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U.S. Farm Irrigation Using Less Water, Shifting East

Farmers are getting more efficient in their water use, and farms in the East increasingly are adopting the irrigation methods more common to the dry West.

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Harold Grall, a farmer near Dumas, Texas, amid old cornstalks and green, newly planted corn. This field is part of a demonstration project of the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District to grow corn using less water.
Credit: Jerod Foster

According to the the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey, published every five years, farmers are getting more efficient in their water use, thus producing more food and using less water. Farms in the East increasingly are adopting the irrigation methods more common to the dry West. The survey can be seen here. (Circle of Blue)

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