Harvest equipment is rolling across Jefferson County fields this week as farmers bring in the final crops of a growing season that tested patience, planning, and financial reserves from the start.
The 2026 season was shaped early by drought. Jefferson County entered the year with 94% of its land area in severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor — one of the most challenging moisture deficits the county had seen in years. The state of Oregon declared a drought emergency for Jefferson County in April, freeing up some state assistance programs, but the water simply wasn't there in the quantities farmers needed.
Reduced Water Allotments
The North Unit Irrigation District (NUID), which delivers water to nearly 59,000 acres of farmland across Jefferson County from the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers, moved early to set expectations. In late March, the NUID board approved significantly reduced allotments for the 2026 season:
- 1.30 acre-feet per acre from the Deschutes River
- 0.65 acre-feet per acre from the Crooked River
Those figures represent a substantial cut from typical allocations, forcing many producers to make difficult decisions: fallow acres they would normally irrigate, shift to lower-water crops, or absorb higher production costs by purchasing additional water where available.
What Growers Planted — and What They Didn't
Jefferson County's agricultural economy centers on potatoes, wheat, grass seed, and mint, with cattle ranching rounding out the rural economy. With water tight, some growers reduced their potato acreage this year, concentrating available irrigation on their highest-value ground. Dryland wheat, which depends on seasonal rainfall rather than irrigation, also faced stress from the dry winter and spring.
The result: a leaner-than-normal season for many operations, with yields that will take weeks to fully assess as harvest data comes in.
Looking Toward 2027
The bigger question looming over the county's agricultural community is what comes next. The Deschutes Basin has faced multi-year precipitation deficits, and snowpack — the critical driver of summer water supply — has been well below normal for consecutive winters.
The North Unit Irrigation District has ongoing infrastructure and conservation projects aimed at improving long-term delivery efficiency. But many producers and water managers acknowledge that Jefferson County agriculture will need to adapt to a drier future — through improved irrigation technology, crop diversification, and updated water management strategies.
For now, though, the combines and potato diggers are in the fields, the season is wrapping up, and Jefferson County's farm families are doing what they have always done: making the most of what they have.