IRRIGATION PAYS; WATERING LANDS BY ARTIFICIAL METHODS GOOD INVESTMENT

Lumsden showed the "poly pipe" he used last year that will be sent to a recycler.

Irrigation pays!

A 10-year analysis shows that irrigation is a good investment for farmers in Southeast Missouri.

The study, a comparison of irrigated and non-irrigated crops, show that irrigation more than pays for itself most years.

During the past decade, annual profits on irrigated land ranged from an average of $9.55 per acre for single-crop soybeans to $32.70 for corn, and more than $50 for cotton.

"Irrigation is profitable," said Ray Massey, commercial agriculture economist at the University of Missouri-Columbia. "It is so profitable in the Bootheel that I recommend that farmers borrow money to install irrigation equipment if they don't already have it."

It doesn't take long to pay for irrigation equipment with additional profits like that, said Massey.

"Irrigation is like an insurance policy," said Joe Lumsden of Scott City, who farms about 800 acres. "You may not use it as much every year, but the costs of irrigation pays off in the long term."

Lumsden is one of a number of area corn growers who annually receive honors in the national corn yield contest. Lumsden this year placed third in the state in ridge-till irrigated class, with a yield of 187.9 bushels an acre.

Paul Lanpher of Advance placed first in the state in the no-till irrigated class, with a yield of 240.95 bushels per acre, and Nancy Reiminger of Chaffee placed second, with a yield of 198.7 bushels.

M & N Farms of Chaffee placed first in the state in ridge-till irrigated class, with a yield of 211.7 bushels per acre and Reiminger Farms of Chaffee placed second, with a yield of 202.8 bushels per acre.

Corn, soybeans and cotton are big crops in Southeast Missouri.

The Southeast Missouri counties of Stoddard, Mississippi, Scott and New Madrid are among the top five corn producers. Stoddard County produces more than 12 million bushels a year.

Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot and Stoddard rank as the state's top soybean-producing counties.

And, more than 90 percent of the cotton produced in Missouri comes from seven Southeast Missouri counties, headed by Dunklin and New Madrid.

Many of these same counties are leaders in irrigated land.

About 80 percent of the state's irrigated farmland is in nine counties of Southeast Missouri, said Joe Henggeler, a University extension irrigation specialist at the Delta Center at Portageville.

More than 200,000 acres are irrigated in Stoddard (242,600 acres) and New Madrid (210,900 acres) counties.

Southeast Missouri irrigation starts in the Bollinger (10,600 acres) and Cape Girardeau (14,300 acres) county areas, and increases throughout the Bootheel.

More than 100,000 acres are under irrigation in Dunklin (101,600) and Butler (150,000) counties. Other irrigated lands in the Southeast area include Scott, 77,523 acres; Pemiscot, 47,359; and Mississippi, 82,400.

The irrigation surveys, conducted since 1987, have indicated large increases of crop production in the sandy soils of the region.

"The soil does make a difference," said Henggeler. "Irrigation is more important for sandy and silt soils, and not as vital in clay\gumbo soils.

Massey explains his calculations on added profits from the decade-long analysis.

Massey figured irrigation increased corn yields an averge of 45 bushels an acre. With corn selling at a $275 a bushel, the added income on irrigated land was $123.75. After subtracting additional per-acre cost of operation, $41.05, and equipment, $50, that left an added return of $32.70 an acre.

On single-crop soybeans, irrigation was worth, on average, an extra 11 bushels an acre. At $6.75 a bushel, that was an extra gross income of $74.25. After subtracting cost of operating, $14.70, and equipment, $50, added returns were $9.55 an acre.

On cotton, irrigation was worth an extra 179 pounds an acre. At 70 cents a pound, extra gross income was $125.30 an acre. After subtracting additional per-acre costs of operations, $24.68, and equipment ownership costs, $50, added returns to the cotton land and management was $50.63 an acre.

The amount of water needed for farming varies with the type of crop, the climate and the type of soil.

For example: Rice, which must be flooded during a period of time, requires more water than cotton. Wheat grown in a warm climate needs more water than wheat that grows in a cool climate. Any farmland must receive enough water to allow both for plant growth and for evaporation of water from the soil.

The methods have changed, but people have practiced irrigation through the ages.

Most people supplement summer rainfall with sprinklers or water hoses to keep their lawns, flowers and home gardens with a plentiful supply of water.

Today, farmers use sophisticated and some not-so-sophisticated means of providing water to their crops.

Irrigation is the watering of land by artificial methods, a practice that dates back to the canals and ditches used for the practice in ancient civilization.

The Egyptians practiced irrigation by constructing an elaborate canal and ditch system that carried water from the Nile River to their fields as early as 5000 B.C. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of early irrigation ditches in China, India and Southwest Asia.

Methods of irrigation have been used in the United States since the late 1840s when Mormon settlers built a system of irrigation canals in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah.

Irrigation is now a must in today's agriculture.

Farming in some areas would be impossible without irrigation, says Henggeler.

Even if some crops could be grown without irrigation, the correct moisture results in increased production.

Though the use of canals, ditches and hoses -- furrow and/or trickle systems -- are still used heavily, the "sprinkler systems" are more common in the Southeast Missouri area. Water travels through pipes that are mounted above the ground. The sprinkler system became popular with the development of plastic and aluminum pipe during the 1940s.

In sprinkler irrigation, a pump forces water, obtained from underground wells, through the pipes nozzles (sprinkler heads), which distribute water to crops in a spray or mist.

In most cases, farmers can move the pipes to irrigate an entire field. Some self-propelled systems can move across the farm under their own power.

There are still a number of irrigations methods.

Crops planted in rows can be irrigated by water from narrow ditches called furrows. In this method, rows of furrows are dug across a field. As water enters the furrows, it seeps into the ridges. Flood irrigation covers an entire surface of field with water. This is especially useful in growing rice. Rice is grown in six counties of Southeast Missouri, with the largest acreage in Butler and Stoddard counties.

The trickle irrigation system, also called drip, provides water through plastic tubes that lie on or under the ground. The tubes have small openings, allowing the water to trickle out as it passes through the tubes.