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<br />i]lJ3L <br /> <br />HIGH PLAINS ASSOCIA TES <br /> <br />High Plains Study Information <br />Page 4 <br /> <br />The study area is supported by one of tne largest agricul- <br /> <br /> <br />tUfal economies in the world. The growth of the agri-business <br /> <br /> <br />industry in the High Plains region was spurred in the 1950's <br /> <br /> <br />and 1960's by cheap natural gas and the abundance of groundwater. <br /> <br /> <br />The economy is now threatened by the depletion and possible <br /> <br />exhaustion. for agricultural purposes. of the massive aquifer, <br /> <br />rising costs of energy, and the depletion of oil and gas fields <br />in the region. <br /> <br />The 180,000 square miles in the study area include more <br /> <br /> <br />than 9.5 million acres of irrigated cropland and many more <br /> <br /> <br />million acres are potentially irrigable if water can be made <br /> <br /> <br />available. The area also supplies more than 40 per cent of the <br /> <br />nation's cattle that are fed in feedlots. In the Panhandle <br /> <br />areas of Texas and Oklahoma alone, cattle feedlots have a <br /> <br />capacity of more than 2.1 million cattle during one feeding <br />cycle, and 10 million cattle per year. <br /> <br />The study will be performed in a unique arrangement of <br /> <br /> <br />Federal, State and private concerns. The overall study effort <br /> <br />will be provided policy and guidance from the High Plains Study <br /> <br /> <br />Council, which is composed of representatives of the Governors <br /> <br />w <br />