Which U.S. sorghum counties are most exposed to drought right now?
The U.S. Drought Exposure Monitor maps roughly 6 million planted sorghum acres against the U.S. Drought Monitor's weekly severity map. Sorghum is the drought-tolerant grain crop of the western Plains, so the sorghum view is built around the same regions where drought risk is structurally highest — showing where the most sorghum ground sits under active drought right now, and where conditions are headed — refreshed every Thursday.
Where U.S. sorghum is grown
Sorghum is the smallest of the five row crops covered by the Monitor, with roughly 6 million planted acres in a typical year. Kansas alone accounts for close to half of national production, with Texas a distant second. The rest of the crop is spread across Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Nebraska, and parts of the Mid-South. Almost the entire U.S. sorghum crop is grown west of the I-states, in geography where rainfall is limited and irrigation is too costly relative to crop value.
That geography is no accident. Sorghum is one of the most drought-tolerant grain crops grown in the United States — its agronomy assumes a dry year is a probable year. Producers in western Kansas, the Texas High Plains, and the eastern Colorado plains plant sorghum on ground where corn would not be economical. That makes sorghum's exposure profile structurally different from corn's: the same drought severity reading carries different meaning when it falls on a crop bred for dryland conditions.
How the sorghum view works
The headline view shows planted sorghum acres as columns colored by current U.S. Drought Monitor severity — hard data only, with no insurance assumptions. The watch list ranks counties by drought-weighted planted acres: planted acres multiplied by severity. A "Forecast Drought" view nudges current conditions by NOAA CPC's Seasonal Drought Outlook to show where the next three months point, and a "vs Last Year" view tracks the change in severity year over year.
Insurance is nuanced across the grazing-heavy western Plains, which is why the Monitor keeps it as context rather than building it into the drought reading. A meaningful share of small-grain and forage acreage in this region is insured as forage rather than grain — through Annual Forage or Pasture, Rangeland and Forage policies that cover the same ground against drought — and sorghum itself is often grown as forage and grazed. A grain-only coverage figure therefore understates how much of this ground is actually insured against drought. The Monitor shows the full per-county footprint across all federal programs, with crop-insurance acres, grazing and forage acres, and rangeland listed separately and never summed, since a single field can carry more than one policy.
Sorghum's drought tolerance is a real agronomic feature, but it is not unlimited. Severe drought in a county where sorghum is the primary crop still drives yield losses. The Monitor reads sorghum on the same axes it uses for every other crop, so the drought picture is comparable across crops even when the underlying agronomy is not.
The inputs are the same the rest of the tool uses: planted acres from USDA NASS, current drought severity from the U.S. Drought Monitor, the NOAA CPC outlook for the forecast view, and insurance context from USDA RMA's Summary of Business.
Data sources for sorghum drought exposure
Every input behind the sorghum view is public, free, and refreshed on a known cadence:
| Source | What it provides | Refresh |
|---|---|---|
| USDA NASS | Planted sorghum acres by county, with three-tier waterfall for current-year coverage | Annual + intra-year revisions |
| USDA RMA Summary of Business | Per-county insurance context across all federal programs — crop insurance, grazing/forage, and rangeland shown separately | Monthly mid-year + crop-year close |
| U.S. Drought Monitor | Current drought severity (D0–D4) by county | Weekly, Thursdays |
| NOAA CPC Seasonal Drought Outlook | 90-day forward outlook — development, persistence, improvement, removal | Monthly |
Frequently asked questions
Which U.S. states grow the most sorghum?
Kansas leads U.S. sorghum production by a wide margin, growing close to half of the national crop on its own. Texas is the second-largest producer, followed by Colorado, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The crop is concentrated in the western Plains, where rainfall is limited and corn is often not economical.
Does a grain-insurance figure capture how much sorghum ground is insured against drought?
Not on its own. Across the grazing-heavy western Plains, a meaningful share of small-grain and forage acreage is insured as forage rather than grain — through Annual Forage or Pasture, Rangeland and Forage policies that cover the same ground against drought. Sorghum is also grown as forage and grazed in much of this region. A grain-only coverage figure therefore understates true insurance against drought. The Monitor shows federal crop insurance as honest per-county context across all programs — crop insurance, grazing and forage, and rangeland listed separately and never summed.
Why is sorghum's drought-exposure profile different from corn's?
Sorghum is one of the most drought-tolerant grain crops grown in the United States. Producers in the western Plains plant it specifically on ground where corn would not be economical — meaning the typical sorghum county is structurally exposed to drought in a way the typical corn county is not. The Monitor still scores sorghum on the same axes, but the absolute exposure numbers should be read in that context.
Where is U.S. sorghum most at risk from drought this week?
It changes weekly. The Monitor reorders its sorghum watch list every Thursday after the U.S. Drought Monitor publishes. Historically western Kansas, the Texas High Plains, and the eastern Colorado plains draw the most exposure when summer drought develops. The current week's view is on the live tool.
Other crops
Each crop has its own geography, its own planted footprint, and its own drought-stress window — so the watch list for one rarely lines up with another.