I read an interesting story this week in Business Alabama about Alabama irrigation. Did you know that only 10% of Alabama agriculture is irrigated compared to 50% in Georgia and 60% in Mississippi? I always wondered why, and this article explained it. It is a combination of deeper aquifers which require more costly wells to get to water and a high percentage of land that is rented instead of owned, making it unlikely that farmers on those acres would invest in infrastructure like wells. If Alabama’s irrigation rate were 50%, the economic impact on the state would be $200 to $300 million per year. You can read more about it at https://www.businessalabama.com/Business-Alabama/May-2018/Supply-and-Demand-of-Water/.
