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Show (10) Factors that hinder area integration include the essentially independent nature of irrigation, dry-land farming, and ranching; the high per- centage of tenancy and the landlord-tenant prob- lems it creates; the lack of experience and aptitude for livestock feeding among some valley farmers; the lack of sufficient capital at reasonable interest rates to finance feeding; conflicts between dry land and irrigated land in the same unit for the opera- tor's time; the unsuitability of the machinery com- monly found on irrigated farms for extensive dry- farming; and the fact that calves, which constitute a major class of cattle marketed by the surrounding ranches, are not now favored by most valley feeders. The Huntley Project and Malta Division, Montana.-Another study of integrated use of dry cropland, range land and irrigated land, also made in 1946, covered the Huntley Project in south- eastern Montana, and the Malta Division of the Milk River Project in northeastern Montana. In all, 108 sample farms-58 on the Huntley Proj- ect and 50 on the Malta Division-were covered in the study. These projects, like the North Platte Project, were established more than 30 years ago; hence, the farm economy is well established. In- tegrated land use occurs on a greater percentage of the project farms here than on the North Platte Project. The principal findings of the Huntley-Malta study are as follows: (1) From irrigation projects which were started 30 years ago with small, diversified farm units, the farmers have reached out into the adjoining dry- land areas. More than four-fifths of the 108 farmers interviewed reported some type of inte- gration. About two-thirds grazed some livestock on adjoining range land and about one-half pro- duced some dry-land crops. Feed and livestock exchange were less important. (2) Farmers who had reached out into the ad- joining areas had a larger livestock inventory, more hay, and more beef cattle than farmers whose oper- ations were confined to irrigated land. Four- fifths of the cattle were produced by farmers who used range land. (3) Sample farmers usually sold sugar beets and wheat as cash crops and fed most of their hay, oats, and barley. Some feed exchange occurred be- tween irrigated and dry-land areas. Hay, in par- ticular, moved from irrigated to dry land and feed grains moved in the opposite direction. (4) Three-fourths of the range land and dry cropland used by irrigation farmers was within 5 miles of the irrigated land. However, several tracts were 20 miles or more away from the irri- gated land. (5) Feeder livestock which were fattened on the irrigation projects came from range areas. They were obtained by purchase or were fed under con- tract. (6) A high proportion of the farmers considered integration an advantage. Most farmers preferred range land operations to fattening operations. (7) Integration was considered advantageous because of the need for grazing land, the increased size of operations, the need for a balance of live- stock and feed production, and the value of dry- land operations as a joint enterprise. (8) The stabilizing effect of integration was confined largely to the farm and ranch units which had both irrigated and dry land and to the stra- tegic value of feed that could be moved from ir- rigated areas to distressed range areas. (9) Maximum stabilizing effects of integration would require a flexible program that would per- mit livestock fattening on the irrigation project when feed is plentiful and a shift to wintering of breeding stock during severe droughts in the dry- land areas. (10) Individual operators having both irrigated and range land could carry feed reserves, but large reserves from an irrigated project would require some form of organization to provide an ever-nor- mal granary and haystack. Further integration.-In the upper part of the basin, much livestock is grazed on public domain, Indian reservations, and national forests during the summer seasons. The irrigated and adjacent crop- lands are largely used, therefore, to produce hay and forage crops for winter feeding. The increased production of forage on new irri- gated land in this area is creating new pressures for additional summer range. The public lands are for the most part being over-used today; the serious deterioration of many of them is due to 50 years of overgrazing. Any additional numbers of stock on these ranges would further deplete the re- source and add to the already serious sediment problems, unless accompanied by more stringent protection of the range by effective land man- agement. A hopeful element in this situation is the in- creasing interest in flood irrigation and water spreading as devices for increasing the amount of hay available for livestock. The farmer accom- plishes flood irrigation on his land by constructing 225 |