Quick answer: Hay irrigation economics depend on three things: enough water delivered at operating pressure, enough time and labor to cover the field, and enough additional saleable hay to pay the complete annual bill. Start with gallons and hours, then divide annual irrigation cost by the margin on each extra ton. More cuttings alone do not establish a return.
A well and a small traveling reel can look like an affordable route to more hay. The harder question is whether they form a complete, workable system on your acreage. This guide is for hay producers comparing a new irrigation investment with improving a rain-fed operation, buying forage, or using water equipment they already own.
A HayTalk discussion about irrigating 15 acres in South Texas captures the problem well. The proposed budget started with a well, power and a reel; other farmers asked about supply lines, pump pressure, moving labor, coverage and the hay market. We use that discussion to frame the questions, not to recycle its 2020 prices or promised yield increases.
Our scope: XES manufactures bale net wrap, not irrigation equipment. This is a decision worksheet, not a well specification, irrigation prescription or financial forecast. Have a qualified irrigation professional and local Extension adviser assess the site, crop and water supply before committing money.
1. Can the water supply cover the acreage?
Begin with a water budget, not the reel's advertised acreage. One acre-inch is the volume needed to cover one acre one inch deep: approximately 27,154 US gallons, the conversion used by North Dakota State University Extension. It is a unit conversion, not a statement that every hayfield needs an inch on a particular schedule.
The field's actual need depends on rainfall, crop water use, rooting depth, soil water storage and the season. NDSU's checkbook irrigation method distinguishes the water balance and application efficiency. Separate the net water you intend to supply to the root zone from the greater amount that may need pumping. Application losses, uneven distribution and operating restrictions all belong in the feasibility discussion.
A hypothetical 15-acre capacity check
Suppose you want to evaluate delivering one net inch across 15 acres. Assume 75% application efficiency and 20 operating hours per day. Those are worksheet assumptions, not a recommendation for a particular crop, reel or pumping schedule.
Net volume: 15 acres × 27,154 gallons per acre-inch = 407,310 gallons.
Gross pumped volume: 407,310 ÷ 0.75 = 543,080 gallons.
Operating hours: gross gallons ÷ delivered gallons per minute ÷ 60.
| Delivered flow at required pressure | Pump operating hours | Days at 20 hours/day |
|---|---|---|
| 50 gallons/minute | 181.0 hours | 9.1 days |
| 100 gallons/minute | 90.5 hours | 4.5 days |
| 150 gallons/minute | 60.3 hours | 3.0 days |
Moving the reel, repairing a leak or stopping for harvest takes additional calendar time unless already included in the operating allowance. A pump can run correctly and still be too small for the field's required replenishment interval. Conversely, a low-flow supply may be useful for a smaller area or a different objective. The calculation tests the proposal; it does not choose the irrigation schedule.
Ask for the sustained flow at the system's required pressure, not just an unrestricted outlet-flow test or the well's casing diameter. A pond can buffer when water is available, but it does not create seasonal supply. Verify permitted withdrawals, drought restrictions and competing livestock or household demand before relying on the volume. Utah State University's 4Rs of irrigation management also emphasizes source reliability, legal availability and the capacity to catch up after a shutdown; check the rules that apply in your state.
2. What the equipment quote must include
The sticker on the reel or pivot is only one part of a functioning installation. Request one written system boundary: where water starts, how it reaches the field, what pressure is required there, and which parts of the installation are excluded.
- Source and delivery: well or intake work, source testing, pump, supply lines, risers, valves, filtration and connections.
- Energy: electrical service and any demand charges, motor or engine, controls, fuel supply and the cost of operating at the actual duty point.
- Field operation: moving equipment, setup time, turning space, obstacles, inaccessible corners and interference with mowing or baling.
- Ownership: capital recovery, repairs, insurance, applicable taxes, inspections and replacement of wear components.
- Professional and local requirements: design, water authorization, permits, backflow protection where required and site-specific environmental obligations.
Pumping effort depends on flow and total head: lift, elevation differences, required pressure and friction losses. NDSU's irrigation pump-selection guidance explains these relationships. A quote based on a convenient low-pressure test can understate the energy and equipment needed in the field. Ask the supplier to show the operating point, efficiency assumptions and estimated seasonal energy use.
For a current example of cost categories, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's 2026 electric-pivot alfalfa budget separates operating, ownership and fixed-electricity costs. It models a 135-acre Nebraska enterprise, not a 15-acre reel installation. Use its categories to find omissions, not its whole-enterprise cost or yield assumptions as your irrigation forecast.
Do not pick a fuel from a universal ranking. In a separate farmer discussion about irrigation pumps, the practical answers depended on existing engines, available electrical service and local fuel access. Compare the total annual ownership and operating cost of the feasible options on your site.
3. Count saleable hay, not hoped-for cuttings
An additional cutting is not automatically an additional profitable cutting. Your comparison needs the hay you would have produced without the investment, the extra quantity that can be harvested and stored, and the grade and price that extra hay can actually achieve.
Use your own field records where possible. Regional hay-yield estimates can help challenge an implausible assumption, but an irrigated farm in a different climate is not a forecast for your stand. Soil limitations, fertility, crop choice and harvest management do not disappear when water becomes available; keep nutrient decisions in a soil-test-based fertility plan.
Build at least three scenarios: a weak crop response, the response you can reasonably defend, and a stronger response. In each case, compare the same acreage, time period and hay-moisture basis. Deduct storage losses and unsaleable material instead of treating every extra harvested ton as a paid ton.
Irrigation does not buy a dry harvest window. A crop can grow well and still lose market value if cutting, drying and baling cannot be completed in suitable weather. Budget a realistic market mix rather than pricing every additional bale as premium horse hay. Our field-curing guide addresses harvest management; if you are considering equipment-assisted drying as well, evaluate hay-drying system economics separately.
NDSU's checkbook method adjusts alfalfa water-use estimates after cutting rather than applying standing-crop demand unchanged. Its Planning To Irrigate checklist asks whether irrigation improves net enterprise income after labor, capital and management. Neither supplies a universal number of extra hay cuttings or a nationwide shutdown interval around harvest.
If the hay is for your own animals, use the value of genuinely comparable purchased forage it would replace, accounting for delivered cost and feed quality. Avoid valuing extra hay at a premium retail price if your actual alternative is lower-priced feed or if you have no buyer for that grade.
4. Hay irrigation economics: the break-even budget
The useful question is not whether the extra hay has revenue. It is whether the extra margin pays for irrigation. Keep baseline production out of the benefit column: you were already receiving that hay without the new system.
Annual net benefit = additional saleable tons × contribution per extra ton − annual irrigation cost.
Contribution per extra ton = realized hay value − extra non-irrigation production, harvest, storage and selling cost per ton.
The second line includes the costs of making and marketing more hay: added fertility where needed, cutting, raking, baling, bale-binding materials, handling, storage and delivery. Allocate them consistently. Do not subtract an item here if it is already included in your irrigation-cost total.
This follows Penn State Extension's partial-budgeting method: compare changed returns and costs, leave unchanged items out, and test uncertain assumptions. The simple formula below assumes no other material changes. Include any additional avoided costs or reduced returns in a fuller comparison.
An example with deliberately assumed prices
For illustration only, suppose annual irrigation ownership and operation cost $3,500. Suppose extra saleable hay is worth $200 per US short ton, with $60 per ton of additional non-irrigation costs. A US short ton is 2,000 lb; all quantities in this example use the same saleable-hay moisture basis.
The contribution is $200 − $60 = $140 per extra ton. Break-even is $3,500 ÷ $140 = 25 additional saleable tons per year, or about 1.67 extra tons per acre on 15 acres. None of these prices, costs or yields is a current market quotation or predicted result.
| Extra saleable hay/year | Contribution before irrigation | Net after $3,500 irrigation cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10 tons | $1,400 | −$2,100 |
| 20 tons | $2,800 | −$700 |
| 25 tons | $3,500 | $0 |
| 30 tons | $4,200 | $700 |
Now stress the price and cost assumptions as well. If contribution falls, the required tonnage rises. If contribution is zero or negative, making more hay does not cover a positive irrigation bill under those assumptions. A higher harvest count cannot rescue an unfavorable margin by itself.
Keep profitability and cash flow separate. An economic annual-cost budget accounts for ownership over the equipment's useful life. A cash-flow budget asks when loan payments and operating bills fall due. Do not charge loan principal and depreciation against the same economic return, or omit ownership cost because a used reel was paid for in cash. For a long-lived installation, follow this annual screening calculation with a multi-year cash-flow and discounted-investment analysis.
5. Reel, pivot or drip: compare the whole job
There is no universal best irrigation system for a small hayfield. Field shape, water supply, pressure, soil, energy access and available labor can change which systems are even feasible. Compare alternatives against the same net application objective and season, not against different marketing examples.
For a traveling reel, ask how many runs and relocations cover the actual field, who makes those moves, and how many calendar days a cycle takes. For a pivot or lateral system, ask about layout, coverage, obstructions and the ownership cost spread over usable acreage. For drip, ask about filtration, inspection, repair access, crop-management compatibility and site-specific damage risks.
These are quotation questions, not a ranking of systems. The cheaper purchase may require more labor; a system with lower operating demand may require a larger investment. Ask for documented assumptions rather than accepting either advantage as automatic.
Before a new installation, compare improving an existing system, irrigating a smaller suitable area, or buying comparable hay. If storage, fertility or harvest capacity is the present bottleneck, directing the next dollar there may change the result more than adding water.
6. A one-page decision worksheet
Take this checklist to the supplier and your local adviser. A blank should be treated as an unanswered investment question, not silently filled with a favorable estimate.
- Water: usable source, legal availability, seasonal supply and sustained flow at required pressure.
- Crop requirement: a locally justified irrigation objective based on crop, soil and weather, not a fixed internet schedule.
- Coverage: net and gross volumes, operating hours, moves, downtime and harvest interruptions.
- Installed cost: a complete quotation with its exclusions, service requirements and repairs clearly identified.
- Annual cost: ownership plus water, energy, labor and maintenance; a separate cash-flow check if financed.
- Additional saleable hay: conservative, expected and stronger cases, all compared with the same non-irrigated baseline.
- Contribution: realistic hay value less all extra non-irrigation costs, with no double counting.
- Decision: the extra tons required to break even, whether you can defend that response, and what happens in a poor year.
For round bales, include packaging in the incremental harvest cost rather than treating it as free. Once bale size and your planned wrapping practice are known, the net-wrap cost-per-bale calculator can help price that particular input. It cannot estimate the field's response to irrigation.
Frequently asked questions
Is irrigation worth it on 10 or 15 acres of hay?
It can be, but acreage alone does not decide. Test sustained water delivery, coverage time and complete annual cost against the margin on additional saleable hay. Small acreage spreads fixed costs over fewer tons. Existing water infrastructure, usable labor and a dependable buyer can materially change the comparison.
How many gallons does one inch of irrigation require?
One acre-inch is approximately 27,154 US gallons. Fifteen acres therefore require about 407,310 gallons for one net inch. Pumped volume may be higher after accounting for application losses. The crop's required depth and timing must come from local soil, weather and crop information, not this unit conversion.
Can a household well run a hay irrigation reel?
Do not decide from the well's label or casing diameter. The proposal needs sustained flow at the reel's required pressure, sufficient seasonal supply, legal availability and protection for competing uses. Have the well and complete delivery system assessed. A flow figure measured without the operating pressure is not enough.
Will irrigation double my hay yield?
There is no universal doubling rule. The response depends on how strongly water limits that field, along with crop, fertility, soil, season and harvest management. Budget additional saleable tons using defensible local evidence and a weak-response case. Extra growth is not automatically extra premium-quality hay or profit.
What is the break-even formula for hay irrigation?
Divide annual irrigation ownership and operating cost by the contribution from each extra saleable ton. Contribution is realistic hay value minus extra non-irrigation production, harvest, storage and selling costs. Use the same moisture basis throughout. If contribution is zero or negative, there is no positive tonnage break-even under those assumptions.
The decision to make before buying
Good hay irrigation economics start with a defensible water-delivery plan and end with a defensible margin on extra hay. Get the capacity test and complete annual budget in writing before choosing the machine. If either depends on an unverified assumption, resolve that assumption before spending.
When the crop reaches ordinary round-bale production, choose binding materials for the baler and handling job. XES bale net wrap is a packaging input, not a treatment for drought, wet hay or storage problems. Keep those decisions separate so the whole hay budget remains honest.
Featured photo: center-pivot irrigation on a hayfield at Schirmer Farms near Macdona, Texas. Photo by Lance Cheung / USDA, original photograph, public domain. The photograph illustrates irrigation equipment, not the example's 15-acre system; no USDA endorsement is implied.
