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Nebraska now first in irrigated agriculture

It’s official-Nebraska now has more irrigated farmland acres than any other state.

Recent census numbers show Nebraska had eight-point-five million acres under irrigation at the end of 2007.  That puts the Cornhusker State ahead of California, which dropped from eight-point-seven million acres in 2002 to eight-point-two million in 2007.

Irrigated acres are dropping in many parts of the country, but continue to rise in Nebraska.  Nebraska added 560-thousand acres of irrigation from 1997 to 2002 and another 930-thousand acres between 2002 and 2007.  Custer and Lincoln counties experienced the largest increases in the 10-year time period-61 and 56 percent, respectively. 

However, University of Nebraska ag economist Bruce Johnson says some areas of the state may be over-developed on irrigation.  He says significant limitations on future irrigation are looming and predicts up to 30-thousand irrigated acres may have to be changed back to dryland acres as a result.

The Nebraska legislature this year passed a law putting significant restrictions on further groundwater development for irrigation purposes.

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