Crop Water Use for July 14-21, 2026

July 21, 2026

Crop Water Use for July 14-21, 2026

By Gary Stone - Extension Educator, Xin Qiao - Irrigation and Water Management Specialist

Graphic for weekly crop water use updates in the Nebraska Panhandle, featuring a close-up of a corn leaf with dew and links to statewide GDD and ET data at cropwatch.unl.edu/gdd-et and agritools.unl.edu.

Hot weather continues to drive high crop water use as corn silks, soybean flowers and irrigation demand intensifies across the region.

The estimated crop water use for Nebraska Panhandle and northeast Colorado crops for the previous week is shown in the tables below. The tables are based on data gathered and calculations made by Gary Stone, Nebraska Extension educator, and Xin Qiao, extension irrigation and water management specialist, both based at the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

Crop water use will vary across the noted areas due to variations in ET, crop growth stage, temperature, soil type, wind and precipitation events. Crop water use will assist growers with irrigation scheduling and efficient water application and use.

More Resources

Estimated crop water use table for Nebraska Panhandle crops with crop types, growth stages, and water needs.
Figure 1. Estimated crop water use for Nebraska Panhandle crops: July 14-21, 2026.
Estimated crop water use table for various Colorado crops with water usage data by crop growth stage.
Figure 2. Estimated crop water use for northeast Colorado crops: July 14-21, 2026.

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