Crop Water Use for June 16-23, 2026

June 23, 2026

Crop Water Use for June 16-23, 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.

Irrigation demand continues to climb across the Panhandle as corn, soybean and alfalfa enter more water-intensive growth stages and summer temperatures take hold.

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 notes 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 usage table for Nebraska Panhandle crops with figures and explanatory text.
Figure 1. Estimated crop water use for Nebraska Panhandle crops: June 16-23, 2026.
Table showing estimated crop water use data for various Colorado crops during the previous week.
Figure 2. Estimated crop water use for northeast Colorado crops: June 16-23, 2026.

 

Explore our full collection of CropWatch articles.

Explore Articles