Irrigation practices and costs in southeastern Missouri - 1959
Authors:   , Jones Ted Lee 
Published: May 2024

Field crop irrigation is a relatively new production technique in Missouri. Prior to this investigation, only United information was available concerning costs and returns. The research reported here was assigned to determine (1) the costs of installing and operating various types of irrigation systems, (2) changes in yields resulting from applying water to specific crops, and (3) ths effects of irrigation on farm income. A random sample of 65 farmers was chosen from a population of 186 farmers who owned or controlled irrigation equipment in Dunklin, Pemiscot, New Madrid, and Mississippi counties in the Delta Cotton and Corn Area. Each farm operator was interviewed three times in 1959 to obtain the fixed investment in irrigation equipment, the operating costs, the acreage and crop receiving water, and the estimated yield response. The data obtained showed that the farmers were using five types of irrigating equipment. The fixed investment in all types averaged $7,122 per farm or $56 per capacity acre. It was highest for trailer boom types outlays of $13,200 per farm and lowest for ditch and furrow types at $4,100. The cost per acre of land irrigated varied widely with the type of equitant used and the number of acres to which water was applied. Fixed items made up more than one-half of the average cost per acre far all types. Variable costs averaged 20 per sent of the total for surface, and portable pipe and swindler systems, and 35 per cent for the trailer boom-giant sprinkler system. There was a significant difference in the average labor, tractor, fuel and oil cost per acre application of water with the different types of systems. The average labor cost was significantly higher for the portable pipe and sprinkler systems than for the surface systems. Average tractor, fuel and oil easts were significantly higher for the trailer bow-giant sprinkler type and for the portable pipe and sprinkler systems than for the surface systems, but considerable leveling was required for use of gravity distribution. Cotton, corn, and soybeans were the principal crops irrigated in 1959. The average yield response of cotton was 66 pounds of lint per acre, but 57 per cent of the irrigators got no increase. The average yield response of corn was 30 bushels per acre, and 63 per cent of the irrigators had yield increases. Soybean yields were increased an average of 8.5 bushels per acre, and 69 per cent of the farmers reported gains. Only 29 per cent of the farmers increased their net income by irrigating cotton, corn, and soybeans. Use of supplemental water was not profitable for the majority of the men who had equipment in 1959. However, the data were obtained in a year when weather conditions were favorable for crop production. The average cotton yield without irrigation was the highest ever obtained in the Delta. The fact that more than one-fourth of the farmers increased their net income in one of the most favorable crop years on record, suggests that the practice has merit, but must be applied under conditions of superior management to bring satisfactory returns in relation to costs.