Analysis
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Irrigation volume
Approximately 1.7 billion cubic metres of water were used for irrigation, in 2012. Just over three quarters of this water was applied to crops in Alberta. Farms in British Columbia were responsible for the second largest amount of water used for irrigation (14%) (Table 1-1).
Nationally, the volume of water used for irrigation in 2012 was more than double that reported in 2010. Irrigation volumes increased across all provinces, with the exception of British Columbia, where irrigation volume remained almost the same. The greatest increases in irrigation volumes were in Alberta and Manitoba, where farmers reported increases of more than 150% in 2012 when compared to 2010. This is because 2012 was a relatively dry year in those provinces when compared to the excess rainfall and flooding they experienced in 2010.
Irrigation intensity 1
In 2012, the majority of irrigation water was used to irrigate field crops (61%) and forage crops (34%) (Table 1-3). The remaining 5% of irrigation water was applied to fruit crops (3%) and vegetable crops (2%).
Field crops and forage crops had higher irrigation intensities than fruit and vegetable crops. Specifically, 2,998 cubic metres per hectare applied to field crops and 2,894 cubic metres per hectare applied to forage crops. Vegetable crops, in turn, required 1,328 cubic metres of water per hectare and fruit crops required 2,093 cubic metres per hectare (Table 2-1).
Timing of irrigation
Irrigation in 2012 peaked in July (Chart 1). Approximately 40% of water was applied in July compared to 24% in August, 17% in June, 11% in September and October, and 9% in April and May (Table 1-1). This irrigation profile was true for all provinces except British Columbia where irrigation volume peaked at 26% in July and 26% in August, compared to a July peak of 30% to 49% in the other provinces and regions. In addition, more than one quarter of irrigation water was used in Saskatchewan in April and May (Chart 1).
Area of land that received irrigation 2
More than 590,000 hectares of land received irrigation in 2012. This represents a 12% increase, compared to 2010. Provincially, Alberta had the most farm land that received irrigation (420,940 ha) with approximately 70% of land that received irrigation situated in that province (Table 3-1).
Field crops (346,530 ha) and forage crops (200,040 ha) were grown on the majority of land that received irrigation (Table 3-1). Fruit crops (20,330 ha) and vegetable crops (24,150 ha) were also irrigated (Chart 2).
Number of farms that irrigated
Approximately 7,300 farms reported irrigating their crops in 2012 (79% of farms that were in scope for this survey) (Table 4-1). This is a 5% decrease, compared to 2010. This decrease can be partly attributed to attrition as the Census of Agriculture shows a 10% decrease in the overall number of farms between 2006 and 2011.
British Columbia had the largest number of farms that reported irrigation (2,950 farms) while Manitoba and the Atlantic region had the smallest (110 and 130 farms, respectively) (Table 4-1).
Forage crops were the most commonly irrigated, with 3,000 farms irrigating this crop type. Slightly less than 2,500 farms reported irrigating fruit crops and 2,365 farms reported irrigating field crops. Vegetable crops were the least irrigated crop, with 1,130 farms irrigating this crop type.
Drainage regions
By drainage region, more than three quarters of irrigation was applied in the South Saskatchewan drainage region. As Map 1 shows, the majority of the South Saskatchewan drainage region lies in Alberta, where the majority of irrigation took place, in 2012. The second largest volume of irrigation water was applied in the Fraser-Lower Mainland drainage region (9%) (Table 1-2).
Farm land in the South Saskatchewan drainage region received the most irrigation (approximately 440,000 ha). The majority of this land was devoted to field crops (292,500 ha) and forage crops (139,740 ha) (Table 3-2).
Farms that applied irrigation in 2012 were more evenly dispersed throughout the country. While the largest number of farms that irrigated was also found in the South Saskatchewan drainage region (30%), the Fraser-Lower Mainland and Okanagan-Similkameen drainage regions were home to 17% and 16% of farms that irrigated in 2012, respectively, and farms in the Great Lakes drainage region accounted for 13% of the farms that irrigated in 2012.
Irrigation water sources 3
There are many sources of water used for irrigation. Farmers may utilize water sources located on their farms (on-farm water) such as rivers, ponds or dugouts (surface water), or wells (underground water). Farmers can also obtain water from off-farm sources, such as municipal water or water transported to the farm by canal system or vehicle (off-farm water).
Close to 75% of the water used for irrigation came from off-farm sources, while 20% came from on-farm surface water and 5% came from on-farm underground water sources (Table 6-1). Off-farm water was the predominant water source for Alberta and Saskatchewan, while the majority of irrigation water in Eastern Canada came from on-farm, surface water sources (Chart 3).
In 2012, half of farms obtained at least some of their irrigation water from off-farm sources (50%). Of the farms using on-farm water, 36% of farms obtained some of their irrigation water from on-farm surface water sources while 20% of farms used on-farm underground water. 4 Other water sources, such as rainwater, were used for irrigation by 60 farms (Table 7-1).
Off-farm water sources
Provincial sources such as irrigation districts were the most common source of off-farm water, with close to 3,000 farms obtaining their irrigation water this way (Table 8). More than 90% of the off-farm water used for irrigation, in 2012, was obtained from provincial sources (Table 9).
A smaller number of farms reported using treated wastewater (70 farms), tap water (215 farms), private sources (125 farms), and other sources (175 farms) of off-farm water (Table 8). Less than 1% of off-farm water was obtained from tap water and treated wastewater (Table 9).
A variety of reasons were given for using off-farm water but the most common reason was that there was not enough on-farm water available for irrigation (2,915 farms). A few farms (70) reported using off-farm water because of the poor quality of on-farm water and approximately 600 farms reported “other” as the reason for using off-farm water (Table 10).
Irrigation methods
There are three different categories of irrigation methods: sprinkler, micro and surface irrigation. Sprinkler systems distribute water onto crops in a high-velocity, high-volume spray. Micro irrigation systems deliver water onto the soil surface very close to the crop or below the soil. With surface irrigation, also known as flood irrigation, the water flows by gravity over land.
Sprinkler irrigation systems were the most used irrigation system, followed by micro irrigation systems and surface irrigation. In 2012, 5,615 farms used sprinkler irrigation systems while 1,795 used micro-irrigation systems and less than 1,000 farms used surface irrigation (Table 11-1).
More than 70% of sprinkler irrigation took place in the west, with Alberta (1,970 farms) and British Columbia (2,125 farms) accounting for the majority of this type of irrigation. British Columbian farms also accounted for approximately two-thirds of micro-irrigation (1,190 farms) while almost half the farms practising surface irrigation were in Alberta (445 farms) (Table 11-1).
The majority of farms using sprinkler irrigation used them on their forage crops (2,625 farms) and field crops (2,170 farms). Micro-irrigation systems were most commonly used for fruit crops, with 1,485 farms using this system. Surface irrigation was most commonly utilized for forage crops, with 610 farms using this irrigation method (Table 12).
Irrigation practices
Energy or water conservation practices 5
Irrigators used a variety of water or energy conservation practices, in 2012. Watering at night or in the morning was the most common practice (4,090 farms), followed by farms that used water or energy saving nozzles (3,275 farms) and farms that incorporated compost or other organic material into the soil 6 (3,115 farms). Pressure reduction (2,905 farms) and leaving stubble on fields (2,575 farms) were also quite common. Wind breaks 7 were less common, with 1,420 farms reporting their use. Just over 600 farms used other water or energy saving practices, and approximately 500 farms did not use any energy or water conservation practices (Table 13-1).
The uptake of the different energy or water conservation practices differed between provinces. Pressure reduction and using water or energy saving nozzles were most prevalent in Alberta and British Columbia as approximately 80% of farms utilizing these practices were located in these provinces. More than 40% of irrigating farms that incorporated compost or other organic material into soil or watered at night or in the morning were located in British Columbia. Just fewer than 40% of irrigating farms that used wind breaks were in Ontario (Table 13-1).
Not irrigating or stopping irrigation 8
While no issues prevented irrigation for the majority of farms (6,860 farms), some farms did have to stop or forego irrigation in 2012 because of a shortage of surface water or underground water, poor water quality or other reasons (Table 14-1). In 2012, 785 farms had to stop or forego irrigation because of a shortage of surface water and 340 farms suffered from a shortage of underground water. Over 1,600 farms could not irrigate for some length of time because of poor water quality, an irrigation ban or other reasons.
Issues that prevented irrigation seemed to be most common in British Columbia where 40% or more of the farms that reported a shortage of surface water or underground water, poor water quality or other issues, were located (Table 14-1).
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