Crop Water Use for May 26-June 2, 2026

June 2, 2026

Crop Water Use for May 26-June 2, 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.

Crop water use is beginning to climb across the Nebraska Panhandle as crops move into more active growth stages, marking the start of the irrigation season and the need for closer monitoring of field water demand.

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 Dr. 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 Panhandle 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.

Register online to receive a weekly text message with the table information.

More Resources

Estimated crop water use table for Nebraska Panhandle crops with detailed figures and growth stages.
Figure 1. Estimated crop water use for Nebraska Panhandle crops: March 26-June 2, 2026.
Estimated crop water use table for Colorado crops, showing water use by crop and growth stage.
Figure 2. Estimated crop water use for northeast Colorado crops: March 26-June 2, 2026.

Explore our full collection of CropWatch articles.

Explore Articles