Agriculture
Agricultural drought results from below-normal precipitation and/or above-normal temperatures/wind that evaporate moisture from soils and plants. The location, extent, and severity of drought impacts to agriculture depend on underlying social and ecosystem vulnerabilities, access to irrigation, types of crops grown, and other factors.
Agricultural Drought
According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, agricultural drought “links various characteristics of meteorological (or hydrological) drought to agricultural impacts.” Detection and monitoring of agricultural drought focuses on precipitation deficits, differences between actual and potential evapotranspiration (evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and transpiration from plants), soil water deficits, and reduced water availability.
U.S. Crops and Livestock in Drought
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts hundreds of surveys each year and a Census of Agriculture every 5 years. NASS prepares reports covering virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture, including agricultural commodities statistics for crops and livestock.
This map displays USDA corn crop production (data from 2017) alongside current U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) drought designations. Learn more.
This map displays USDA soybean crop production (data from 2017) alongside current U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) drought designations. Learn more.
This map displays USDA hay crop production (data from 2017) alongside current U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) drought designations. Learn more.
This map displays USDA beef cattle data (data from 2017) alongside current U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) drought designations. Learn more.
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| Scales by Acreage | #095c59 |
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| Scales by Acreage | #623587 |
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| Scales by Acreage | #2a610b |
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| Scales by Inventory | #49b804 |
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| D0 | #ffff00 |
| D1 | #ffcc99 |
| D2 | #ff6600 |
| D3 | #ff0000 |
| D4 | #660000 |
Crop Moisture Index
The Crop Moisture Index (CMI) gives the short-term or current status of purely agricultural drought or moisture surplus and can change rapidly from week to week. The CMI can be used to measure the status of dryness or wetness affecting warm season crops. Learn more.
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| Abnormally Dry | #ffffbd |
| Excessively Dry | #ffd27e |
| Severely Dry | #ffa800 |
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| Abnormally Moist | #e9ffbb |
| Wet | #a9ff00 |
| Excessively Wet | #076900 |
| Value | Map Hex Color |
|---|---|
| Slightly Dry / Favorably Moist | #fff |
| Missing / Incomplete | #000 |
The U.S. Department of Agriculture produces weekly maps and charts displaying locations and percentages of drought-affected areas corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.
Soil moisture conditions at the daily and monthly scales depicting total soil moisture, percentiles and anomalies, as well as monthly and seasonal change.
The CMI is an index of the relative dryness or wetness affecting water sensitive economies. It provides the short-term or current status of purely agricultural drought or moisture surplus.
VegDRI: a weekly depiction of vegetation stress across the contiguous United States.
NASA/USDA provides access to Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) data products - a drought index based on remotely sensed evapotranspiration (ET).
Groundwater and soil moisture drought indicators based on terrestrial water storage observations derived from GRACE satellite data and integrated with other observations, produced each week by NASA
Agriculture Resources and Research
Climate Toolbox | Future Crop Sustainability Tool
Midwest Regional Climate Center | Crop Decision Dashboard
Midwest Regional Climate Center | Irrigation Investment Tool
State Mesonet Observational Data
U.S. Agricultural Commodities in Drought
USDA | National Agricultural Statistics Service | Agricultural Impacts by State