*3.1. The Sample*

The survey instrument contained questions on growers' characteristics, cultural practices, irrigation management practices, and perceptions and attitudes regarding groundwater availability. Table 1 summarizes the information gathered on growers' land tenure, education, and income. Responses were considered to be representative of irrigators operating in the Delta because 88.5 percent of respondents resided in that area and additional respondents lived in neighboring counties. Cracking soils were present in 83.1 percent of the counties where irrigators claimed residence with an average of 27.6 percent of soils classified as cracking.

**Table 1.** Summary statistics of farmer characteristics from an irrigation survey conducted in the Mississippi Delta in 2016.


Almost 80 percent of respondents were land-owner operators, and the remaining growers were operators only. Nearly two-thirds of the farmers completed a post-secondary degree (65.6 percent), and 42.6 percent of respondents indicated that part of their formal education was related to agriculture.

Growers also identified the range of income they had achieved the previous year. A total of 101 valid responses were recorded with 31.7 percent of respondents refusing to provide an answer or being unsure with respect to which income bracket they belonged. Amongst the valid responses, fifty-three-point-five percent of farmers claimed an annual income of less than USD100,000. The median income in the sample was between USD75,000 and USD100,000 per year.

Income level is expected to be positively correlated with the adoption of conservation practices [4,6]. Also, the level of farmer education positively influences the adoption of irrigation-related precision agriculture practices [6].
