Table 38. Selected Crops Irrigated and Harvested in the Open by Primary Method of Water Distribution - 
United States: 2013 
[Excludes area under protection and institutional, research, and experimental farms. For meaning of abbreviations and symbols see introductory text] 
All methods 
Pressure systems 
Gravity systems 
Crop 
Farms 
Acres 
Farms 
Acres 
Farms 
Acres 
Corn for grain or seed 
37,247 
13,289,247 
29,752 
11,012,114 
7,495 
2,277,133 
Corn for silage or greenchop 
8,382 
1,729,358 
4,660 
1,204,133 
3,722 
525,225 
Sorghum for grain or seed 
3,923 
809,579 
3,263 
686,269 
660 
123,310 
Wheat for grain or seed 
12,974 
3,197,501 
9,934 
2,654,442 
3,040 
543,059 
Soybeans for beans 
21,755 
7,413,276 
15,399 
4,041,900 
6,356 
3,371,376 
Beans, dry edible 
2,793 
433,590 
1,617 
320,390 
1,176 
113,200 
Rice 
5,613 
3,132,894 
146 
33,690 
5,467 
3,099,204 
Other small grains 
(barley, oats, rye, etc.) 
6,258 
1,209,527 
3,949 
887,964 
2,309 
321,563 
Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures 
(dry hay, greenchop, 
and silage) 
46,181 
5,512,871 
26,645 
3,545,400 
19,536 
1,967,471 
All other hay (dry hay, 
greenchop, and silage) 
28,142 
3,300,889 
14,595 
1 ,462,829 
13,547 
1,838,060 
Peanuts 
1,605 
371,634 
1 ,566 
360,505 
39 
11,129 
Cotton, all 
6,804 
2,954,457 
5,221 
2,179,929 
1,583 
774,528 
Land in vegetables 
24,157 
2,993,600 
22,212 
2,653,255 
1,945 
340,345 
Selected vegetables: 
Sweet corn 
5,923 
321,992 
5,205 
291,368 
718 
30,624 
Tomatoes in the open 
10,496 
358,985 
9,852 
296,125 
644 
62,860 
Lettuce and romaine 
5,052 
264,154 
4,671 
214,794 
381 
49,360 
Potatoes, excluding 
sweet potatoes 
5,596 
903,297 
5,300 
876,416 
296 
26,881 
All berries 
12,763 
227,651 
12,043 
221,398 
720 
6,253 
Land in orchards, vineyards, 
and nut trees 
52,018 
3,662,131 
43,177 
3,148,482 
8,841 
513,650 
All other crops (see text) 
26,309 
2,320,822 
23,709 
1,619,163 
2,600 
701,659 
Pastureland, all types 
42,733 
3,034,409 
19,164 
860,538 
23,569 
2,173,871 
Pressure irrigation distribution systems ' 
Hand move 
Solid or 
permanent set 
Side roll or 
wheel line 
Big gun 
Low-flow irrigation (drip, 
trickle, or micro sprinklers) 
Crop 
Percent 
of 
farms 
Percent 
of 
acres ^ 
Percent 
of 
farms 
Percent 
of 
acres ^ 
Percent 
of 
farms 
Percent 
of 
acres ^ 
Percent 
of 
farms 
Percent 
of 
acres ^ 
Percent 
of 
farms 
Percent 
of 
acres ^ 
Corn for grain or seed 
1.2 
0.2 
0.9 
0.1 
0.5 
0.3 
1.3 
0.3 
1.5 
0.4 
Corn for silage or greenchop 
0.6 
0.3 
0.2 
0.1 
1.0 
0.4 
2.8 
1.2 
0.8 
0.5 
Sorghum for grain or seed 
(Z) 
(D) 
1.8 
0.3 
0.2 
(D) 
0.7 
0.1 
3.3 
1.9 
Wheat for grain or seed 
4.4 
1.6 
0.7 
1.4 
5.2 
4.6 
0.5 
0.3 
1.6 
1.2 
Soybeans for beans 
0.6 
0.2 
0.5 
0.6 
0.6 
0.4 
1.5 
0.4 
0.6 
0.4 
Beans, dry edible 
10.9 
1.4 
1.3 
1.0 
2.0 
2.7 
0.5 
0.3 
5.1 
4.2 
Rice 
1.0 
0.1 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
0.6 
0.3 
Other small grains 
(barley, oats, rye, etc.) 
2.9 
1.8 
1.3 
1.2 
16.4 
6.3 
0.5 
0.2 
1.1 
0.6 
Alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures 
(dry hay, greenchop, 
and silage) 
8.9 
2.5 
2.8 
1.1 
14.6 
9.4 
1.1 
0.3 
0.6 
0.5 
All other hay (dry hay, 
greenchop, and silage) 
9.8 
2.1 
2.8 
1.7 
10.5 
5.6 
4.2 
2.3 
0.6 
0.5 
Peanuts 
0.1 
(D) 
0.7 
0.6 
1.4 
0.9 
2.7 
1.0 
0.4 
0.1 
Cotton, all 
0.1 
(Z) 
1.2 
1.0 
0.2 
0.1 
0.6 
0.2 
7.3 
5.8 
Land in vegetables 
20.2 
3.9 
3.9 
6.1 
1.0 
2.7 
3.7 
3.2 
45.9 
27.7 
Selected vegetables: 
Sweet corn 
18.9 
2.7 
5.2 
0.3 
3.1 
0.5 
11.2 
11.5 
32.6 
9.5 
Tomatoes in the open 
17.9 
5.0 
4.9 
1.9 
0.2 
(D) 
1.0 
0.3 
63.3 
72.2 
Lettuce and romaine 
24.3 
17.9 
8.9 
3.9 
0.5 
(D) 
2.0 
2.7 
52.4 
43.9 
Potatoes, excluding 
sweet potatoes 
25.5 
1.1 
6.1 
5.4 
2.0 
4.5 
3.1 
1.8 
34.2 
1.0 
All berries 
18.8 
1.9 
16.2 
40.2 
0.1 
(Z) 
2.2 
2.2 
49.3 
47.3 
Land in orchards, vineyards, 
and nut trees 
7.6 
0.9 
11.7 
10.4 
(Z) 
0.1 
0.4 
0.1 
58.7 
72.2 
All other crops (see text) 
17.5 
2.4 
11.6 
4.5 
2.1 
5.3 
3.3 
3.7 
30.9 
14.3 
Pastureland, all types 
16.2 
2.9 
5.3 
1.2 
5.7 
4.2 
3.1 
1.4 
1.2 
0.5 
See footnote(s) at end of table. --continued 
180 2013 FRIS - Crops Grown in the Open and Pasture Data 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
