Agricultural Economics Department
Cornhusker Economics
Date of this Version
4-12-2023
Document Type
Article
Citation
Cornhusker Economics (April 12, 2023)
Agricultural Economics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
In this study we determine the economic value of deficit irrigation management using both technological and methodological advancements. The use of soil moisture probes represents the technological improvement. We provide improvements in the methodology as follows. Regarding data, we employ a field-size study, instead of plots, where the irrigation decision is determined by the moisture level in the soil measured through a soil moisture probe. Regarding the understanding of the yield response to water, although we examine the commonly used quadratic function, we improve upon this specification by also examining an alternative response function, the linear response stochastic plateau. Our objectives are to identify the financial impact on producers of reducing water use by increasing irrigation costs, reducing irrigation amounts, the role of changes in corn prices, and extreme weather events on the profitability of irrigating corn under a deficit irrigation strategy.
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