In a year with no hurricanes, most Floridians have been thankful to not have to board up windows, evacuate to higher ground or stock up on flashlights and bottled water.
But for Florida’s agricultural sector, months without rain have caused other problems.
Throughout the year, farmers across the state have been dealing with extremely dry conditions. In the first part of 2025, South Florida missed out on its spring rain, leading to severe drought.
And now, the Panhandle is experiencing its worst drought in over a decade, with some areas in a rain deficit of 7–9 inches below normal.
Pat Durden’s cows walk across a dusty pasture in North Florida in late November 2025.
“Some of my farmers kind of joked that this was their farewell tour,” said Doug Mayo, county extension director for Jackson County with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).
This fall, farmers in Gadsden, Jackson, Liberty and Calhoun counties, among others, saw their crops suffer under the dry heat and their cattle graze on parched and stunted pastures.
Currently, most of the state is experiencing drought conditions, from abnormally dry in Miami-Dade County, to a moderate drought in Hillsborough, to extreme and exceptional drought conditions in north Florida and the Panhandle.
“Everybody is happy that the hurricane season turned out the way it did, but (the hurricanes) took all the moisture with them, just dumped it out back in the Atlantic,” Mayo said.
Water, grass in short supply in north Florida
Agriculture is the second largest economy in Florida, following tourism. In 2022, agriculture, forestry and fishing generated $11.34 billion in gross revenue in Florida, and the state was third overall in the United States for total cash receipts for fruit and nut crops.
“We need farmers to stay in business,” Mayo said. “If you want to see a town transform, plant all these acres, and see commerce grow.”
But the lack of rain this year complicated things for both farmers and cattlemen in Florida this year. Most of South Florida was in extreme drought from April through early September, said George Rizzuto, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.
“It’s not unusual for a tropical system at landfall to drop 20 inches of rain, which would knock back drought conditions in one shot,” Rizzuto said.
But no hurricanes this year meant the water levels got so low in the Everglades, airboat tours were unable to continue, he said.
Drought conditions around Florida as of Nov. 26, 2025.
In August, dry conditions shifted north, and a drought began to develop in the Panhandle.
“It was much warmer than normal, so we dried out really quickly,” said Kelly Godsey, senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.
It’s the first time since 2011 that North Florida has experienced exceptional drought conditions. And they could have not come at a worst time, as August through October are crucial for north Florida agriculture.
In Jackson County, many of the farmers decided to go all in on peanuts this year to avoid issues with tariffs, as most of the peanut supply in the country is sold domestically.
They thought it was a safe bet, but the drought complicated things. The peanut harvest season landed as the drought worsened. Mayo has heard reports from local farmers of extremely low yields of peanuts, like 300 pounds an acre. Normally, an acre produces 3,500 to 4,000 pounds.
One 76-year-old man who has been farming peanuts his whole life told Mayo this is the worst season he’s ever had.
As for cattle, they depend on the hay cut in August to feed their herds over the winter. But the latter part of this hay season was cut short by drought.
“Water and grass are the two main things cattle need, and we have been in short supply since August,” said Pat Durden, legislative chairman of the Florida Cattlemen Association and a Florida Farm Bureau board member.
Normally, grass pastures turn brown after the first frost, which usually occurs in October. This year, pastures turned brown six weeks ahead of time, he said.
Currently, eight counties are experiencing exceptional drought conditions, the highest category of drought, according to the U.S. Drought monitor.
While it rained a over 1 ½ inches this week and it’s expected to rain another 6 inches over the Dec. 6 weekend, the winter planting season has already been pushed back a month. Farmers are really hoping for a “winter recharge” to kick in (North Florida’s winters are much wetter than South Florida’s).
“We know we’re in a predicament, just how long will it last?” Durden said. “If we have a dry spring, this could get much worse.”
Low water levels are evident at the Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed on the Flint Pen Strand trails in Bonita Springs on Friday, May 23, 2025. Southwest Florida is in a drought, but consistent rains could be on the horizon.
Drought losses add up
Mayo said farmers are already gathering data to apply for federal disaster assistance to help with any losses caused by the drought.
“They’re already hurting with the economy, and the cost of everything has gone up, and yet the price that they get from their crops is so low. They’re getting squeezed on both sides,” Mayo said.
For cattle farmers, they can apply for Livestock Forage Disaster Program funds, but the timetable to receive money for losses is slow.
Durden knows he’s going to have to spend more money on more hay for his cows, as he’s had to start setting bales out in his pastures a month early. But the drought will also affect things like birth rates, which won’t be able to be assessed until next year.
“We know it’s coming, but it’s not like it’s taken its full impact. That won’t be felt for a while,” he said.
While the Livestock Forage Disaster Program will dole out around $40 per bale of hay, Mayo said, Durden said an average bale of hay today costs around $70. Multiply that times four per cow to cover the entire winter, the costs add up.
A red angus cow and her calf stand in one of Pat Durden’s pastures in North Florida.
“I think people just drive by fields and they’re like, ‘Oh look, it’s a farm, it must be working.’ But when you cross into that field, you’ve got Florida farmers that are extremely worried, day by day, to make sure that they’re actually going to make it to next year,” said Rep. Danny Alvarez, R-Tampa.
Alvarez, the sponsor for the 2026 farm bill, said he is amenable to helping Florida farmers during the upcoming legislative session. “We’ve done it in the past; we’ll do it again,” Alvarez said.
Durden said Florida’s farmers and ranchers have endured through the hard times for centuries, even before Florida was even a state.
“We’ll get through this drought,” he said. “It’s never fun, but no one has ever told me that ranching or farming was going to be easy.”
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida farmers struggle as severe drought grips the state
