An Analysis of Irrigation Farming in the Oakes-LaMoure Project Area
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Abstract
The Marketing Irrigation Production (MIP) interdisciplinary research team was formed to determine the best combination of irrigated crops, dryland crops, and livestock enterprises and to evaluate the market potential of agricultural production from the Garrison Diversion Irrigation Project. The MIP team consists of research scientists from Agricultural Economics, Agronomy, Animal Science, Horticulture, and Soils departments at North Dakota State University.
The Garrison Diversion Irrigation Project was divided into three general areas: North, Central, and South. The criteria for dividing the district into three areas were length of growing season, amount of rainfall, current farming practices, and present and potential markets. The Northern area, composed of the Souris Loop and Karlsruhe irrigation areas as shown in Figure 1, contains approximately 116,000 acres in parts of Bottineau and McHenry counties. The 74,670 Central area includes all land in the Lincoln Valley, New Rockford, and Warwick-McVille irrigation areas, covering parts of Sheridan, Eddy, Benson, and Nelson counties. The Southern area, composed of the LaMoure, East Oakes, and West Oakes irrigation areas, encompasses 59,330 acres in parts of Stutsman, LaMoure, Dickey, Sargent, and Ransom counties.
The Oakes-LaMoure area covered in this report is the first irrigation area scheduled to receive water from the Garrison Diversion Irrigation Project. Subsequent reports will cover the other irrigation areas.