Laserfiche WebLink
<br />I' .~ <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />CUa20~ <br /> <br />the area in surface irrigation was provided with reuse systems, and if <br /> <br /> <br />half was converted to center-pivot irrigation. The costs for these con~, <br /> <br /> <br />versions can be estimated as follows from data in the literature. <br /> <br />Sheffield (1977) has given detailed costs for center-pivot irrigated <br /> <br /> <br />cornfields. Extracting costs for the center-pivot system itself, the <br /> <br /> <br />irrigation pump and gearhead, a diesel engine, other minor fixed costs, <br /> <br /> <br />taxes and insurance, the annualized cost is $53,29 per acre. To this <br /> <br /> <br />must be added a fuel cost at $6.06 per acre, and maintenance at $4.05 <br /> <br /> <br />per acre. There should be a reduction in labor. Sheffield (1977) indi- <br /> <br /> <br />cates that irrigation labor for center pivots is about $1.20 per acre <br /> <br /> <br />(labor charged at $3.50 per hour), Eisenhauer and Fischbach (1977) <br /> <br /> <br />estimate labor charges for gated pipe systems (no reuse) at $4.13 per <br /> <br /> <br />acre (at $4.00 per hour). Syphon systems, which are popular in the study <br /> <br /> <br />area take more labor, but adjusting again for the lower hourly labor <br /> <br /> <br />figure, it is probable that the labor saving would be about $4,13 minus <br /> <br /> <br />$1.20, or $2.93 per acre. Thus, the total increased cost for center-pivot <br /> <br /> <br />irrigation is about $60.47 per acre per year, <br /> <br />The yearly cost for a reuse system is small indeed. Eisenhauer and <br /> <br /> <br />Fischbach (1977) state that the fixed costs for a gated pipe system with <br /> <br /> <br />a reuse system is $26.98. Thus, the increased fixed costs are only $1.71 <br /> <br /> <br />per acre year. The decreased fuel and oil costs were estimated at $0.78 <br /> <br /> <br />and $0.15 per acre per year, and the increased maintenance costs were <br /> <br /> <br />estimated at $0.15 per acre per year. The labor was assumed to be unchanged <br /> <br /> <br />Thus, the increased costs for reuse systems would be $0,93 per acre per year. <br /> <br />The estimated increased cost for obtaining a farm irrigation system <br /> <br /> <br />efficiency of 75 percent is, under the assumption of half the area in <br /> <br /> <br />center pivots and half the area in surface irrigation with reuse systems, <br /> <br /> <br />the arithmetic mean of the two figures ($60,47 and $0.93) or $30,70 per <br /> <br /> <br />acre per year. <br /> <br />In summary, it is estimated that the cost of raising the average farm <br /> <br /> <br />irrigation efficiency in the study reach to 60 percent as assumed in the <br /> <br /> <br />Series III computer model runs could be as little as $3 or $4 per acre <br /> <br /> <br />per year--or a total of $375,000 to $500,000 on 125,000 acres. This can <br /> <br />-52- <br />