Irrigation is used in Kentucky for both specialty and row crops. Irrigation systems reduce risks of low profitability from low yields and crop stress. Drip irrigation, essential for producing many specialty crops, is used throughout the state on farms of all sizes. Overhead irrigation systems are concentrated in western Kentucky, where farms of 1,000 or more acres account for most of the annual acreage changes in Kentucky's irrigated farmland. This fact sheet focuses on drip irrigation, which increased in use as more Kentucky farms began specialty crop production.