North Carolina Weekly Crop Survey – September 13, 2026
Drought Impact Analysis From Extension Agents Across the State
Drought Impact (County Reported)
Select a level to isolate it on the map.
Comment Signal
Worsening / crop stress intensifying
Some relief / conditions improving
Uneven rainfall / mixed conditions
Persistent drought / little change
Map of county-reported drought impact
Every county on this map is listed, grouped by impact level, at the end of this page under “View county data as a list”.
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Statewide Trends
Rainfall has been highly variable and mostly spotty, giving only localized, short-term relief to soils and crops.
Corn yields are widely reduced, with reports of short plants, abandoned fields, and ongoing low-yield harvests.
Pastures and hay fields are stressed statewide, with lost cuttings and increased supplemental feeding reported in multiple counties.
Water supplies are strained in some areas, with wells running dry and mandatory restrictions reported locally.
Soybeans, vegetables, and other row crops are exhibiting reduced yield and quality in many counties.
Top Statewide Concerns
- Reduced corn yields
- Pasture and hay loss
- Low subsoil and stream levels
- Insufficient and spotty rainfall
- Water supply shortages and restrictions
- Increased irrigation and supplemental feeding needs
Regional summaries
West / Mountains & Foothills
(Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, Swain, Yancey)
- Most mountain counties report abnormally dry conditions with localized moderate to severe drought (e.g., Burke severe, Clay moderate).
- Pasture and hay regrowth is slowed; some producers increasing irrigation and supplemental feeding, and surface streams are low in places.
- Some counties note low current impact as the season winds down, but dry periods since August persist and earlier drought reduced yields/quality.
Piedmont / Sandhills
(Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Davie, Forsyth, Hoke, Moore, Orange, Person, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Wake, Yadkin)
- Piedmont has many severe to extreme reports, including extreme or exceptional drought in several counties (Caswell, Rockingham, Stokes, Person, Wake).
- Widespread crop impacts: corn and hay losses, thin soybeans with poor pod fill, and reduced hay production on some farms.
- Recent light or spotty rains gave localized relief but have not erased cumulative seasonal deficits.
North & Central Coastal Plain
(Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Edgecombe, Franklin, Johnston, Jones, Northampton, Warren, Wayne, Wilson)
- Coastal plain counties range from abnormally dry to extreme (Craven and Wayne reported extreme), with subsoil and water-table deficits noted.
- Topsoil received scattered, variable rains that helped some fields, but many later crops and harvests are expected below average without more consistent moisture.
Southeast Coastal Plain
(Bladen, Brunswick, Duplin, Pender, Robeson, Sampson)
- Southeast coastal counties include extreme and severe drought reports (Brunswick, Bladen, Robeson) with significant losses in dryland crops.
- Strong or spotty showers improved topsoil in parts of some counties, but waterways and streams remain low and relief is uneven across the region.
County Comments Highlights (selected notes from impact and additional comments)
Wake
Most of the county remains very dry for the past month. Some locations received rainfall over the weekend but mostly <0.25". While rains about a month ago were useful to keep plants growing, continued high temperatures are again starting to impact growth/yields. Soybeans are very dry, thin and pods not filling and pasture/grass is poor
Robeson
Dry conditions persist in the Southern part of the county with hit and miss showers. Northern part of the county is in much better shape. Spotty showers provided some help to topsoil moisture over the weekend but most of the rain chances in the forecast never developed well.
Cabarrus
Peppers and tomatoes took a heavy hit
Hoke
Corn harvest continues with yields coming in below average on early planted corn. Other crops and pastures are fairing but it can be seen that they are still stressed.
Orange
Orange county is still in moderate and severe drought conditions, however, much of the county received approximately 1.5 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday which greatly improved the upper soil moisture levels across much of the county. Northern band approximately 20 % is in severe drought conditions. No additional comments.
Surry
The region has not experienced any significant rainfall events in at least one full week now while battling extremely high temperatures ( low to mid 90's) for this time of the year. Plus as of the time of completing this survey the region is not forecasted for another significant rainfall event for a whole other week well into 9/22 at best. Due to no rainfall and extremely high temperatures crop conditions are starting to show small signs of drought once again as corn harvest starts to ramp up within the region.
Swain
no drought at this time, even though a more dry period has settled in since August. No drought impact, but a dry period has settled in since the summer months of July and August, which more much more wet than now.
County analysis as a list
View county analysis as a list
Exceptional Drought (1 county)
- Person - Persistent drought / little change
Extreme Drought (8 counties)
- Brunswick - Persistent drought / little change
- Caswell - Persistent drought / little change
- Craven - Persistent drought / little change
- Forsyth - Worsening / crop stress intensifying
- Rockingham - Persistent drought / little change
- Stokes - Worsening / crop stress intensifying
- Wake - Persistent drought / little change
- Warren - Persistent drought / little change
Severe Drought (5 counties)
- Anson - Persistent drought / little change
- Bladen - Persistent drought / little change
- Burke - Worsening / crop stress intensifying
- Robeson - Persistent drought / little change
- Wayne - Persistent drought / little change
Moderate Drought (15 counties)
- Cabarrus - Worsening / crop stress intensifying
- Chatham - Persistent drought / little change
- Chowan - Persistent drought / little change
- Clay - Persistent drought / little change
- Cumberland - Persistent drought / little change
- Davie - Persistent drought / little change
- Edgecombe - Persistent drought / little change
- Franklin - Persistent drought / little change
- Hoke - Persistent drought / little change
- Johnston - Persistent drought / little change
- Moore - Persistent drought / little change
- Orange - Some relief / conditions improving
- Pender - Persistent drought / little change
- Richmond - Worsening / crop stress intensifying
- Wilson - Persistent drought / little change
Abnormally Dry (14 counties)
- Buncombe - Worsening / crop stress intensifying
- Cleveland - Persistent drought / little change
- Duplin - Persistent drought / little change
- Haywood - Some relief / conditions improving
- Henderson - Persistent drought / little change
- Jackson - Persistent drought / little change
- Madison - Persistent drought / little change
- Northampton - Persistent drought / little change
- Randolph - Persistent drought / little change
- Sampson - Persistent drought / little change
- Surry - Persistent drought / little change
- Swain - Persistent drought / little change
- Yadkin - Persistent drought / little change
- Yancey - Persistent drought / little change
No mapped response (4 counties)
- Caldwell - Some relief / conditions improving
- Currituck - Persistent drought / little change
- Gaston - Persistent drought / little change
- Jones - Persistent drought / little change
Note: Map reflects county-reported drought classifications from the September 13, 2026 survey. Comment signal summarizes the tone of county narrative responses. Counties without a clearly mapped report remain unshaded.