Mike (Dax Shepard) while trying to revitalize the soil on his Nebraska farm, explains he cannot afford an irrigation system and needs it to rain. Nebraska leads the nation in the number of acres irrigated with 8.56 million irrigated acres, drawing water from the Ogallala Aquifer, which lies under most of Nebraska.
If Mike were able to afford an irrigation system, center pivot irrigation, rather than gravity or drip systems, is used by 80% of farmers, but constitutes 98% of the irrigated acres in Nebraska.
The High Plains Aquifer, commonly known as the Ogallala Aquifer, is one of the world's largest aquifers and covers about 174,000 square miles. It is under eight states, from South Dakota to Texas, but nearly all of Nebraska is above it. Two thirds of the total water storage capacity is under Nebraska.