Table 2. Fuel Consumption and Cost for Typical Dairy Farm Irrigation 



Systems (Survey Data).i 



Acres Fuel Consumption Total Fuel Cost 



Irrigated Per Acre Per Farm Per Farm* 



17 27 460 $ 90 



40 31 1,240 250 



75 20 1,500 300 



120 20 2,400 480 



* At $.20 per gal. 



1 Source: Kottke, M. W., Capital and Labor Efficiency in Irrigation, Storrs (Connec- 

 ticut) Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 345, May 1959, pp. 15 and 17. 



Table 3. Labor Requirements for Typical Dairy Farm Irrigation 



Systems (Survey Data).i 



Moving Between Fields, 

 Acres Moving Hrs. Total Moving Preparing & Storing Total Hrs. 



Irrigated Per Acre Hrs. Per Farm Hrs. Per Farm 



17 3.7 65 39 104 



40 3.1 125 33 158 



1 Source: Kottke, M. W., Capital and Labor Efficiency in Irrigation, Storrs (Connec- 

 ticut) Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 345, May 1959, p. 15. 



introduction of portable aluminum pipe has eliminated some drudgery. 

 Still it takes time to move the aluminum pipe from one setting to another. 

 On the average it takes about three hours per acre to set and move pipe. 

 Again this varies depending upon the frequency of irrigation, the size of 

 pipe, and area covered per setting. 



If additional labor has to be hired because of irrigation, then the annual 

 cash costs will be increased by that amount. On the other hand, if a farm's 

 present labor force can do the irrigating then there will be no extra cash 

 costs, but doing the irrigation job may mean taking it away from other 

 work. If it is taken away from income producing work, then the income 

 foregone is an opportunity cost to irrigation. 



What Yield Response to Expect from Irrigation 



What one needs to know in order to determine the profitability of irri- 

 gation is how much it will increase yields. One way of looking at this is 

 to consider how much of a valuable crop irrigation will save during a year 

 of low rainfall. Another way to assess its value is to look at how much 

 it will increase yields on the average over a period of years. 



Data from controlled experiments on forage irrigation can give an in- 

 dication of what results one might expect from irrigation. A review of 



