A new white paper commissioned by the U.S. National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) explains the intricacies of water use issues around the country and the relation to corn production in the United States. It points out that progress is being made despite challenges and that corn is not as dependent on irrigation as other crops.

“Trends in water utilization are showing that continuous improvement is now underway in many countries, yet numerous challenges remain in the realm of water,” writes Dr. James McLaren of StrathKirn, a consulting company that prepared the report for NCGA. “For example, some of the top issues include population pressures, infrastructure needs, food production and agricultural changes, energy generation, an ever-changing climate, and environmental concerns.”

McLaren believes these challenges are exacerbated by another problem lurking beneath the surface. “While these issues are important, and deserve attention, there is a larger underlying problem related to water in that the fundamental water situation is not well-defined, the data is non-uniform, the definitions are varied and often technically inaccurate, and water is often a political hammer which leads to emotional statements and actions.”

When it comes to corn production, McLaren notes that corn has the highest number of acres irrigated but these acres are a relatively low percent of the total corn acres harvested. The corn that is irrigated across the United State on average receives approximately 10 acre-inches of irrigation water (750 gallons per acre per day, if corn grew every day of the year). If that same water were applied to all corn acres it would represent 1.5 acre-inches of additional water -- only about 3 percent of the average rainfall on each acre of corn grown.

Click here for the NCGA Water Utilization White Paper.