A year after becoming first-generation farmers, the owners of River & Root Farm are facing one of the most severe droughts in over a century.
A Gainesville blueberry farm, River & Root relies heavily on irrigation. Farm co-owner David Tuthill said the dry conditions have made him and his partner more reliant on their groundwater supply because of the lack of rainfall. During March and April, they had to water their crops every day to keep them alive, he added.
“It's a lot of long nights, early mornings, depending on what time you're watering,” he said. “There's no rain, and irrigation is missing places. Then trees die, and that impacted our production.”
Between freeze damage earlier this year and the ongoing drought, the farm estimates it lost 70% of its crop, according to its website. The losses forced the farm to end its blueberry season earlier than expected. Blueberry season begins in mid-March and usually runs through May, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Much of Florida has been under extreme drought conditions since January, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Alachua County finds itself facing two varying degrees of drought intensity: extreme and exceptional. The latter is the highest drought intensity measured.
Drought conditions began in late 2025 because of less intense rainfall from tropical storms and hurricanes, said Jean Willoughby, a senior planner with Alachua County's environmental protection department.
This lack of rainfall led to the driest April on record in 132 years.
Willoughby said many Florida crops and livestock owners rely on rainfall from storms to sustain them October through May, the drier months of the year.
The St. Johns River Water Management District primarily manages northeast and east-central Florida, including Alachua County. It’s been under a water shortage since February. The district declared a Phase 3 Extreme Water shortage May 13 due to lack of rainfall.
The water management district relies on rainfall to recharge the Floridan aquifer system, an underground water source that supplies much of the state’s drinking water and supports commercial uses like farming and landscaping.
Because of the lack of rainfall, many livestock and farm owners have had to buy hay instead of relying on grass that would grow naturally, Willoughby said.
“When you have to pay for several months to keep your animals well fed, it's cutting into your farm's profits,” she said. “It's certainly a huge impact to your bottom line, and farmers really struggle with just really, really thin margins in some cases.”
Even with recent rainfall, Alachua remains in a rain deficit. It could take several rainstorms for farmers and the county to fully recover, Willoughby said.
In April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated 61 counties across the South, including Alachua County, as Primary Natural Disaster Areas because of the drought.
Because of the designation, farmers can apply for emergency federal loans to replace livestock and equipment impacted by dry conditions.
In Marion County, which neighbors Alachua County to the south, many farmers and ranches report similar concerns.
Caitlin Justesen, Marion County’s UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension livestock agent, said ranchers worry about the long-term impacts of the drought, including effects on cow reproduction if cattle don’t receive adequate nutrition.
Many farmers in Marion County have had to rely on harvested hay from last year to sustain their livestock throughout the drought, Justesen said. Some farmers are forced to purchase supplemental feed like hay to fill the gaps.
Because of dry conditions, Justesen said, many farmers have had to buy fertilizer to help their crops grow, adding to cost as demand increases. Others have been hesitant to use fertilizer without sufficient water to help crops grow, she added.
“Unfortunately, a lot of rainfall is the only thing that really solves this problem,” Justesen said. “But [we’re] just trying our best to hold on tight and maintain [the] viability of as many operations as we can in the meantime.”
Contact Olivia Lofaso at olofaso@alligator.org. Follow her on X @OLofaso77652.
Olivia Lofaso is a third-year journalism student and the Summer 2026 city/county commission reporter. She previously worked as a contributing writer at The Alligator. In her free time she enjoys visiting art museums and solving crosswords.
