The name is absent

Table 3. Summary Results for Selected World Peanut Prices, Quota Poundage for Peanuts, and Land Rental
Value, Southeast Alabama, 1984

• Quota price = QP = S.30 per pound; contract price = CP = S.235 per pound; and WP = world price.

^b Rental value is the profit made on land in the best alternative enterprise.

' Two large pivots are represented by 376 irrigated acres while two large pivots and one small pivot are
represented by 472 irrigated acres.

is a relatively easy to use procedure for eval-
uating the economics of irrigation and it could
lead to greater utilization of center pivot
irrigation systems in the Southeast. The model
permits an evaluation of the overall profita-
bility of irrigation. If the option is profitable,
the optimal number, size, and locations for
the irrigation units are determined.

Parametric analysis was undertaken to dem-
onstrate the effect of selected variables on
size, number, and location of center pivots.
Peanut production in the Wiregrass region
of southeast Alabama was chosen for analysis
and a land rental activity was added to allow
selection of the best alternative enterprise.
The importance of center pivot size econ-
omies, pivot location, marginal price of pea-
nuts, peanut poundage quota, and returns to
alternative enterprises was indicated. The
smallest pivot considered (96 acres) was cho-
sen only when all production was sold at
quota price and rental value was far in excess
of existing land rental prices. Location con-
siderations negated the use of the interme-
diate sized pivot (138 acres) even when the
peanut price exceeded its breakeven point.
Sufficient increases in land rental values, up
to the point where irrigated returns per acre
exceeded irrigated returns, resulted in more
irrigated acreage. The model illustrates the
interrelationship between engineering and
economic considerations that influence irri-
gation investment decisions.

The example analysis presented for peanut
production illustrates factors that influence
the decision to irrigate. Field size and shape,
the size and cost of alternative irrigation sys-
tems, product prices, and the availability of
other alternative uses for the land are all
important variables which should be in-
cluded in the model for an actual irrigation
profitability analysis.

REFERENCES

Anderson, Clark, Eugene W. Rochester, and William E. Hardy. “Position Selection of Center
Pivot Irrigation Systems Using Linear Programming,” ASAE Paper No. 84-2102; Knox-
ville, Tennessee, 1984.

Boggess, W. G., G. D. Lynne, J. W. Jones, and D. P. Swaney. “Risk-Return Assessment of
Irrigation Decisions in Humid Regions,” So. J. Agr. Econ., 15,1(1983): 135-43∙

Boutwell, John L. and Larry M. Curtis. “Irrigation System Cost Analysis,” Alabama Cooperative
Extension Service, Circular ANR-17; Auburn, Alabama; 1983.

Burt, Oscar and M. S. Stauber. “Economic Analysis of Irrigation in Subhumid Climate,”
Amer. J. Agr. Econ., 53,1(1971): 33-46.

Curtis, Larry M. 1982 Alabama Irrigation Survey, Alabama Cooperative Extension Service,
Auburn University, Alabama; 1983.

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