Irrigated Agriculture in the United States

Note: Updates to this data product are discontinued.

This data product summarizes the farm-structural characteristics for irrigated farms in each of the 50 States, the 17 Western States (aggregated) and the Nation as a whole, based on USDA's 2013 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Survey (FRIS). (See the Documentation for data sources and methods.) The tables are grouped into three sections of sets of tables. Section I covers all irrigated farms; sets of tables are grouped into 18 broad categories, ranging from total irrigation values to higher efficiency irrigation, to irrigated farms receiving technical/financial assistance designed to encourage onfarm water and energy conservation. Sets of tables in Section II cover all irrigated horticulture farms, and tables in Section III cover irrigated horticulture under protection (HUP) farms.

All tables identify specific irrigation characteristics for four farm-size classes, by State and region. The list of tables in each set is found in the first tab of each Excel workbook. 

A previous release of this data product—which summarized the farm-structural characteristics for irrigated farms in the 17 Western States based on USDA's 2008 and 1998 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Surveys—is available in a zipped archive file.

Data Set Last Updated Next Update
I. Summarized data for all irrigated farms
Set 1. Aggregate irrigation farm values for all irrigated farms 4/28/2017
Set 2. Average farm-size and water-use statistics (per farm or per acre) 4/28/2017
Set 3. Average irrigation statistics (by water source) and purchased water cost statistics (per acre or per acre-foot) 4/28/2017
Set 4. Irrigation wells and pumping costs by energy source 4/28/2017
Set 5. Scheduled irrigation replacement and maintenance/repair cost statistics 4/28/2017
Set 6. Gravity irrigation statistics by system type 4/28/2017
Set 7. Pressure-sprinkler irrigation statistics by system type 4/28/2017
Set 8. Gravity irrigation by system type and onfarm water-management practice 4/28/2017
Set 9. Gravity water-management shares by management practice category 4/28/2017
Set 10. Laser-leveled irrigation statistics 4/28/2017
Set 11. Shares for higher-efficiency pressure-sprinkler irrigation systems 4/28/2017
Set 12. Higher-efficiency gravity irrigation statistics 4/28/2017
Set 13. Methods of deciding when to apply irrigation water 4/28/2017
Set 14. Sources of information used to reduce irrigation costs or conserve water 4/28/2017
Set 15. Barriers to irrigation system improvements 4/28/2017
Set 16. Participation in technical and/or financial assistance programs for water/energy conservation 4/28/2017
Set 17. Hired and/or contract irrigation labor statistics 4/28/2017
Set 18. Irrigation investment participation and/or expenditures by major investment type 4/28/2017
II. Summarized data for all irrigated horticulture farms
Set H1. Aggregate farm values for all irrigated horticulture farms 4/28/2017
Set H2. Farms, acres in the open, square-feet area, and water applied for horticulture crops, by water source for horticultural farms 4/28/2017
Set H3. Hired and/or contract irrigation labor statistics for irrigated horticulture farms 4/28/2017
III. Summarized data for all irrigated horticulture under protection (HUP) farms
Set HUP1. Aggregate farm values for irrigated HUP farms 4/28/2017
Set HUP2. Irrigated HUP Farms with acres in the open by water source 4/28/2017
Set HUP3. Hired and/or contract irrigation labor statistics for HUP farms 4/28/2017
Set HUP4. Area (square-feet) irrigated by HUP crop 4/28/2017
Set HUP5. Water applied (in gallons) on HUP crops by irrigation system 4/28/2017
Set HUP6. Water applied (in acre-feet equivalent units) on HUP crops by irrigation system 4/28/2017
Archived tables: Western irrigated agriculture from USDA's 1998 and 2008 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Surveys
Western irrigated agriculture 2008 and 1998 Farm and Ranch Irrigation Surveys (FRIS) 4/28/2017