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<br />Projected Agricultural Economy <br /> <br />Economic analysis of the proposed Florida irrigation project has two primary <br />objectives: (1) An appraisal of direct agricultural benefits from project <br />development; and (2) an appraisal of prospective farm incomes from representa- <br />tive.sizes and types of farms considered most likely with proposed irrigation <br />development. Both of these analyses contribute to a general appraisal of the <br />prospects for a successful, stable irrigated agricultural economy. <br /> <br />Procedures <br /> <br />An estimate of agricultural benefits and an appraisal of prospective farm <br />incomes were derived by farm budgeting procedures. Crop-production budgets <br />were used for the analysis of agricultural benefits and were limited to costs <br />and returns of crops and pasture production that would exist with a livestock <br />economy. Farm-income budgets were used in the analysis of prospective farm <br />incomes by types of farms. In this analysis, costs and returns were carried <br />through the livestock enterprises. The farm acreages, cropping systems, and <br />crop yields established for appraisal of farm incomes were used in budgeting <br />for agricultural benefits. <br /> <br />The crop-production budgets consist of three basic elements: (1) The estimated <br />quantity and value of crops and pasture anticipated after full development of <br />the land and farms; (2) the quantity and value of econ011lic resources employed <br />in achieving the assumed level of production (exclusive of water costs); and <br />(3) the delay involved in achieving the ultimate level of production which is <br />accounted for by discounting procedures. <br /> <br />Farm-income budgets, representing costs and returns of all the enterprises <br />anticipated for given farm types, are used for estimating the residual incomes. <br />These incomes are available as compensation to farm operators and their families <br />for their labor and management, and for payment of water charges. The major <br />elements involved in this analysis are: (1) The quantity of agricultural <br />products produced for sale and their expected market values; (2) the quantity <br />and value of resource inputs that must be expended by project farmers to <br />achieve the level of production anticipated (exclusive of water costs); and <br />(3) an allowance for the labor and management of the operator and family <br />equivalent to estimated incomes that would be derived from alternative year- <br />round employment off the project. <br /> <br />- 22 - <br />