Growing irrigation demands in Southern Ohio

A Center Pivot System in a field along US-23 near Waverly OH.

Every day, on my way to work, I pass through four Ohio Counties – Franklin, Pickaway, Ross, and Pike. In a stretch of 75 miles, you get to see a variety of crops, soils, and businesses. A majority of farms with grain crops (corn and soybeans), a few with specialty crops (vegetables, blueberries), and the pumpkin farms near Circleville – the city that hosts the annual pumpkin festival.

Most of the specialty crops require irrigation. However, we are seeing more and more overhead systems (center pivots and linear move) being installed in Southern Ohio for corn and soybeans. Irrigation of grain crops hasn’t been a major concern in Ohio until recently. To our surprise, we are seeing some irrigation systems being installed in Northwest Ohio.

Number of farms and irrigated area in Ohio since 1982 to 2012 (Source: Gunn, 2015)

Recently, one of my colleagues, Stephan Gunn looked at the future changes in Irrigation demands in Lower Scioto watershed. The number of farms and area under irrigation have consistently increased over the past few decades in Ohio.

Reported county-level water withdrawal for irrigation in Ohio (Source: USGS, 2010)

The demand for water and energy for irrigation is likely to grow substantially in future due to expansion of irrigated area in Ohio.

I am currently analyzing some historic data to estimate how the irrigation demands have changed in Southern Ohio in the past few decades for grain crops. More details coming soon!

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