Irrigation Systems in the U.S.
Delivered May 5, 2020. Contributor: Dorcas K.
Goals
To identify the areas where irrigation is conducted most in the U.S. This will inform a marketing research.
Early Findings
Irrigation in the U.S.
- The latest Census of Agriculture that was conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
revealed that the U.S. had a total of 55.8 million acres of irrigated cropland in 2012.
- Agriculture is a major consumer of surface and groundwater in the U.S.
- It accounts for about 80% of the country's consumptive water use.
- This value is above 90% in most Western States.
- Since the 1997 Census of Agriculture, the major pattern of increased irrigated land in the U.S. shows a shift from the Western States to the Delta and Southeast (except for Florida).
- Atlases released by the USDA and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reveal that most of U.S. crop irrigation occurs in:
- In the U.S., crop irrigation is dynamic. Irrigated area differs with time due to various factors. These are local or regional water supply/demand and agronomic conditions, climate change, and export/domestic crop market demands.
- The 13 states that lead in irrigation in the U.S. from the highest to the lowest are:
- This data is based on 2012 from the latest Census of Agriculture that was conducted by the USDA's Economic Research Service.
- Data from the USDA reveals that these top 13 states make up for 78.8% of the total irrigated acres in the country while the remaining 37 states make up for the remaining 21.2%.
Proposed next steps:
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