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Abstract
Land irrigated with onfarm pumped water increased 7.5 million acres to 42 million acres from 1974 to 1980. Sharply higher energy prices pushed energy pumping costs from $570 million to $1.9 billion. Pump irrigators are applying energy-saving technologies such as low-pressure center pivots, which alone saved about $42 million in 1980. Favorable economic conditions could lead to 3 to 4 million additional pump-irrigated acres in the water-short Great Plains by the year 2020 and significant increases in the more humid Eastern United States.