Florida is one of the wettest states in the country by average annual rainfall, but that statistic offers little comfort to farmers and water managers right now. According to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly all of Florida was under at least moderate drought conditions in April 2026, and close to 80 percent of the state faced extreme conditions. Dry weather gripped the state for much of 2025, but the Florida drought 2026 intensified sharply starting in January and has since become the most severe episode since 2012.
The situation facing Florida’s agricultural communities is particularly difficult because this drought arrived on top of an already devastating start to the year. Hard freezes in February caused an estimated $3 billion or more in losses to Florida agriculture, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Crops that survived the cold are now struggling to hold on through weeks of relentless dry heat, while farmers who planned spring planting are spending money on irrigation just to prepare their fields.
What NASA satellite data reveals about Florida’s groundwater crisis?
New data published by NASA Earth Observatory shows the Florida drought 2026 has left a measurable imprint on the state’s underground water supply. Using observations from the GRACE-FO satellite mission, a joint project between NASA and the German Research Center for Geosciences, researchers mapped shallow groundwater levels across the state as of March 30, 2026. The results show that aquifers in northern and central Florida are significantly drier than historical averages dating back to 1948. The Floridan Aquifer, which supplies drinking water and irrigation to farms across a wide swath of the state, hit its lowest recorded levels since 2011.
That underground deficit matters enormously for agriculture. As surface soil dries out and rivers and ponds drop, farmers draw more heavily on wells. But when aquifer levels fall, wells must be drilled deeper to reach water, adding cost and further stressing a shared resource that cities and municipalities also depend on. In North Central Florida alone, forecasters estimated that more than a foot of rainfall would be needed in a single month to meaningfully erase the groundwater deficit. The Southwest Florida Water Management District responded by declaring a Modified Phase III Water Shortage Order on March 24, restricting outdoor water use across 11 counties and surrounding areas through July 1, 2026.
How the Florida drought 2026 is hitting farmers from watermelons to peanuts?
The agricultural impact of the Florida drought 2026 is being felt across multiple crop sectors. In the Suwannee Valley region, which produces roughly one-third of all watermelons grown in the United States across approximately 10,000 acres, farmers are watching the clock. The target harvest date falls around Memorial Day, leaving little time for conditions to improve before yield decisions become irreversible. In the same region, peanut and corn farmers report having to irrigate just to prepare their soil for planting, a step that normally relies entirely on natural rainfall and one that cuts directly into already thin margins.
Citrus growers, who were already battling disease pressure and high operational costs before the drought, are now adding irrigation costs to a financial burden that has been building for years. The double blow of the February freeze damage and the ongoing drought has placed many operations in a precarious position heading into what should be the most productive time of year. For ongoing coverage of how drought is affecting crops across the Florida Panhandle and neighboring states, Agroinformacion has been tracking how exceptional drought is affecting spring planting from Florida through Georgia and Alabama.
Wildfires are surging and peak fire season has not yet arrived
The Florida drought 2026 has also set the stage for a dangerous fire season. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson reported that more than 1,500 wildfires burned in the first three months of 2026, putting the state on pace to surpass the 3,100 fires recorded across all of 2025. A 500-acre wildfire in Calhoun County destroyed 16 homes in March, and fires have been reported from Pensacola to West Palm Beach. Simpson noted that the most dangerous months for wildfires in Florida are April, May, and June, meaning the worst of the fire season still lies ahead.
Even the Everglades is feeling the effects, with wetland ecosystems that normally hold water year-round reporting unusually dry conditions. Long-range forecast models suggest that much of central and northern Florida will remain below average in rainfall through April, with some potential improvement possible when the wet season begins in May and June. However, forecasters warned that if the summer sea breeze season arrives late, drought conditions could approach the severity levels last seen in 2000. The original story based on NASA satellite data and U.S. Drought Monitor records was published by Phys.org on April 2026.