How do the American farmer use irrigation?
Pipes are used to transport water from reserviours, lakes
(natural or artificial), rivers, or large ponds to the field. Spray
units (there are different types) are used to spray water in the
air (mimicking rain) onto the crops and built so they can be
portable, able to move from one length of the field to another.
Water has to be fresh, not salty, in order to be able to be used to
irrigate crops.
Once it reaches the field, water can also be applied to the crop
through flood or furrow irrigation, or through what's called "drip
irrigation".