Valley (HDR, 2007). The economic and engineering analysis <br />produced in this study confirmed an adequate supply of water rights available for lease in the Lower Arkansas <br />Valley. Approximately 250,000 acre-ft were estimated to be available during average years approximately <br />100,000 acre-ft in a drought year such as 2002. Organizers of the Super Ditch suggest that leasing could <br />supply up to 45,000 acre-ft (14.7 million gallons) of this water annually. This study only examined feasibility <br />as a function of water availability at aregional-scale, however, and did not examine the technical aspects <br />farmers would contend with as they attempt to maintain farming operations within the context of these lease <br />arrangements. <br />The Arkansas Valley Research Center has been engaged in a 4-year plot-scale ("200 ft2) study on land <br />fallowing as a component of potential water transfer arrangements. This research was initiated in 2007 <br />following the promulgation of Colorado House Bill 06-1124. This study is growing corn (Zea mays L.) as an <br />index crop to quantify the yield, nutrient needs and economics on fallowed fields that are returned to corn <br />production 1, 2 and 3 years (Valliant, 2008). Yields from fallowed fields (which are then returned to <br />production) are compared to fields where continuous corn is planted over afour-year period. The study <br />reported corn production at 178 bushels/acre in 2007 and a gross income of $586.61/acre when sold at <br />$3.29/bushel. Production costs (including irrigation) for the same field was $434.93/acre. The return to <br />land, operator's labor, management and risk, therefore, was $121.68/acre. The study also reported a <br />$204.82/acre cost of maintaining the fallowed land. This return profit estimate from continued farming and <br />the cost of fallowed land maintenance are quite useful in determining the value of irrigated acreage, and <br />what price farmers may want to consider for leasing their water rights. The proposed activities will build on <br />the research-scale fallowing studies currently underway at the Arkansas Valley Research Center, thus <br />allowing a further level of scientific control for comparison. <br />Other field-scale studies of rotational land fallowing are presently being conducted in the Lower South Platte <br />River basin by the Parker 1Nater and Sanitation District and Colorado State University (Lytle et al., 2008). To date, <br />however, no large-scale programs have been tested or implemented in Colorado. Given the immanency of <br />water leasing arrangements in the Valley, however, these strategies need to be tested so they can be <br />successfully applied at regional scales. <br />8
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