Texas
Buying Land in Moore County, Texas
Moore County, seat Dumas, sits over the southern Ogallala Aquifer in the Texas Panhandle, where irrigation and one of the country's densest cattle-feeding economies both depend on the same groundwater. Both come with specific numbers worth knowing before you buy.
Groundwater: irrigation on a resource with a 50-year clock
Moore County sits over the southern Ogallala Aquifer, and for most of the district's territory the Ogallala is effectively the only water supply available -- a finite, slowly recharging resource rather than a renewable one on any human timescale. The North Plains Groundwater Conservation District, headquartered in Dumas and covering 7,335 square miles across Dallam, Hansford, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, and Sherman Counties in full plus parts of Hartley, Hutchinson, and Moore, manages that resource through well spacing, permitting, and metering rules, and has adopted a specific desired future condition for Dallam, Sherman, Hartley, and Moore Counties: keep at least 40% of the aquifer's current groundwater volume in place after 50 years. With more than 10,000 large active irrigation wells across the district, that target is a genuine planning constraint, not boilerplate -- a land buyer counting on irrigation-scale groundwater here should ask North Plains GCD directly about current well spacing rules, permitted production per acre, and whether the district's irrigation-efficiency grant programs (funded in part through the Texas Water Development Board's Agricultural Conservation Grant Program) apply to the parcel in question.
An economy built on cattle, at genuine scale
Moore County ranks among the top beef-producing counties in Texas, and the numbers behind that ranking are concrete: the JBS beef processing plant at Cactus, just north of Dumas, processes roughly 5,200 cattle per day -- more than one million head annually (CORRECTED 2026-09, superseding an earlier overstated 'up to roughly 7,500 per day' figure not supported by any source found; a $150 million expansion underway as of this research is not expected to be operational until early 2027) -- and employs more than 3,600 people, while feedlots scattered across the county hold roughly 180,000 head of cattle at any given time. That scale of cattle-feeding infrastructure means a rural Moore County land search will very likely bring you near an operating feedlot at some point -- see the standalone livestock-feedlots page for what that proximity can mean for water use, air quality, and how Texas actually regulates a large feeding operation. On the septic side, this research found no evidence that Moore County holds TCEQ OSSF authorized-agent status, so plan on TCEQ's Region 1 office in Amarillo for permitting questions rather than a dedicated county department. And for agricultural valuation, the Moore County Appraisal District classifies farmland into irrigated cultivated, non-irrigated cultivated, improved pasture, and pasture/rangeland categories, each appraised by soil type and productivity rather than flat acreage -- irrigated cropland specifically requires the owner to keep crop, irrigation, pumping, lease, seed, fertilizer, and harvest records to support that classification, on top of the standard statewide five-of-seven-years agricultural-use test.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Moore County
Moore County has no general zoning ordinance for its unincorporated area, consistent with the statewide default; the Commissioners Court handles any subdivision or road-standard review. We were not able to verify a direct current phone line specifically for the Moore County Appraisal District within this research's scope -- use the website listed.
Wells / Private Water
North Plains Groundwater Conservation District
Well registration, permitting, spacing, and irrigation-efficiency program questions for a Moore County parcel.
Environmental Health
TCEQ Region 1 -- Amarillo
On-site sewage facility (septic) permitting for Moore County, absent a confirmed local authorized agent.
Assessor / Property Tax
Moore County Appraisal District
Assessed value, property tax, and agricultural (irrigated/non-irrigated/pasture) valuation questions for a specific parcel.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Moore County Clerk
Recorded deeds, easements, plats, and land-record history for a specific parcel.
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Get local guidanceTopics Specific to Moore County
Sources
- Who We Are — North Plains Groundwater Conservation District (accessed 2026-09)
- Region "A" Water Planning Group / Desired Future Conditions — North Plains Groundwater Conservation District (accessed 2026-09)
- Which TCEQ Region is My County In? — Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) (accessed 2026-09)
- Agribusiness — Dumas Economic Development Corporation (accessed 2026-09)
- Moore County, Texas — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09)
- Moore County Appraisal District — Moore County Appraisal District (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09