TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION R. D. LEWIS, Director, College Station, Texas ha» 76a a {a ML’ [nae 195a it "‘ '11 e I~ ._, w- u TPJwP TE° '> p‘ (a. /'"~.rt,-. Production Practices for Irrigated [Ircps an the High Plains .| t 4 c u“. 6 I Q in cooperation with the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 0F AGRICULTURE The TEXAS AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM GIBB GILCHRIST. Chancellor Figure 1. The shaded area shows the approximate boundary of the High i Plains irrigated from wells. From Progress Report No. 7, Tex- \ as Board of Water Engineers, March 1949. i in...“ 1.4-4 _.. ‘u DIGEST Under irrigation, the trend in farming on the High Plains f; been to increase the emphasis on cash crop production. sandy soils, almost 70 percent 0f the irrigated acreage in _~ 7-49 was planted to cotton and 21 percent to sorghum. No er crop occupied as much as 2 percent of the land. On the ,»= vy soils, sorghum occupied 39 percent of the land irrigated, h cotton and wheat each accounting for about 22 percent. fl alfa was another crop of major importance. . Irrigation from wells has greatly increased the stability ‘agriculture on the High Plains. Through irrigation, levels ‘yields are ‘more than doubled and year-to-year variations ‘yields are greatly reduced. Irrigation makes possible the uction of such crops as alfalfa, sugar beets and potatoes, ;_'ch cannot be grown successfully without irrigation. Data concerning production and production requirements 4 the crops commonly grown under irrigation on the High s are shown and discussed in this bulletin. Under Q» uction requirements are considered the use of items such irrigation water, seed, fertilizer, insecticides and other fterials, as well as seasonal labor, custom work and other ‘ed services. Also included in the discussion are the usual " -. operations and the labor and power requirements for ‘h crop. The requirements with both 2 and 4-row equip- j» t are discussed for all row crops. Data for both sandy U heavy soils are shown. CONTENTS ~ Pa Digest ..... .. Introduction Irrigated Farming on the High Plains Production Practices for Irrigated Crops Cotton v_ Usual Field Operations and Materials Used .............................. .. Labor and Power Requirements .................................................... .. i‘ Grain Sorghum ............................... .. Usual Field Operations and Materials Used .............................. .. i Labor and Power Requirements ................................................... .. Wheat i Usual Field Operations and Materials Used .............................. .. Labor and Power Requirements .... .. Alfalfa Usual Field Operations and Materials Used .............................. .. Labor and Power Requirements Sudan ______ __ Usual Field Operations ..... .. Labor and Power Requirements Sugar Beets Usual Field Operations ........ .. Labor and Power Requirements . . _ . . . . . . . . . . .. Potatoes Usual Field Operations I ........ .. Labor and Power Requirements ____________________________________________________ __ Distribution of Labor and Power ..... -. Materials and Services Used ' 4 ..... _. _ Crop Yields With and Without Irrigation __________________________________________________ __ Summary Acknowledgments uductinn Practices for Irrigated Crops on the High Plains C. Magee, C. A. Bonnen, W. C. McArthur and W. F. Hughes* . S BULLETIN REPORTS the results of a study of i ction requirements and practices for crops grown with tion on the High Plains of Texas. It is the third of a ,1; of bulletins prepared from data obtained through a , of management problems on irrigated farms of the High s during 1947-49. The two previous publications, Bulletin gdealt with the cost of water for irrigation, and Bulletin ncerned the use of irrigation water. iata were obtained from an average of 154 farms with irrigation wells. Seventy of these farms were on sandy ' soils in Lubbock and Hockley counties and 84 were on or clay loam soils in iHale, Floyd and Swisher counties. ,'s bulletin, the term “sandy soils” refers to the sandy loam ‘and “heavy soils” refers to clay or clay loam soils. ‘Duly a few of the farmers interviewed grew sugar beets tatoes. To obtain information concerning production ices for these crops, 35 farms in Deaf Smith county were ded in the study during 1949. These farms were on soils. in the High Plains, irrigation is entirely from wells. ‘ugh the first irrigation well was drilled in 1911, there {very little development previous to the middle thirties. severe drouth of that period and rapidly rising farm c during World War II, together with the development p» efficient pumps and power units, resulted in increased Th: in irrigation. The number of wells increased from i 300 in 1934 to 4,300 in 1945. Since then the rate of bpment has greatly increased. Although there is no ‘l count of the number, available information indicates _. more than 16,000 irrigation wells were in operation in ctively, associate professor, professor and formerly assistant iultural economist, Department of Agricultural Economics and ‘logy, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station; and agricultural mist, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of culture. _6_ 1952 0n the High Plains, from which more than 2,000,00 acres of cropland were irrigated. Figure 1 shows the are, in which irrigation wells are concentrated. ' ' The average annual rainfall at Lubbock is slightly abov 18 inches. This is considered near the lower limits of succes‘, ful dry-land farming. Even so, dry-land crop production wa well developed before irrigation became important, due to th fact that 8O percent of the annual precipitation falls b-etwee April and October. Cash crop production is characteristic o, the region, with cotton and grain sorghum the main dry-Ian» crops on sandy soils. Much of the heavy land is devoted t wheat production. Although considerably less important tha =1 Wheat, grain sorghum is the other major crop on the hea ' land. Prior to irrigation, cotton occupied a relatively smal percent of the dry-land crop acreage on most heavy soils. ‘ IRRIGATED FARMING ON THE HIGH PLAINS The rapid shift from dry-land to irrigated farming been accompanied by numerous changes in farm organizatio and in farming practices. With irrigation, the trend has bee {j more and more toward cash crops. On the farms studies almost 70 percent of the irrigated cropland on sandy soils w in cotton, and cotton and grain sorghum together occupi more than 90 percent of the total. Most farmers irrigate a few acres of Sudan for grazing. Wheat was a minor croi on sandy soils, whether it was irrigated or not. As irrigation developed on heavy soils, acreage shifte from wheat to grain sorghum, with the latter occupying ‘T percent of the irrigated acreage on the farms studied, whil cotton and wheat each accounted for about 22 percent. He again, most farms had a few acres of irrigated Sudan fo grazing. ' Alfalfa became an important crop enterprise, particular] 1 on heavy soils, with irrigation. Potatoes and sugar beets wer’ not grown prior to the development of irrigation but subsi quently have become important enterprises on heavy soils r several localities. ~ All crop production is highly mechanized. Most of th farms are equipped with row-crop tractors. Some farmer who grow wheat extensively on heavy soils also own wheatlan type tractors. Of the row-crop tractors in use, approximatel~ 55 percent were equipped for 4-row work and 45 percent fo 2-row work. l __7__ Water is applied before planting to store a reserve 0f soil moisture and t0 provide moisture when rainfall is deficient at planting time. Irrigations after planting are to supplement rainfall during the growing season. PRODU-CTION PRACTICES FOR IRRIGATED CROPS Cotton Irrigated cotton was grown on 87 percent of the farms and on 70 percent of the irrigated acreage on sandy soils. Farms growing irrigated cotton reported an average of 141 acres, or 80 percent of the total acreage irrigated. More than 50 percent of the acreage was planted to Half and Half and this variety, together with Macha, accounted for about 80 a percent of the irrigated cotton. On heavy soils, cotton was irrigated by 5O percent of the farmers and occupied only 22 percent of the irrigated cropland. l Farmers on heavy soils grew very little Half and Half cotton. a Here, the Northern Star and Paymaster varieties each com- lprised about 40 percent of the irrigated crop, while Macha ‘ was grown on most of the remaining acreage. a Usual Field Operations and Materials Used . Stalks were cut as the first operation in seedbed prepara- tion, regardless of soil type. when cotton followed either cotton . or sorghum. On sandy soils, about one-third of the acreage f; was chiseled and another third was disked or one-Wayed before listing. Stalks were cut on heavy soils as needed. Cotton 3 land was then chiseled, was one-wayed or disked at least once a and 80 percent was listed. About 20 percent of the acreage .planted to cotton on heavy soils was leveled annually, but there was very little leveling on sandy soils. On the sandy soils, cotton land was knifed before planting, but only 50 percent was so treated on heavy soils. Preplanting ’ irrigation was usually done between these operations by run- ning water down the lister furrow. Moisture conditions during the spring largely determined the need for preplanting irriga- cation. On the average, about 8O percent of the sandy soils and 50 percent of the heavy soils were irrigated before planting. Since 1949, the trend has been toward more preplanting Lirrigation. Ditches were made just prior to watering and were filled before knifing beds. I Cotton was planted as soon as temperature and moisture iwere favorable. This seldom occurred before the early part of >May. An average of 24 pounds of seed was planted per acre, Figure 2. Stalks left from the previous crop were cut as the first oper i ation in preparing a seedbed for row crops. " z one time over (Table 1). During the study, 50 percent 0 the cotton on sandy soils was replanted, whereas replantin averaged only 20 percent on heavy soils. Torrential raini shortly after planting, hail and failure to control damage t young plants from wind-blown soil contributed to the necessit* for replanting. Sometimes, weedy cotton Was replanted t save hoe labor. 1 Sandy-land cotton was knifed once and cultivated thre or four times. Some cotton on heavy soils was harrowed s00, after planting and all Was knifed shortly after coming upi Three or more cultivations followed, with many farmers usin rotary hoe attachments for the first cultivation. All cotton was hoed late in June or early in July and o sandy soils was hoed again late in July or during August Only about one-third of the crop on heavy soils received =3 second hoeing. Seasonal labor-was employed, usually at a hourly rate, for hoeing (Table 2). p Cotton Was usually irrigated in July after one or tw cultivations. On the average, 80 percent of the crop W3; irrigated twice. Including preplanting irrigation, an averag- of 10.8 inches of Water was used per acre of cotton on sand soils and 9.5 inches per acre on heavy soils (Table 1) . Ditche were built prior to each irrigation. i __9_ Only a few cooperating farmers poisoned to control fsects. More recently, the occurrence of thrips, flea hoppers, oboollworms and leafworms has increased and more attention ; given to problems of insect control. Some farmers hired rivately-operated services that contracted to make periodic sect counts and give advice as to controls needed. Some ;armers applied insecticides with 4 or 6-row equipment, while thers hired commercial airplane dusting or spraying. M Cotton was usually gone over twice in harvesting. The . irst time over, the crop was snapped. Seasonal labor, usually ansient, was used almost entirely for hand harvesting (Table -- ). During the second time over, 5O to 60 percent of the is: reage was hand snapped and the remainder was machine ripped. The recent trend is toward more machine harvesting. _armers without strippers hired this work on a custom basis. e usual price paid for machine stripping averaged about 50 ercent of the price paid per hundredweight for hand snap- ling (Table 2). g Prior to 1949. none of the cotton on cooperating farms was defoliated. Eleven percent of the acreage was defoliated uring 1949 in preparation for machine stripping. bor and Power Requirements a Cotton was produced entirely with row-crop tractors. abor and power used with both 2 and 4-row equipment are hown in Figure 3. Requirements also are shown for the Wo major soil groups because of variations in the types of ield operations involved. For farms on the same soil type, {here was no significant difference in field practices whether 3’ or 4-row equipment was used. v The use of multi-row equipment and mechanization has creased operating efficiency by reducing the time required ‘or machine operation. However, operations such as spreading ater, hoeing to keep irrigated cotton clean and much of the arvesting of high lint yields were done by hand and required jlelatively large amounts of labor. l On sandy soils, a total of 39.8 hours of labor was the ormal requirement per acre of irrigated cotton with 2-row uipment. Of this, only 12 percent (4.8 hours) was used for l . tor operation, and the remaining 88 percent was for hand ork. With 4-row equipment, there was a saving of 1.5 q ours in tractor Work but no saving in hand operations. A ‘milar saving was made by using 4-row equipment on heavy ils. . _10_ Preharvesting operations accounted for about 30 percent“ of the total labor required. With the same size equipment, labor for machine work was similar, regardless of soil type. Labor for hoeing was also the same (5.20 hours per acre) in each case. However, an average of 1.45 hours of labor was used per acre of cotton for one irrigation on sandy soils but only .85 hour per acre on heavy soils. This saving was possible because the runs were longer and it was not necessary to re-seq siphon tubes so often on heavy soils. Also, farmers on sand < soils had more trouble from washing and from ditches breaking than was experienced on heavy soils. find , owzmmons 0w Sandy $01!; g“; 3.01“ L Yro-rou Iranlor Font-ray lrqgmq equipment nqulpngnl on" °' °"""°7 Yolnl hour: nu ncrl Li“ | Q Mun Tracie! Ion Trmfinr 39B 4.8 3B 3 3 5 Pnplmninq dilchinq g Hand ‘o’. pnnkmginq gngoayu 3 4 Mflchino norl 2 Four - row: Orqglor Kaila | Yvr row "aclor Pldnl | 5 Knilq | Q QQHIVOII 3 Q Hal Z0 Ouch work 1 g Irriqqn l g Snap I 6 S|Il§ Q Hour B Gm 1 cw atolls ‘ ' Heavy Sons 3 Yw-wv "new Four-row rrocmr UM" l l g Qqmprncfl‘ I cqummnnv °"¢'\"II 0' m" | 1 0 Yovol hours DI! ocvo ' Mo» Trocvu Idea Tmflm‘ "°°' Z ’ aer 52 3:1 as L-sl a 4% 1 Pllphnlinq dndvnq j J E vrnpurmrrq nrrigana: .5 4h l s Km“ 5 _| 3 .w PW" 1.1 S ' Kmle or horror 3 ’ IA .6 ' 7 . Culnvovo 33 |4 '1 \ Ho: l3 5.2 3 1. 0mm work [3 _3 '// irrigate |_g L5 5M9 _0 4 5M0 .5 4 m‘ ° °"‘ * 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 2 3 4 5 23 24 25 Hours per ocre Figure 3. Labor and power required for irrigated cotton production rt acre and by operations, 1947-49. i‘ i; re 4. Irrigated cotton was usually gone over twice in harvesting. ’ The first time over, the crop was hand-snapped, but for the second time over, 50 t0 60 percent was snapped and the re- mainder was machine-stripped. With lint yields averaging nearly a bale per acre (Table Y, 25.7 and 24.0 hours, respectively, of off-farm labor were for cotton snapping on sandy and on heavy soils. From } to .7 hour of labor was used to cover approximately half total acreage with a stripper. Although machine operations on dry-land and on irrigated on are similar for seedbed preparation, planting and culti- (ting, nearly twice as much labor was needed for production the irrigated crop as for the dry-land crop. A large part this additional labor was for hand work. Spreading water a. building ditches were added operations with the irrigated p. Weed growth Was greatly stimulated by irrigation and ulted in a large increase (often double) in the amount of ting. The number of cultivations was also materially in- _ sed. Irrigation also improved the environment for insects fl increased insect control problems. Irrigated cotton yields averaged more than double dry- ; yields (Table 3). Hand-harvesting and ginning costs in proportion to yields. Machine stripping was slower sh irrigated than with dry-land cotton. As a rule, from to 30 percent more labor was required. This was owing to high yields and rank growth of irrigated cotton. _12_ Grain Sorghum Grain sorghum, the basic feed grain of the area, .1‘ grown primarily as a cash crop and was irrigated by mor farmers than any other crop. On heavy soils, sorghum fo grain occupied 36 percent of the irrigated acreage and W reported on 90 percent of the farms, while on sandy soip this crop was grown on 19 percent of the irrigated acreag and on 70 percent of the farms. Only combine-type sorghu . were grown for grain. Forage sorghums were planted on 2 to 3 percent of th irrigated cropland. Hegari was the most important of the but is not treated separately in the following discussion. ‘ Usual Field Operations and Materials Used Seedbed preparation for grain sorghum was similar t that for cotton. On sandy soils, stalks were cut, about v percent of the acreage was chiseled or one-wayed, and t" entire acreage listed. Some listing was done in February bu] most of it was done in March. Farmers on heavy soils usualll chiseled grain sorghum land and followed with a one-Way About half the acreage was either one-wayed a second time 0 was disked. About one-third of all sorghum land on hea =l soils was leveled or floated at this time. Preplanting irrigation was usually done in April and 0 sandy soils varied from 50 percent of the crop in 1947 and 194‘ to 70 percent in 1948. Grain sorghum was given less preplan ing irrigation than cotton, particularly on heavy soils. l: farms where both cotton and grain sorghum were grow usually cotton beds were watered first, regradless of the so type. The relatively long planting period for sorghum, contrast with a short planting period for cotton, and t" resulting urgency for getting cotton established, encourag this practice. Some growers made two plantings of grain sorghum, o j in late April or May and another in June, to facilitate time y ness of cultivation and irrigation throughout the seaso; About 20 percent of the crop was replanted. Farmers plant 5 or 6 pounds of grain sorghum seed per acre on sandy so' and an average of 7 pounds on heavy soils. Nearly all of t seed were purchased and most of them were certified (Tab 1). ' Once established, the crop was usually knifed. Some gral sorghum on heavy soils was harrowed instead of knifed, a A gure 5. Irrigating grain sorghum. By using siphon tubes, water is distributed more uniformly but sets are moved more often and labor requirements are increased. __14_ some was both knifed and harrowed. Two cultivations were common on sandy soils, but on heavy soils only about 20 3 percent of the crop was cultivated twice. The first seasonal irrigation commonly followed cultiva» tion. The crop usually was too large to cultivate after being 1 irrigated. As in the case of cotton, most of the water was i, applied during July and August and was run between the a rows. On sandy soils, about 70 percent of the crop received. a second seasonal irrigation to bring the total water used, on k the average, to 9.8 inches per acre (Table 11). On the heavy g soils, where preplanting use of water for sorghum was light, A all of the crop was irrigated twice and about a third of the. acreage was watered three times. An average of 10.5 inches i‘ of water was used per acre on heavy soils. Because sorghum is seldom cultivated after being irri-}; gated, much of the ditching for the first seasonal Watering? serves for subsequent irrigations. Irrigation ditches were filled before harvest. Most of the harvesting was done during y October and November, between the time of the first and second harvesting of cotton. Labor and Power Requirements Grain sorghum production on the High Plains is entirely; mechanized except for irrigation. Consequently, very little seasonal labor is needed. In some cases, an extra hand was? hired to help with combining. Most farmers own a combine j but the others depend on custom combining. Some farmers’. hired trucks for hauling grain either to market or to farm 5 storage. On the whole, sorghum growers had a very high It degree of control of all phases of production. Labor and power requirements for both 2 and 4-rowg equipment on both sandy and heavy soils are shown in Figure; 6. As in the case of cotton, the size of equipment used had no effect on the kind of field operations or on the number; of times these operations were performed. Average labor requirements for grain sorghum were low, a ranging from 7.7 hours per acre with 2-row equipment oni sandy soils to 5.2 hours with 4-row machinery on heavy soils. The use of 4 rather than 2-row equipment resulted in. a saving of about an hour of tractor work, regardless of soil type. On sandy soils, an average of 1.35 hours of labor was used *_ per acre in spreading water for each seasonal irrigation of k _.._]_5__ _p ghum. This was nearly twice the requirement for irrigat- on heavy soils on which irrigation runs were longer and r on tubes were re-set less often. Also, more time was - t in repairing broken ditches on sandy soils. With 2-row equipment on sandy soils, the time spent , eading water and ditching was about 50 percent of the fl for all preharvesting operations, and Was 60 percent of ‘total with 4-row machinery. On heavy soils, the time nt spreading water and ditching accounted for 40 to 50 T cent of the preharvesting labor. ._ Y ' 11mm J2’. Sandy Souls 2 p p lhllll FIJI. Two-row tractor Four-ray tractor f" _3 oaut mom IQIIIIDIIIII" °'°'""°Y i. Totol hours par acra I la Man Tractor Truck Man Tractor Track f " 2 7.7 OJ .5 6.5 2.9 .5 _v » ting ditching ‘ ntlna Irrigation __€ >- ' - Hand work - -l Machlno work: - Four-row tractor 1.2 . Two-ran tractor L9. - L5 . .LJ. L9. - -L.Q ' I atlaaoratlona a Heavy Soils _ J-TQ. ’ Tia-row tractor Four-row tractor 1 _4 O ui t a ul man _\'IY W 41!! l5 = ’ Total hour: par ocra i, ' 5 Man Tractor Truck Mon Tractor Truck 1% e.| 3.1 .5 s.| 2.1 .5 5 2 f ‘ JE I r ma litcltlflq 2 | - Ina irrigation g ' .| 3 J .3 J3. .1 O 3 .| . .5 .3 1.2 .5 .2 L3 .2 2.5 l.7 .5 ' LO a ' .5 | a 5 / _ l8 3.2 3‘ V otlaauattam 42 ~ I ~ I l l l l l I 2 3 4 5 G 7 8 ' 9 Hours per acre _ re 6. Labor and power required for irrigated grain sorghum pro- d ‘ duction per acre and by operations, 1947-49. Most of the combines used for harvesting sorghum were operated by one man. Labor requirements for combining, as shown in Figure 6, were calculated on this basis. In some, cases, however, two men were required in combining, one to operate the combine and the other to drive the tractor. In the. latter case, labor for combining was nearly double that indi-i cated in Figure 6. ~ The labor required to grow and harvest sorghum was only about 15 to 20 percent of that used to grow and harvest cotton. This is an important factor when seasonal labor is scarce and high priced, and should be considered in making year-to-year, adjustments in cropping plans. - With the exception of irrigation and the small amount of _ accompanying land leveling, the methods of producing grainf sorghum on dry and irrigated land were similar. The sam” type of machinery was used and, with a given machine, the, acreage covered per day was about the same for both dry-land, and irrigated crops. In both cases, seedbed preparation, tho method of cultivating and the number of cultivations were. the same. Harvesting methods were also alike, but the irri-l gated crop yielded more grain than dry-land sorghum and, therefore, required additional labor for trucking. In general, spreading water accounted for most of the difference in labo I requirements between irrigated and dry-land sorghum. Prior to harvest, sorghum grown for forage was handled much like a sorghum grain crop. In both cases, preharvestin; practices, as well as labor and power requirements, wer generally the same. However, forage sorghum was harveste with a binder and shocked. After curing in the shockfl bundles were hauled from the field and stacked. Thes harvesting operations normally require between 6 and 7 hours of labor and 2 or more hours of machine work. Wheat Most of the irrigated wheat was grown on heavy land: On these soils, wheat occupied 23 percent of the land irrigat and was grown by 62 percent of the farmers. On sandy soil only 13 percent of the farmers irrigated wheat and the cro totaled less than 2 percent of the acreage irrigated. Sine wheat was a minor crop on sandy land, practice informatio was obtained only from farmers on heavy soils. In addition to row crop equipment, most farmers on heavy sons owned a one-way, a disk, a Graham-Hoeme plow o tool-bar attachment for chiseling and a combine. A grain dril the only additional equipment needed to grow wheat. i= ers having a large wheat acreage used larger machines i} did those with relatively small acreages. U Field Operations and Materials Used 1In preparing the seedbed, the usual practice was to chisel Tland once with a Hoeme and to repeat the operation on ft one-third of the acreage. Next, the seedbed was cut with a one-way, and the acreage that had been chiseled p‘ once was cut a second time with either a one-way or a l‘ Thus, the entire acreage was normally gone over three is to prepare the seedbed. {The amount of leveling varied from year to year, but an i, ge of 30 percent of the acreage was floated each year of study. This operation was usually preceded by disking. gWheat was seeded at the rate of about two-thirds of a el per acre (Table 1). On the average, about 10 percent j e acreage was reseeded. iDuring the years when the growing season was not rmally dry, most of the wheat was irrigated in April. liver, the extremely dry fall of 1947 resulted in nearly 5O Q of the irrigated crop being watered before planting j. ure germination. That year, some wheat was irrigated if» the late fall and early winter to prevent loss of stand. ifDuring the study. only 20 percent of the irrigated Wheat watered before planting, whereas 30 percent of the crop ved a second seasonal irrigation. Including both pre- i ing and seasonal water, irrigated wheat received an ‘ige of 1.5 irrigations yearly. An average of 4.7 acre- ‘s of water was used per irrigation, or a total of approxi- ,ly 7 inches per acre irrigated. or and Power Requirements IAn average of 3.8 hours of man lab-or and 2.2 hours of a r work was required per acre of irrigated wheat (Figure fThis was the lowest labor requirement among the main " irrigated on the High Plains. With wheat, modern Zscale tillage machinery was used and all harvesting was mbine. Spreading water was the only field operation 1w echanized. i-Only a little over an hour’s work with machinery was w to prepare the seedbed. This, together with the amount _1g_ OPERATIONS Chisel 0hr“, Total hours er acre Man Tractor Truck Disk l ‘ 3.8 2,2 .4 Float Hand work Machine work Preplonting ditching Preplamhg irrigation Drill Ditching Irrigation Combine Haul Total all operations Hours per acre Figure '7. Labor and power required for irrigated wheat per acre an" by operations, 1947-49. ' of labor for leveling, was the total work prior to seedin, when there was no preplanting irrigation. An average o about 1.5 hours of labor was used in spreading water for eac acre irrigated before planting. At this time, the soil irrigat t was usually loose and very dry, and water spread slowly. Most wheat was irrigated by flooding from field ditche‘ Water was run down the slope between field ditches spaced a intervals that varied with the slope, type of soil and head n? water. Unless these ditches are carefully laid out, unequ distribution of water is likely to result. With this method the time required to change sets largely accounts for the . hour used for each acre of wheat irrigated. l Preharvesting operations were completed for wheat befor most other irrigated crops were planted. This was an adva tage when more than one crop was to be irrigated. Whea and sorghum go together well in an irrigation system o farming as there is relatively little competition between th two crops for labor and for irrigation water. This no dou‘ was reflected in the fact that more than 60 percent of th irrigated cropland on heavy soils was in these two crops. ‘ The combines used were divided about 3 to 1 between on,‘ and two-man operation. Since more of the farmers owned t j former type, labor needed for combining was calculated on th basis of one-man operation. In case two men were used fog combining, the labor requirement was about one-third hou, _19___ '1 per acre more than shown in Figure 7. Although most wheat growers owned one or more combines, some custom combining j was used. The usual charge for custom combining was $3.00 ’ per acre (Table 2). Some of the hauling was also hired. With the exception of those operations associated with irrigation, labor and power requirements and production prac- tices for wheat production are essentially alike on either irrigated or dry land. The additional operations of land leveling, ditching and applying water, which are associated with the irrigated crop, require 1.6 hours of labor and .4 hour of tractor use per acre. This more than doubles pre- i harvesting labor and increases preharvesting tractor work by more than one-third. Alfalfa Alfalfa is not grown without irrigation on the High Plains. This crop was raised by more than half of the farmers on heavy soils but by only about one-fourth of those on sandy soils. On heavy soils, alfalfa was a relatively important cash crop with an average of 30 acres per farm. For those reporting alfalfa on sandy soils, the average crop was 11 acres. Once established, it was usually possible to maintain a good stand of alfalfa for 4 or more years without reseeding. Figure 8. Border irrigation in preparation for seeding alfalfa. This field has been carefully leveled. _2()_ This crop was grown primarily for hay and the requirements if herein discussed are for the production of hay exclusively. Alfalfa is a heavy? user of water and required an average» of 80 to 35 acre-inches per year. Alfalfa is irrigated frequently throughout the season and competes for water with all other‘ irrigated crops. V‘ Some farmers own all haymaking equipment, including a mower, rake and baler. Others hire some or all of the hay- making operations on a contract basis. Still others sell the standing crop in the field, the harvesting to be done by the; buyer, usually a dehydrating plant. ‘ Usual Field Operations and Materials Used The irrigation of alfalfa is begun in late March or early April, the ditches having previously been cleaned and rebuilt; On sandy soils, the ditches were recleaned after two irriga-l tions, but ditches on heavy soils were reworked only once dur_-~ ing the season. When fertilizer was added, it was usually dis; tributed before the first irrigation. i The frequency of irrigating varied with weather condi-f, tions, but usually it was necessary to irrigate at intervals of, 2 or 3 weeks. When spring rains were sufficient, only one irrigation was made before the first cutting. Two irrigations before cutting were more common on heavy than on sandy soils. In the latter case, more water was used per applicatio than was the practice on heavy soils. Alfalfa was irrigated once or twice between cuttings, depending on rainfall. Unles rainfall made it unnecessary, water was applied as soon ~: possible after each harvest. When seasonal conditions wer unfavorable, the crop was irrigated after the last cutting. Th effect of rainfall on irrigation practices is indicated by th' fact that alfalfa received two or three more irrigations i 1948, the driest year of the study, than were applied durin 1949, a year of much more rainfall. During the study, alfalfi on sandy soils was irrigated an average of six or more time‘ Whereas on heavy soils the crop was given seven or mor irrigations. o An average of 34.9 acre-inches of water was appli, annually to alfalfa on sandy soils and 29.3 acre-inches 0 ~ heavy soils (Table 1). Alfalfa is usually Watered by borde irrigation. Land was leveled carefully between borders prior to seeding to get an even distribution of water. i Nearly 40 percent of the alfalfa acreage was top-dress_ annually with 20 percent superphosphate. The usual applic Z _g1___ tion was 200 pounds per acre (Table 1). Fertilizer was usually distributed in the fall for new fall seedings and during March and April on old seedings. The first cutting of hay was harvested late in May or early in June and the last in September or October. Approxi- mately two-thirds of the acreage on both types of soil was cut four times, with the remainder cut three times. Bales were usually tied with wire, although a few of the balers in use were equipped to tie with twine. A bundle containing 250 wires would tie the entire crop from approxi- mately 2 acres of average-yielding alfalfa. Labor and Power Requirements The amounts of labor and power used to produce alfalfa on both sandy and heavy soils are shown in Figure 9. The total time spent per acre of alfalfa for all operations ranged from approximately 16 hours on heavy soils to 20 hours on sandy soils. This was only about half the total labor required for cotton, but was roughly two and one-half times that used for grain sorghum or seven times the labor used in Wheat production. Other than harvesting, the main labor with alfalfa was for spreading water. lHere, as in the case of other crops, differences in soil texture required that more attention be his _ ovzmmous 5'3; Sondy Souls Mama :9 1 Total hour! 0r acre Fqrlilin Q T???’ lmqoli LL ‘ u“ >19- "8 Mend warn - M" 1'5" I,‘ - - Muchini vorl Balo 31 Z9 Haul 8 Mach 1i ll.5 Tonal all oporolions 9 - ' Heavy Soils we'd“ 3a Tobi hours p01 0cm . Ian Trdtlov Flmhn H1 J m“ 7-. rmqm 1.1 In 1L Run J1 3.4 lulu _11_ 2.4 Haul l slack l5 fowl all "l 1.8 | | | I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ll Hours oer ocre Figure 9. Labor and power required for irrigated alfalfa production per acre and by operations, 1947-49. - Figure 10. All row crops were cultivated with either 2 or 4-row equi. ment. It was common to use rotary hoe attachments fog: cultivating young crops. F given to spreading water on sandy than on heavy soils. Also a factor in this connection was the fact that although alfalf on sandy soils, received one less irrigation, the total water use per year averaged about 5 acre-inches more than was used o heavy soils. Harvesting was done with tractor-driven mowers, tractors, drawn rakes and pick-up power balers. Both automatic an hand-tie balers were used. The latter type, which requires 3—man crew, was most commonly used by cooperating farmer and its use was the basis for calculating the requiremen for baling as shown in Figure 9. When operated efficient] = balers with automatic tie reduced baling labor to appro mately one-third of the requirements with hand-tie equipmen Most of the farmers on heavy soils used 7-foot mower but most farmers on sandy soils used 6-foot mowers. More the balers in use on heavy soils were equipped to load bal directly onto a truck or trailer than was the case on sand soils. Consequently, growers on heavy soils used less lab, for harvesting. On the sandy soils, however, higher yielf tended to increase the time required for baling and hauli : _23__ Sudan udan was grown on a large number of farms but "ed only about 3 acres per farm. The crop produces a amount of good quality, succulent pasture and was the '_; source of summer grazing on many farms. Data for '1 all acreage of Sudan harvested for hay and seed are luded in this report. Field Operations eedbed preparation for Sudan was much the same as l. in sorghum. On sandy soils, most of the acreage was all was listed and beds were knifed as needed t0 'y Weeds. About 5O percent of the beds were irrigated f‘ planting. The usual practice on heavy soils was to and follow with either a one-way or a disk, or with Either operation left the land in good shape for 5' g. Less than half the acreage was bedded and very ds were irrigated before planting. udan was one of the first crops planted in the spring. mount of seed used per acre (one time over) averaged 0 pounds (Table 1). Most of the seed were purchased ‘average cost of 12 cents per pound. "n sandy soils, Sudan was knifed and cultivated, and I ent was cultivated a second time. All the knifing and of the cultivating were done before irrigation. On A; soils, Sudan was knifed, some was knifed twice and ,. all was cultivated once with sweeps. The crop was oed. udan was commonly irrigated in July. Only about 30 p; t of the crop on sandy soils was irrigated a second Eusually in August. On heavy soils, farmers irrigated “ at least twice and nearly half of the acreage was given f? irrigations. The third irrigation was usually late in or early in September. The total water used to Ate an acre of Sudan averaged 8 inches and 9 inches, p tively, on sandy soils and on heavy soils. 2r and Power Requirements LThe labor and power requirements shown in Figure 11 or a grazing crop only. Spreading water was the only fnot mechanized. Sudan production required an average ut 5 hours of- labor and 3 hours of tractor work when equipment was used. When 4-row tractors were used, ___24_ "M! OPERATIONS W" er; sandy sons QM“ °' °"°"'°7 '8 ‘4 Two-ran tractor Four-row tractor g _ 2 a‘ rnont ooui rnant _ U“ I o g Total hours oar acre It Proplonting ditching .2 Mon Tractor I Mon Tractor l . . . 2.0 . ,' " , irrigation I» 5h 5 3 3 ' l 2 ,f s ‘I Hand work - m“ ' i- ‘ Moctiina work I I | Four-row tractor g P m" '3 Tva- row tractor ""' ' Knife I o 4 .4 - Cultivate l5 3 _ .2 ' Ditching l.O .2? lrrigata l 3 l F 2.2 " 2.0 i. TOYOl all operations 1| cm“: Heavy Soils i. Onevray or disk Two-rout tractor l Four-row tractor i" equipment agggmant g Float Total noun our acra g L. ' Man Tractor Man Tractor " 4.1 2.9 5.0 2.0 § ti ' , ditching . Praplanting irrigation mm Knilo g Cultivate i Ditching g i? lrriqdtfl F i i Total all , l | 1 1 l | 4 5 6 7 8 9 ‘f Hours per acre Figure 11. Labor and power required for irrigated Sudan pasture pe acre and by operation, 1947-49. ‘ these requirements were reduced by 1 hour. A little mor labor and power were used on sandy than on heavy soils’ Labor and power needs were less than the preharvestin requirements of any of the other row crops grown unde A irrigation. * With the exception of requirements for irrigation, labof and power needed for irrigated Sudan were similar to produc" tion requirements of Sudan on dry land. Seedbed preparatio planting and cultivating had similar requirements in bot cases. Sugar Beets Sugar beets are a relatively new crop on the High Plains Few farmers in this area have grown sugar beets more th t 7 or 8 years. Because of a high value per acre, interest i‘ the crop centers around the possibility of its substitution fo a _.25__ lower value crops such as wheat and grain sorghum. Sugar beets have been more successful in competing with these . crops than with cotton. To date, only a small acreage of sugar beets has been grown each year. There are no processing plants in the area, and beets were grown under contract with a sugar company in Colorado ' where they were shipped when harvested. The producer and the processor shared the freight cost equally. Beet production centered in Deaf Smith county with only small acreages grown in a few other counties. On the farms where grown, the crop averaged 67 acres and was a major cash enterprise. Beets were usually grown in combination with large acreages of both wheat and sorghum. The large investment in special equipment for planting, cultivating and harvesting has discouraged small-scale production of sugar beets. Usual Field Operations Seedbed preparation for sugar beets commonly consisted of the following operations in the order listed: flatbreak, fertilize, chisel, one-Way or disk, float, list, irrigate and harrow. Occasionally, chiseling preceded flatbreaking. After flatbreaking, all beet land was either chiseled or one-wayed, regardless of whether fertilizer had been distributed. About two-thirds of the acreage was worked again before leveling, either with a one-way or disk. Fertilizer was used on all sugar beets, but the kind of fertilizer and the time and method of application varied. Most farmers used 16-20-0 and a few also used superphosphate. Beet growers were about equally divided between those apply- ing such fertilizer before planting and those making appli- cation during planting. Those following the former practice usually spread fertilizer after flatbreaking and before chiseling . or one-waying. The amount of fertilizer used during or prior to planting varied from 150 to 400 pounds per acre but the . most common application, as well as the average application, was 200 pounds (Table 1). About two-thirds of the- growers used ammonium nitrate as a side-dressing at the rate of 100 to 150 pounds per acre. Ammonium nitrate was applied either in irrigation Water or by special cultivator attachments. The seedbed was listed before the preplanting irrigation. I, This irrigation was normally in the latter half of March and Zshortly before planting. When dry enough, the beds were harrowed and planted. Shortly after seeding, there a another irrigation to insure good germination. Sugar beets were planted in 24 to 28-inch rows. Th 24-inch row was used by most farmers. On an average, 4. pounds of seed were planted per acre for once over. All se were purchased at a uniform price of 45 cents per pound. a Irrigation water was run in the small furrow betwee the rows to get the crop up and in making subsequent irrig tions. After coming up, the crop was irrigated at interva" of 2 or 3 weeks, depending largely on rainfall. The to .- number of irrigations varied from year to year but the usu practice was to irrigate 8 to 10 times during the season. Thi required the pumping of about 35 to 40 acre-inches of wate , Normally, beets were cultivated once before thinning an three times afterward. Thinning was done by hand, usuall after the plants were well established. Contract labor used for this work. In 1949, most beet growers paid $14._ per acre for thinning (Table 2). Beets were thinned to sing plants spaced 12 to 15 inches apart in the row. All sugar beets were hoed once, and about 20 percent 0 the acreage was hoed a second time later in the season _ destroy large weeds. Hoeing also was performed by han labor on a contract basis. Harvesting usually was started in late October or earl November when the purchasing company announced readine to accept the crop. Beets were dug with a single-row digg" ovznnlons “v r w Flolbnok LO L2 Fenihzo .5 .2 chisel, one-way M fish l 7 . Mun Traclov Truck 45. 7 8 6 4 O Float l. 2 > us: 9 1E8 j Hand work g Pveplonlmq ddchmg | 0 Z ' Preplanlinq migalion I O B Mach“ "o" Horror | o 2b Plnnl I 3 7 ~ oivcmnq s z lmqote H0 6.0 Oulfivole 4 0 Z l Thin H0O Dill HOUI l 2 3 4 5 6 IO ll I2 Hours per acre Figure 12. Labor and power required for sugar beet production, ' acre and by operations. - " __27__ .5. mounted on a tractor. This machine topped, dug and elevated i the beets into a carrier in one operation. From the carrier, beets were elevated into a truck and hauled to a railroad I loading point. Labor and power required for sugar beet production are i shown in Figure 12. Only farms on heavy soils contributed With an average requirement of 45 hours of labor per acre, sugar beets were second only to potatoes in total labor needed. About 72 percent of the time spent producing sugar eets was hand labor. Thinning and hoeing accounted for 26 gohcurs of labor, or nearly 57 percent of the total. Spreading "Water required an average of 6.8 hours, or about 15 percent of e otal labor. Beet harvesting was entirely mechanized and ltilized only 6.5 man-hours per acre, of which 4 hours were for hauling. Listing, planting and cultivating were 4-row operations nd did not require large amounts of power. In working re 13. Floating with a land leveler prior to listing facilitates uni- form distribution of irrigation water. beets, the same size tractors were used to cover 4 rows . were used for 2-row work with other crops. Machine work was fairly well distributed throughout f; crop season. Of the 8.6 total hours of tractor work, 2.8 hou ‘_ were for seedbed preparation, 2.8 hours for planting an cultivating and 2.5 hours for harvesting. Truck work w' needed only at harvest time. Potatoes Potatoes were grown only under irrigation and provid a high-value crop for farmers who had plenty of water. T most extensive production area was in the vicinity of Herefo t This is a relatively new crop and, although the acreage on t ; High Plains was comparatively small, farmers growing pot toes reported an average of 74 acres. Thus, potatoes We", an important cash crop where grown. Most potato grower also raised wheat and grain sorghum. Special equipment required in growing potatoes include planter and a digger or harvester. These special machin were owned by each grower. Other equipment generally us by potato growers were hiller attachments for cultivators L special attachments for listers, planters and cultivators for o.‘ tributing fertilizers and a vine beater for destroying pota vines and weeds just before harvest. c Usual Field Operations Potatoes were usually planted on land that had been ke“ free of Weeds following Wheat. This was flatbroken in the f J or winter and later one-Wayed, chiseled or disked in prep ' tion for floating. All growers applied fertilizer before { duringplanting. In about 40 percent of the cases, fertili , was applied after floating and before listing. Fertilizer H plied then or during planting was either ammonium sulpha or 16-20-0. Although the amount varied from 100 to 4, pounds, applications of 200. 250 or 300 pounds per acre W most frequent and averaged about 250 pounds per acre (Ta l, 1). a The seedbed was listed in February or early in Mar Early-listed land was sometimes relisted. The irrigation c fore planting averaged about 5 inches per acre and was g mally completed before March 15. About 60 percent of t, land was harrowed before planting. i _g9__ _ Potatoes were planted in 38-inch rows and were usually i; t in during the last 2 weeks of March 0r early in April. Two- w planters were used and replanting was seldom needed. Al- ‘ough the planting crew varied in size, two men (one on Ye tractor and one on the planter) formed the usual crew. ‘pick-up or a truck was used in getting seed potatoes to the fld. Those who did ‘not apply fertilizer prior to listing used fsspecial planter attachment to distribute either ammonium Alphate or 16-20-0 during planting. f Although the rate of seeding ranged from 800 to 1,500 iunds per acre, the» average for the farms studied was 1,125 unds per acre. In most cases, certified seed were used. Seed ftatoes were cut by hand. This service was performed at a G l shed and cost 25 cents per hundred pounds in 1949. About e-third of the growers treated their seed with formaldehyde fore planting. Growers differed in methods of cultivating. As a rule, ,e first operation after planting was a combination of cul- ating and hilling. In addition to regular sweeps, cultiva- h were equipped with special sweeps or disks for hilling. me repeated this operation, whereas others followed with weeder or harrow, or both, and then hilled and cultivated a nd time. Weeding was done with a finger-type attachment ich broke the crust and destroyed small weeds. In some y’ es, a harrow was used for the same purpose. Potatoes were 3 hoed. . ; About half of the growers applied ammonium nitrate as side-dressing, usually during one of the later cultivations. “nerally. those who had made a relatively light application of imonium sulphate or 16-20-0 during or prior to planting e-dressed with ammonium nitrate. The amount of ammo- um nitrate used commonly ranged from 100 to 150 pounds i. A few farmers distributed this fertilizer in the irri- V, Between planting and the last cultivation, the potato crop is usually watered once or twice. After the last culivation, _1- ‘gation ditches were carefully prepared for the remainder the season. Considerable hand work was involved in get- u g each set properly adjusted. Once established, the system ditching was not changed. Following the last cultivation, the soil was kept moist con- guously. This was accomplished by frequent but light irri- tions. Water was applied at intervals of 5 to 7 day's. Each irrigation after planting averaged about 2.5 acre-inches. p common practice was to run water down the middles betwee! alternate rows. At the next irrigation, water was run do i the middles that were missed the previous time. This practi , of watering alternate rows was continued during the remai der of the season. Although the soil was kept moist, standi I water was carefully avoided. Ditch ends were kept open that surplus water would drain off quickly. Normally, pota toes received one preplanting irrigation and 8 to 10 addition, irrigations, or a total of 25 to 30 inches of irrigation wate per acre. Growers used insecticides or a combination of insecticid‘, fungicide dust to control insects and potato dise-ases. Th number of applications ranged from 1 to 5 and averaged 2. In nearly all cases, dusting was by airplane. In 1949, thi, service cost 4 cents per pound of dust applied. At that tim the most common types of dust used consisted of DDT, suli phur, dithane and copper in various combinations. The usu, rate of application was 20 pounds per acre for each time ove or an average of 50 pounds per acre for 2.5 applications. High Plains potatoes were usually harvested during Jul or August. A rotary vine beater was used to destroy pota i vines and weeds prior to digging. Growers without beate could rent one for $3.50 per acre (Table 2). a Potatoes were dug with a 2-row digger, most commonl operate-d by one man but occasionally requiring two men. i crew of 30 to 40 hands working on a contract basis was us to pick up and sack potatoes where one digger was operating, One truck was needed for every 10 persons in the crew. Twf or more additional men were needed to load each truck in th‘ field. From the field the crop was trucked to the packing sh Ii The cost of picking up, sacking and hauling averaged 25 cen ' per hundred pounds (Table 2) . - At the packing shed, potatoes were washed, graded, sac ed, inspected and sold. The cost of these servics in 1949 ave aged 40 cents per hundred pounds. Sacks for shipping to m .. ket also were purchased at the packing shed. An average r 125 sacks was needed per acre. Number 1 potatoes (about q percent of the crop in 1949) were waxed for an addition charge of 5 cents per hundred pounds. ' Labor and Power Requirements The amount of labor and power normally used to produ potatoes is shown in Figure 14. Potatoes had the highe» __3]__ labor requirement 0f the irrigated crops studied. The total requirement of more than 62 hours per acre was approximately one-third more than that of sugar beets and 70 percent more than for cotton production. OPERATIONS Hahn“ Total hours pnr acre 0mm. Man Tractor Truck H", ezs 1.1 4.4 Fortiliu u" _ _ _ Hand work - Proplontnq ditching "can". ‘Mk Propluntinq Irrigation Ha "OI Plant Hill and cultivate Ind or narrow Ditching lrriqnto Duct 1/ Boot vinol Dig Pickup and suck Loud and haul I 2 3 4 5 40 4| 42 l/Airplanl Hours per acre Figure 13. Floating with a land leveler prior to listing facilitates uni- and by operations. With the exception of irrigation, all preharvesting opera- tions were mechanized. However, more than 80 percent of the total labor with this crop was for harvesting, and more than 80 percent of the harvesting labor was hand work. Picking up and sacking, the most time-consuming operation, averaged 41.5 hours per acre, or more than two-thirds of the total labor requirement for all operations. Other harvesting Work re- quired 10 to 11 man-hours per acre. An average of about 3.5 hours per acre was used in pre- paring the seedbed and in giving the preseasonal irrigation. All remaining work prior to harvest averaged 6.9 man hours, of which 3.10 hours per acre were for seasonal irrigation. Of the total tractor work, about 80 percent, or 5 hours per acre, was required in seedbed preparation and to plant and cultivate. The 4.4 hours of truck work per acre for hauling potatoes to the packing shed totaled more trucking time than was used with any other of the irrigated crops studied. ' was necessary to meet this labor demand. __32_ DISTRIBUTION OF LABOR AND POWER Labor requirements on High Plains irrigated farms were at a peak during the relatively short growing season, particu-" larly on those farms that grew mainly row crops. This was true for machine work as well as for the labor of spreading water. Irrigated wheat in the cropping system did not add to; the labor peak of summer watering but did add to the compeé tition for labor and water during spring irrigation. The use of water on individual crops is discussed in detail in Texas Station Bulletin 756. = Seedbed preparation for the main summer-growing row crops—cotton and grain sorghum--was usually started in Jan< uary or February and continued through most of April. a rule, farmers were not pressed for time until they started irrigating. Preplanting irrigation of cotton, grain sorghum; Sudan and sugar beets was started in March and was heav .1 during April. Wheat and alfalfa also were irrigated during? this same period. Irrigation of potatoes started even earlie = and extended through June and sometimes into July. As a rule, farmers were busy while making the early sea _ son irrigations. Labor rather than power was likely to be full ; utilized at this time. Normally, planting of row crops followed shortly after preplanting irrigation. Demands were heavy f0 g both labor and power. Wheat harvest sometimes came befor sorghum planting was complete. Shortly after planting cam cultivation, hoeing and preparation for irrigation. These o “ erations extended the busy period for both labor and power. T A period of peak labor demand occurred at the time o cotton hoeing. This work was concentrated during the las week of June and during July. As previously stated, hoein was done by hired seasonal workers, but the operator had the task of locating, hiring and checking on the work of hoe labor; ers. This came at a time when other work also was urgent. 4f _ Irrigation of alfalfa, sugar beets and potatoes occurre throughout the period when row crops were being planted an given early cultivations. Summer irrigation of cotton, so p, ghum and Sudan was largely done during July and Augus This was also a time of heavy watering of alfalfa and sug beets. With cotton, the greatest labor demand was during ha l vest. The large cotton acreage on the High Plains intensifiw labor needs at harvesting, and a large influx of transient lab: __33_ Some grain sorghum was ready for harvest before cotton, much of the crop ripened at about the same time cotton p. ned. In such cases, when sufficient help and power were ailable, both crops might be harvested at the same time. herwise, cotton was given preference. MATERIALS AND SERVICES USED A A summary of the materials used for production of irriga- Yv crops is shown in Table 1. Among the items included are d, fertilizer, insecticidesand fungicides, defoliants, contain- j; and irrigation Water. Variations that occur as a result of fl differences are indicated. High-quality seed were used for all crops. With the ex- tion of Wheat and cotton on sandy soils, most seed were a chased. In the case of cotton, a small acreage was planted certified seed each year from which most of the seed to be =nted the following year were saved. It is relatively easy to wheat seed fairly pure for several crops, and farmers did t consider it necessary to renew Wheat seed as often as they ‘_ ewed other crop seed. Table 1. Summary of materials used with irrigated crops,- 1947-49 ' Grain ’- sor- Sugar Pota- ' ' Item Cotton ghum Wheat Alfalfa Sudan beets toes dy soils-Jbs, per acre 24 5 40 20 9 — — Percent purchased 20 98 25 100 45 — — envy Soilsr-lbs. per acre 24 7 41 25 10 4.5 1,125 ' Percent purchased 65 90 26 95 77 100 100 r izer at planting or before: monium sulphate: Percent of acreage covered Lbs. per acre covered 20-0: Percent of acreage covered _ Lbl. per acre covered lizer as side or top-dressing: _ » monium nitrate: Percent of acreage covered ' Lbs. per acre covered % Superphosphate: Percent of acreage covered Lbs. per acre covered _ ticides: - Percent wf acreage covered 20 yAv. number applications 1 ' cide 8: fungicide combined: ‘Percent of acreage covered — xAv. number applications — 1 ‘ant-percent of acreage covered 111 4- wire—bund1es per acre — f1» no. per acre — tion water used: p ' dy soils-no. irrigations i v. total inches per acre 1 v ~ vy soils-no. irrigations Y. total inches per acre i‘, 9 only. al practice. —- 50 _ I I I _ 250 —- 100 50 I 100 200 250 66 50 II ll II N Q O ll II II ll II II ll ll || 100 2.5 125 P“°P .. UIQSUJQ III anew UIO\@GD N W Pare WGQGIN P-r .. K€UIQ® __34_ Fertilizers were not used extensively except for suga . beets and potatoes. The data available did not permit an apl" praisal of the effect of fertilizer on crop yields. _' During the study, there was no widespread use of insectiei cides except with potatoes. However, it is believed tha . through the efforts of the Texas Agricultural Extension Serv- ice and other agencies, farmers are becoming increasingly‘ aware of the problems of insect control. At the same time, im proved methods of control have been made available. As a re- sult, it is believed that the use of insecticides is increasing: Farmer interest in defoliants also is increasing each year. a A summary of the cost of seasonal labor, custom work hired equipment and other hired services is shown in Table 2 Occasionally, some item of equipment not shown in this tabl may be hired, but such instances are too infrequent to be im-_ portant among the farming practices of the area. " There is a wide range in the costs of seasonal labor ant of hired services between different crops. For instance, most‘ growers did not use seasonal labor for grain sorghums o wheat and many did not hire any custom work. When custom work was hired, the cost per acre was relatively low. On th‘ other hand, cotton growers, and particularly potato growers ' had heavy expenses for seasonal labor and for services nor mally hired. Seasonal labor and hired services were need the most at harvest time for all crops except sugar beets Here, thinning and hoeing, which came relatively early in th se-ason, accounted for the seasonal work that was hired. ‘ Most custom work and other services hired were done b local persons. Combines were brought in from outside th area when there was a large wheat crop. a CROP YIELDS WITH AND WITHOUT IRRIGATION Yield data were obtained for all crops on the farms stud‘ ied. Since most farmers with wells also had some dry-lan crops, it was possible to compare dry-land and irrigated yield for those crops commonly grown without irrigation. A sum mary" of the yield data obtained is shown, in; Table 3. A co g parison of yields also is made on sandy and heavy soils. " Irrigation has made it possible to plant crops having hig water requirement such as alfalfa, sugar beets and potatoe For other crops, irrigation has increased as well as stabiliz _35_ On the average, yields of cotton and grain sorghum '~ e more than doubled on either soil type by irrigation. f eat apparently did not respond to irrigation in the same f1: nner as did most row crops. Most Wheat was grown on pvy soils and there was no significant difference in yields tween dry-land and irrigated Wheat in 1947 and 1949. There abig difference in 1948 when most dry-land wheat failed. a For the four main irrigated crops—cotton, sorghum, eat and alfalfa—there Was no significant difference in jlds between the two soil types. However, the effect of '_'gation was greater on heavy soils. This was indicated by greater spread between irrigated and dry-land yields on soils, in comparison with the spread obtained on sandy ~ s. Year-to-year yield variations are much more extreme for Lops on dry land than for irrigated crops. These variations greater on heavy soils than on sandy soils. i4 2. Summary of costs of seasonal labor, custom work, machine ' rental and hired services used in producing irrigated crops, 1947-49 S01’- . Item Cotton ghum Wheat Alfalfa Sudan beets?‘ work hired seasonally: — — — — — - - .- t seed—rate per cwt. — "Av. cost per acre — y nningi-rate per acre — _ ng—rate per hour .60 QAV. cost per acre 3.10 v pping-rate per cwt. 2.00 "AV. cost per 5004b, bale 37.00 _ and sack-per cwt. — rAv. cost per acre — ~ machine work or hired equipment: y lane Spraying-rate per acre 1.00 Twisting-rate PM lb. .04 f: ping-rate per cwt. 1.00 Av. cost per 500-lb. bale hired 20.25 ’~ ‘ng-rate per cwt. .50 _ I ng and ties-per bale 4.25 Av. cost ginning and bagging: xPer 5004b. bale snapped 13.50 Tor 5004b. bale stripped ‘bining-rate per acre wing and raking—per acre np-rate per ton L-Av. cost per acre when hired ital for vine beater-per acre I - ing—rate per cwt. _» grade, sack—per cwt. Av. cost per acre fax-rate per cwt. 51v. cost per acre U Q = P >1 m IIIIIIIIIIE IIIIJIIIZIIIIIIII Illllllll llllhllllgllllllll llllplllll llllllffigglllllllll Illllllll llllllllllllllllll Illllllll Illlllllllllllllll :_ lllll T‘ I i on 1949 rates of cost. _udes hauling to packing shed. 6uauo>a unohLEO _. 63E!“ 5min n: v3.3 flown Guwsm mo n30“? m i=3 3-53 no mach. .555 Qhd uu-afia ~23 i855 N §Mfihfl>d ofloiaui< H I 1.3.2 I $.....§ I I I I .2. mix-fiat I 25.8 I 2:..._.~ I 23.5 I 25.2 .3. 302- .395 I $3. I 2.5.» I 5.3. I 3mm 6AA ma: $.82. 2 2 2 3 w 3 m: m: 5M 335$ 23in S56 ~23 is.» 3»; m3... :3." 25a .2. EE-Muén ouauoh w!“ £3 Cué 36d 2a 23 m2 $3 .3- 2:5: E-Euuam c136 2: m... m3 2;. 2 m: 23 m2. .2: \ 35C i330 n=cw Fvaoi u: m3; SKA .53 I EZJ 2...." £3 61 "Fa; .826 I =3.» I S5 I £3 I 23.» .25 fir... 83:4» 2 3 2 5 a 2 3 3 5m $.35; 3w," N2.“ mam..." fig 2:3 ELJ. ER 2G6 .2. Esp-mug ouauck 3.3 23 MEJ 2min 25 find m2; 2nd .2» E123 E=§SQ =22". S" 2; Ea =3. 2: N3 mg 3m .25 . 3E5 GeSeO 23m £23m 15: b9 _ wouauifi UGN_ .39 _ wouawvim ~53 aufi _ woeuuwri 1:3 DD _ 18:29: sl 3: E3 “.3152 $2 I Q32 25H D m $-52 ._._3~wt:=== was wofiwwifi imam .953: was macaw ac mic?» Q30 d 252a _37_ . Irrigation has done much to stabilize crop acreage on the 11:1,; High Plains. Spring rains may come late, making it difficult ‘i to carry out planting intentions under dry-land conditions. In a situation of this kind, farmers Without irrigation some- times have to substitute a quicker-maturing crop in place of cotton. On the other hand, with irrigation, the seedbed may be irrigated to permit planting near the optimum time. Sim- ilarly, Without irrigation, lack of fall rains may greatly affect i" the acreage of wheat seeded and disrupt production plans. Here again, preplanting irrigation may be important in main- taining the desired cropping plan. SUMMARY Irrigation on the High Plains has been developed largely since the middle thirties and is entirely from Wells. One of the effects of irrigation has been to increase the emphasis on cash crop production. On sandy soils, almost 70 percent of the éirrigated acreage was planted to cotton and 21 percent to sor- jghum. No other crop occupied as much as 2 percent of the Qland. On the heavy soils, sorghum occupied 39 percent of the f irrigated acreage with cotton and Wheat each accounting for 7about 22 percent. The only crop of major importance Was al- falfa. Materials used in irrigated crop production consisted mainly of irrigation water, seed, fertilizer and insecticides. _, -Individual crops on sandy soils used the following amounts ; of Water per acre, on the average, for the 3-year period, 1947- 49: cotton, 10.8 inches; sorghum, 9.8 inches; wheat, 7.1 inch- es; alfalfa 34.9 inches; and Sudan, 8 inches. On heavy soils, the amounts of Water used during the same period were as ifollows: cotton, 9.5 inches; sorghum, 10.5 inches; wheat, 7.3 iinches; alfalfa, 29.3 inches; Sudan, 9.2 inches; sugar beets, f 37.5 inches; and potatoes, 27.5 inches. ; Cotton seed were planted at the average rate of 24 pounds gian acre. About one-fourth of the seed were purchased each year from a seed breeder, and the remainder were largely ‘homegrown and from pure seed planted the previous year. 1 During 1947-49, .20 percent of the irrigated cotton was sprayed or dusted with an insecticide. In more recent years, [the proportion of the crop thus treated appears to have been greatly increased. . Spreading Water, hoeing and snapping of cotton was done by hand and required an average of 35 hours of labor per acre. Seasonally-hired Workers did all hoeing and hand harvesti ~ Other operations in the p-roduction of cotton were» complet mechanized. Machine Work for 2 and 4-row equipment av aged 4.8 and 3.3 hours, respectively, on sandy soils and 5“ and 3.6 hours, respectively, on heavy soils. These totals i clude machine stripping of 40 to 50 percent of the acrea following hand harvesting. 3? Sorghum planted for grain was seeded at the rate of 5 j_ 7 pounds per acre. Most of the seed were certified. The labor of spreading water, the only hand operation * sorghum production, averaged 3.1 and 1.9 hours, respectivel on sandy and heavy soils. Machine work for 2 and 4-ro equipment averaged 4.8 and 3.3 hours, respectively, on san soils and 5.2 and 3.6 hours, respectively, on heavy soils. Wheat production was largely on heavy land where t average rate of seeding was 41 pounds per acre. About thr fourths of the wheat seed Were home-grown. i Hand labor with Wheat Was entirely for irrigation é averaged 1.2 hours per acre. Machine operation required 1 additional 2.6 hours of labor. Twenty to 25 pounds of -= were used per acre to establish alfalfa. Once established, standof alfalfa normally lasted 4 or 5 years. Each year, proximately 40 percent of the alfalfa acreage was given w? application of 200 pounds of 20 percent superphosphate. Five hours of labor were used annually in irrigating =' falfa on sandy soils, While only 2.8 hours were used on hea soils. Other operations requiring hand labor include bali and hauling. Total labor requirements for alfalfa on san soils include 11.5 hours of hand Work and 9.1 hours of wo; with machinery. On heavy soils, total hand Work averag 8.6 hours and machine work 7.8 hours. All operations in the production of Sudan, with the exc tion of irrigation, were mechanized. Spreading Water requi i, 2.2 and 1.8 hours per acre, respectively, for sandy and heat soils. Machine work required approximately 3 hours per . a with 2-row equipment and 2 hours per acre with 4-row eq ' ment. ’ Sugar beets production was on heavy soils. Materials Y in connection with this crop included seed and fertilizer. - average of 4.5 pounds of seed was used per acre, all of wh' was purchased. Nearly all sugar beets received 200 pounds T 16-20-0 and two-thirds of the acreage was side-dressed Wi 125 pounds of ammonium nitrate. ~ _39___ Sugar beets required large amounts of hand labor. Sea- sonal workers were hired for 26.3 hours of thinning and hoeing per acre. Water was spread by the regular labor force and av- eraged 6 hours per acre. Machine work included 8.6 hours with a tractor and 4 hours of trucking per acre. An average of 1,125 pounds of certified seed was used per acre of potatoes. Growers used 250 pounds of either ammo- nium sulphate or 16-20-0 at planting time or before. About half of the growers later applied a side-dressing of 125 pounds of ammonium nitrate. Two or 3 applications of insecticide- fungicide dust were made. The usual rate of application was 20 pounds per acre each time over. On the average, 125 sacks per acre were purchased for use at the packing shed. Approximately 46 hours of seasonal hand labor were hired ; during harvest to pick up, sack and load an acre of potatoes. Other hand work included 3.4 hours for ditching and irrigation and .9 hour at planting time. Machine work consisted of 8.6 hours with a tractor and 4 hours of trucking per acre. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors acknowledge the assistance of D. L. Jones, superintendent of Substation No. 8, Lubbock, in planning the é study and for helpful suggestions throughout. John Box, as- sistant irrigation engineer, Substation No. 8, was a valued ad- V visor. Appreciation also is expressed to the county agents and - other Texas Agricultural Extension Service personnel who were helpful in planning and getting the study under Way. f Personnel of the U. S. Geological Survey gave much valuable help in making well measurements. Other Federal agencies g in the area were particularly helpful in planning the study. \§ Margaret Machos, Frances Machos and Doris Stanek, mem- bers of the clerical force, rendered valuable assistance in the l summarization of the data and in the preparation of the man- uscript. This study was made possible by the cooperation of many I farmers who gave freely of their time in furnishing the in- a formation reported. It was conducted cooperatively by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and the Bureau of Ag- ricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture.