How Rice Farmers Cut $31/Acre Water Costs
Lessons From the Delta continues — this time from the edge of a 120-acre on-farm reservoir.
In Part 7 of the Purdue Commercial AgCast mini-series, Chad Fiechter and Todd Kuethe visit a rice farm in Arkansas to understand how farmers are managing water, labor, and costs in ways that look very different from the Midwest.
What starts as a farm tour turns into a practical discussion about irrigation strategy, groundwater replacement, and the economics behind building large on-farm reservoirs.
The conversation also covers:
• How farmers can save up to $31 per acre by pumping surface water instead of groundwater
• Why reservoirs reduce energy costs and improve water temperature for crop performance
• Capturing and recycling nutrients through tailwater recovery systems
• The tradeoff between taking land out of production and lowering long-term costs
• How pump automation reduces labor needs and improves quality of life
• Why water management is becoming a central constraint in modern farming systems
As input costs and labor challenges continue to shape farm decisions, these systems raise important questions for Midwestern operations:
What would it take to justify an investment like this?
Where do water, labor, and energy intersect on your farm?
And how do you evaluate long-term efficiency vs. short-term cost?
This episode builds on earlier conversations in the Delta series and brings the focus directly to how farmers are making real-world management decisions under different constraints.
We’ll continue sharing video clips and behind-the-scenes footage from the Arkansas trip on our YouTube channel throughout the series.
Subscribe to the Purdue Commercial AgCast so you don’t miss upcoming episodes in the Lessons From the Delta series.
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