As September brings cooler mornings and the smell of freshly cut mint to the fields south of Madras, Jefferson County farmers are wrapping up a growing season defined by one word: drought.
Governor Tina Kotek declared a drought emergency in Jefferson County in April through Executive Order 26-07, adding the county to a growing list of Oregon jurisdictions facing an extraordinary water crisis driven by historically low snowpack, one of the warmest winters in state history, and years of precipitation deficits that have left reservoirs and rivers critically strained.
Reduced Allotments Hit Producers Hard
The North Unit Irrigation District (NUID), which delivers water to roughly 58,000 acres of farmland across Jefferson County from the Deschutes and Crooked rivers, approved sharply reduced water allotments for the 2026 season. Farmers received just 1.30 acre-feet per acre from the Deschutes River and 0.65 acre-feet per acre from the Crooked River — significantly below what most crops require for a productive growing season.
Those cuts forced many producers to make painful choices early in the spring: fallow fields they would otherwise plant, pivot to less water-intensive crops, or watch yields fall short of covering their costs.
“When you’ve got less than half the water you need, you have to decide what lives and what doesn’t.”
The Numbers Behind the Stakes
Agriculture is the backbone of Jefferson County’s economy. The county generates approximately $74.4 million in annual commodity sales and supports an estimated $260 million in broader economic activity tied to farming, ranching, and related services — equipment dealers, seed suppliers, labor contractors, processors, and truckers whose livelihoods move with the farm economy.
Jefferson County is nationally recognized for specialty crops — peppermint oil, certified grass seed, and certified potato seed — all of which are water-intensive. When the NUID’s allotments shrink, those are the crops most at risk. By April, U.S. Drought Monitor data showed 94% of Jefferson County under severe drought conditions, with no part of the county classified as drought-free.
Fallowing Becomes a Survival Strategy
Fallowing — intentionally leaving fields unplanted to conserve water and soil health — became widespread across the county this season, continuing a painful pattern that has repeated in recent drought years. While fallowing protects long-term soil structure, it slashes farm revenue and ripples through the local economy: fewer inputs purchased from local suppliers, fewer seasonal workers hired, fewer truck runs to processing facilities.
Some producers shifted acreage to dryland grain varieties that don’t require irrigation. Others drew on savings or operating credit to bridge the gap between what the land produced this year and what it costs to run it.
Eyes on the Snowpack
As harvest wraps up across the plateau, attention among farmers and irrigation managers is already pivoting to winter. Next year’s water supply depends almost entirely on what falls in the Cascades and the Blue Mountains between now and April. A dry or warm winter could mean another brutal season; a deep snowpack changes everything.
The Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District and OSU Extension Service have both signaled plans for fall planning sessions to help producers evaluate options for 2027 — including water-efficient irrigation upgrades, cover cropping strategies, and federal assistance programs available through the drought emergency designation.
For Jefferson County’s farm families, the hope is uncomplicated: a wet winter, full reservoirs, and enough water next spring to plant every acre.