This content will become publicly available on July 7, 2023

Multi-Level Influences on Center-Pivot Irrigation Adoption in Alabama
Rates of poverty and economic inequality in rural Alabama are among the nation's highest and increasing agricultural productivity can provide a needed boost to these communities. The transition from rain-fed to irrigation-fed (RFtoIF) agriculture has significantly increased farm productivity and profitability elsewhere in the United States. Despite this potential to enhance stability and resilience in rural economies, irrigated cropland accounts for only 5% of Alabama's total cropland as numerous barriers remain to irrigation adoption. To encourage RFtoIF transition, it is imperative to identify the challenges faced by individual farmers at farm, community, and state levels. This study presents a multi-level mixed effects survival analysis to identify the physiographic, socioecological, and economic factors that influence the location and timing of irrigation adoption. We integrate spatiotemporal cropland and climatological data with field-verified locations of center-pivot irrigation systems, local physiographic characteristics, and parcel-level surface water access and average well depth. Access to surface water, costs to access groundwater, and soil characteristics were generally important influences in all regions, but regions were differentiated by the extent to which new irrigation was more responsive to social influences vs. precipitation and price trends. Our findings also highlighted the diversity of farming conditions across the state, which more »
Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Award ID(s):
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10341087
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
Volume:
6
ISSN:
2571-581X
2. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effects of cropping choices on land, water use for irrigation, and greenhouse gas emissions after introducing canola (Brassica napus L.) cultivation for the production of 60 million gallons of biodiesel per year. Characterization of regional farm-level cropping patterns and agronomic inputs and economic data are used to model the adoption of canola in place of the diverse incumbent cropping patterns in four regions of California: Northern and Southern San Joaquin Valleys, Sacramento Valley, and Southern California, using the Bioenergy Crop Adoption Model. The life cycle assessment approach is then used to assess environmental impacts due to cultivation of canola in place of the incumbent cropping patterns in terms of: (1) land use; (2) life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions due to direct land use change (kg CO2e ac-1); (3) greenhouse gas emissions due to irrigation water (kg CO2e ac-1); and (4) life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions expressed in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule of biodiesel. Preliminary results show the adoption price of the canola with a yield of 1.5 U.S. tons per acre is estimated to be $481 per ton of canola in 2012 dollars at which point a total of 508,400more » 3. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effects of cropping choices on land, water use for irrigation, and greenhouse gas emissions after introducing canola (Brassica napus L.) cultivation for the production of 60 million gallons of biodiesel per year. Characterization of regional farm-level cropping patterns and agronomic inputs and economic data are used to model the adoption of canola in place of the diverse incumbent cropping patterns in four regions of California: Northern and Southern San Joaquin Valleys, Sacramento Valley, and Southern California, using the Bioenergy Crop Adoption Model. The life cycle assessment approach is then used to assess environmental impacts due to cultivation of canola in place of the incumbent cropping patterns in terms of: (1) land use; (2) life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions due to direct land use change (kg CO2e ac-1); (3) greenhouse gas emissions due to irrigation water (kg CO2e ac-1); and (4) life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions expressed in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule of biodiesel. Preliminary results show the adoption price of the canola with a yield of 1.5 U.S. tons per acre is estimated to be$481 per ton of canola in 2012 dollars at which point a total of 508,400more »