The number of irrigated cropland acres in Georgia is growing, but at a much slower pace than three decades ago, according to a University of Georgia (UGA) farm survey.
About 1.49 million irrigated acres of cropland are in Georgia, according to the UGA Extension Service 2004 Irrigation Survey. This is about 33,000 acres more than in 2000, the last year the survey was conducted.
Corn, cotton and peanuts account for 76% of the total irrigated acres.
Georgia had only 145,000 irrigated acres in 1970, the first year of the survey. The largest increase was between 1977 and 1980 when land under irrigation grew from 592,000 acres to nearly 1 million.
Between 1995 and 1998, irrigated acres grew by about 70,000. It grew by the same amount between 1995 and 1998.