Who uses the U.S. Drought Monitor?

Uses of the U.S. Drought Monitor

Many sectors use the U.S. Drought Monitor. For example, the media relies on the map to communicate drought information.

USDA uses the map to distribute billions of dollars in drought relief to agricultural producers through programs such as the Livestock Forage Program. The Internal Revenue Service also uses the map for ranching‐related tax determinations. It is important to note that the map is produced independently of those relief efforts.

Fire managers use the map as one of the pieces of information for locating potential areas of fire danger.

Policy makers use the map to guide decision making and to trigger drought response actions.

The U.S. Drought Monitor’s Role in Policy

The United States Drought Monitor also informs policy. In this video segment, Mark Svoboda, the director of the National Drought Mitigation Center will discuss how the United States Drought Monitor first became involved in policy and its association with the farm bill.

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