North Dakota Water May 2005

• Year: 2005
• Title: North Dakota Water
• Author: North Dakota Water
• Description: May 2005
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

ota
Irrigation Survey
North Dakota 3
rri atio
n
Results Released
Story reprinted with permission from the
Frontier National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
The 2003 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey (FRIS) as acreage irrigated by sprinkler systems rose 8 percent
provides data about the agricultural irrigation industry and acres irrigated with gravity flow systems fell 15
at the national and state level, as well as for specific percent. Drip /Trickle acres rose 32 percent in 2003, but
Water Resources Areas (WRA). subirrigation acres, at 279,522, were only half of those in
1998.
Irrigation data have been collected from all farms and
ranches in the census of agriculture since 1890.
However, the FRIS data supplements the basic
irrigation data collected from operators in the census.
The 25,014 operations sampled for 2003 FRIS were
selected from farms and ranches that reported
irrigated acreage for the 2002 Census of Agriculture.
The 2003 FRIS includes first -time statistics on water
transfers, pumps powered by solar energy, expense
for irrigation labor, primary method of water
distribution by crop, and the percent of sales from
irrigated crops.
FRIS FACTS
■ For the first time, FRIS shows more acres irrigated
with sprinkler systems than with gravity flow
systems.
■ Total energy costs in 2003 are $1.55 billion, up
17 percent from the 1998 total.
■ The five leading states ranked by total acres
irrigated in 2003 are California, Nebraska,Texas,
Arkansas, and Idaho.
• In 2003, 62,260 farms with irrigation spent $657
million on hired and contract labor for irrigation
activities.
• Farmers and ranchers spent $1.13 billion on
irrigation equipment, facilities, and land improve-
ments in 2003, a 3 percent decrease from 1998.
Acreage Irrigated
Of the 2.13 million farms and ranches in the United
States in 2002, approximately 14 percent were irrigated.
The U.S. acreage of farmland irrigated totaled 52.6 million
acres in 2003. This is a 3 percent decrease from 54.2 mil-
lion acres irrigated in 1998.
Irrigation Methods
For the first time, FRIS shows more acres irrigated
with sprinkler systems than with gravity flow systems
14
Irrigation Water Use by Method of
Distribution: 2003
Sub - Irrigation Drip/Trickle
0.5% 5.6%
Sprinkler — Gravity
50.5% 43.4%
Source: USDA - NASS 2003 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey
Although sprinkler systems were used on just over half
of the irrigated acres in the U.S., the primary method of
irrigation varied by state. California, the leading state in
irrigated acres, used gravity flow systems on 60 percent
of its irrigated acres and sprinklers on only 20 percent
of the irrigated acres. In Nebraska and Texas, the next
highest ranking states, sprinkler systems were used on 75
percent and 71 percent of their respective irrigated acres.
Water Applied
The total quantity of water applied during 2003 dropped
11 percent from 1998, even though irrigated acres only
declined 3 percent. Sprinkler systems applied an average
1.3 acre -feet of water per acre while gravity flow systems
averaged 2.0 acre -feet per acre.
Farms Acres Irrigated Acre -Feet Applied
220,163 52,583,431 86,894,031
Source: USDA - NASS 2003 Farm and Ranch Irrigation System
The number of farms and ranches using water from off -
farm suppliers fell 16 percent to 86,405 in 2003. The cost
per acre for off -farm water rose slightly to $41.73, even
though the cost per acre -foot of water applied grew 13 per-
cent to $18.29. Farmers and ranchers also reported transfer-
ring 452,821 acre -feet of water in 2003.
North Dakota Water ■ May 2005