Peer Irrigators and the Choice of Field Management and Water Control Practices for Irrigation in Arkansas

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-4-2021

Keywords

Technology choice, social learning, border irrigation, precision grading, cutback irrigation, deep tillage

Abstract

We examined how irrigation techniques in use by family and friends influence the use and share of land utilizing different irrigation techniques by Arkansas producers. A bivariate sample selection model simultaneously estimated how farm characteristics determine the use and explain the share of a farm that utilizes an irrigation technique. We found that the irrigation techniques in use by family and friends do affect the irrigation techniques a producer uses and the share of acres utilizing different irrigation techniques. A producer with a family or friend that uses end-blocking irrigation is 41% more likely to use end-blocking themselves. Having a family or friend who uses pivot irrigation technology tends to decrease the share of irrigated acres that utilizes end block irrigation by 0.211. We also found that when the irrigation techniques in use by family and friends interact with variables such as location and participation in a regional conservation partnership program, the effects on the producer’s decision vary. The share of irrigated acres that use cutback irrigation decreases by 0.21 for a producer who has a peer that uses irrigation scheduling. However, if the producer lives along Crowley’s Ridge and has a peer that uses irrigation scheduling, the share of irrigated acres that use cutback irrigation decreases by an additional 0.54.

Comments

This article was published with support from the Open Access Publishing Fund administered through the University of Arkansas Libraries.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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