Future Of Western Agriculture
depleting groundwater areas, for
cotton 22 percent, for grain
sorghum 16 percent, for citrus 15
percent, and for rice 13 percent.
Dickason says the effects on U.S.
production of any of these crops
would depend on available
alternatives if farmers are
eventually forced to discontinue
irrigation from underground
aquifers. These alternatives in
clude growing the same crop under
dryland conditions, switching to
another crop that can be grown
with available natural moisture,
going out of crop production, or, in
rare cases, irrigating from surface
water sources such as rivers and
reservoirs.
The “Ultimate”
System
“Efficiency relates to the
amount of water that must be
applied to the field to satisfy the
water requirements of crops,”
Sloggett says. “Application ef
ficiency of irrigation systems can
range from 40 percent to more than
90 percent. If the ‘ultimate’ system
were available, an irrigator would
have to pump and apply only one
acre-inch of water for every acre
inch needed to supply the crop
requirement.”
Of course, evaporation, runoff,
Deep Wells and Sharply Declining
Water Levels Are Common In the 11
States with Large Areas o(
Groundwater Irrigation
Pumping Annual rales
depths' of decline 1
Feet
75-535
50-120
100-260
175-275
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Florida
Idaho
250
200-375
190-275
25 250
100-200
100-275
50 300
Kansas
Nebraska
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Texas
'These figures show the range of everege
pumping depths and rates of decline In different
parts of each slate The overall state averege and
the unevereged lows and highs may be outside
the Indicated ranges
seepage, and percolation of
irrigation water below a crop’s
root zone all work against
achieving the “ultimate” system.
Nevertheless, small differences in
irrigation efficiency levels can
involve huge quantities of water
especially on farms with thousands
of irrigated acres.
The Affordability
Factor
“Capital costs may also dictate
the choice of irrigation system,”
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the best price on the market. You’ll find Bicep is less
expensive than tank mixing. Less expensive than pre
packs. Less expensive than you think.
And if you like the way it works in your budget, wait
till you see how it works in the
field. One application at planting v iJP
and you can forget about broad
leaf weeds and grasses for the
rest of the season. No wonder
more corn growers are switch
ing to Bicep
It Costs Less.
says Sloggett. Sprinkler or im
proved gravity systems generally
require much larger investments
than an unimproved gravity
system.
“But as water levels and wen
Dugan Heads State Farm Dealers
Mr. Lloyd R. “Sonny” Dugan
was recently elected President of
the PA Farm and Power Equip
ment Dealers Association at their
73rd Annual Management Con
ference and Trade Show in Lan
caster.
Lloyd R. Dugan was bom in
Galeton, PA. The only son of Lloyd
L. and Ruth M. Dugan. “Sonny” as
he is better known attended school
in Galeton, PA. After school, he
worked for his father on the 400
acre cash crop farming operation.
The Dugans also ran a logging,
trucking and bulldozing business.
In the spring of 1954, Sonny got his
first feel of the machinery business
when his father signed a John
Deere machinery franchise and
put it in a newly built industrial
building off Route 144, five miles
south of Galeton. Sonny married
Always read and follow label instructions
yields decline, irrigation water
costs are rising, making the more
technically efficient sprinkler
systems increasingly appealing to
the irrigator,” he says. Improved
efficiency can mean—and make—
the former Patricia Ann Cimino of
Galeton in May 1957. They have
one son, Jeffrey L. Dugan. In the
spring of 1963, the Dugans
machinery business moved M
Route 49 near Ulysses, PA. Übyd
Sr. had bought out the John Deere
business of E.E. Tucker who was
retiring due to age. A new 8,000 sq.
ft. steel building was built to be
able to serve Potter County which
was the Dugans newly enlarged
territory.
In 1967, the business became
Lloyd L. Dugan and Son, Inc. with
Sonny as vice-president. When
Lloyd Sr. formally retired in 1979,
Sonny became president.
In July 1981, a disastrous fire
struck tiie dealership. Working
with plywood walls and a
makeshift plastic covered roof, the
dealership lost only a few weeks
1 sJ
pw
.1
Lancaster Farming Saturday, January 3,1M7-05
the difference between continuing
with groundwater irrigation or
halting it completely.
“As well yields gradually
decline,” Sloggett says,
“irrigation in more areas will
begin to fall off as well.”
service to its customers. A new
11,000 sq. ft. building was built over
and around the temporary work
area. The new facility had its open
house on January 9,1982.
In the spring of 1984, a consumer
products branch store was opened
in Wellsville, NY 20 miles north of
the main facility. This branch has
been a grand success winning
many travel and sales awards
from the John Deere Co. This
branch is managed by Jeffrey
Lloyd Dugan making the Dugan
dealership a 3 generation
organization.
Lloyd “Sonny” Dugan is a
director of First Citizens National
Bank of Ulysses, PA, chairman of
the Potter County Industrial
Development Authority, a director
of Potter County Recreation, Inc.,
a member of St. Bibianas parish
and parish council, a 3rd. degree
member of the Knights of
Columbus Council 693, an advisory
board member of Alfred
University and Smethport
Vocational-Technical School,
president of ‘i AM felicia
Creations, Inc.” a newly formed
doll manufacturing company and a
partner with his father in Dugan
and Son Land Sales of Galeton and
Ulysses, a land development and
sales company selling land in
Potter and Tioga Counties. One of
the land sales company’s most
noteworthy accomplishments was
the building and ownership of
Potter County’s largest lake.
Mr. Dugan will represent over
500 farm equipment dealers
members throughout PA during
his year long duties.
The association has represented
farm equipment dealers since 1913.
The state offices are located in
Harrisburg.
Global Grain Trade
Not Price Responsive
More U.S. com now goes for
sweeteners in soft drinks, con
version to starch or alcohol and for
other food and industrial products
than is being sold in foreign
markets. Com refiners say they
are now able to produce a
crystalline product which they see
as a potential substitute for dry
sugar, but it must be stored at low
humidity and shipped in bulk
under controlled conditions.
Government economists now
predict that 1.15 billion bushels of
com will be used in food and in
dustrial products this year com
pared to 1,125 million bushels that
will be exported in 1986-87. That is
the first time since 1960-61 that
food and industrial uses will
consume more com than sales
abroad. At that time exports
totaled only 292 million bushels and
311 million went for food and in
dustrial uses domestically.
Com refiners dream of the day
when they can produce a
crystalline product to compete
equally with dry sugar, now
several years away. But they
learned a hard lesson in the early
1970 s by building plants in Europe
only to have European countries
impose production quotas the
following year, said Raymond
Stanhope, vice president of A.E.
Staley Co. The industry would
benefit if restrictions can be eased
in the forthcoming round of
General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade talks getting underway in
Switzerland, Stanhope said.