Economic Comparison of Crop Row Offset and Orientation to SDI Laterals

Declining water resources from the Ogallala Aquifer in the Southern High Plains – coupled with increasing incidence and severity of drought – has begun to threaten the economic viability of diverse agriculture in this region. With an estimated 50-75 years of usable groundwater, growers are facing declining well capacities necessitating the need to switch to more efficient irrigation systems. The objective of this project is to determine the economic profitability associated with experiments conducted at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Halfway, Texas on crop row offsets and orientation on sub-surface drip laterals. Eleven treatments were conducted on 30, 40, 60, and 80 inch drip laterals with 12, 18 and 24 inch emitter spacings. Thirty and 40 inch crop rows were planted parallel and perpendicular to the drip laterals offset by 0, 5, 10, and 15 inches. Profitability will be assessed by calculating the per acre net returns using common production practices and comparing the fixed cost associated with drip installation with and without cost-sharing.