Irrigated Farmers Today Using Less Water Per Acre

KANSAS CITY, MO – Though the number of acres of farmland irrigated in the United States has expanded significantly over the past century, the amount of water used, per acre, has actually decreased.

In 1969, farmers were using 2-acre-feet (more than 650,000 gallons) in irrigation but by 2018 had reduced their demand to roughly 1.5 acre-feet (less than 490,000 gallons)

Today, irrigation has expanded from 3 million acres to more than 58 million nationwide yet efficient water application technologies, such as the transition from gravity-based to pressurized irrigation systems, have driven the reduction in water use per acre of irrigated land.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)