James Adkins came and talked us last week about Irrigation systems and why and how they’re used. Have you ever flown across the country and looked out the window and seen circle on the ground? Those circles are crops being watered by pivot irrigation. Pivot irrigation, we learned, was invented after WWII using aluminum pipes. The pivot system allows for a customizable accurate application of water. Pivot Irrigation is expensive and each span costs about $11,000. Drip irrigation is the most efficient way of irrigation. Drip irrigation puts water right in to the soils which also means less disease on the plants. The oldest and most inefficient way of irrigation is flood irrigation. This is when water is diverted off a source off a water source and channeled in to the field that is being irrigated. The fields usually have a slight slope so that the water covers the whole field. Irrigation is important and without it we would be un able to sustain and grow the population we currently have. Over 40% of the worlds food comes from irrigated land.