NASS Data Points to Better Pastures

OMAHA (DTN) -- Pasture and range conditions across most of the top beef cow-calf states have moved to mostly good-to-excellent shape, according to the recent USDA NASS Crop Progress and Conditions report on Monday.

The No. 1 beef state, Texas, has 50% of its pasture and range rated good to excellent, with only 13% in the very-poor-to-poor category. Missouri and Florida have the best pasture and range conditions of the top 10 beef states with 86% and 87% good to excellent, respectively. Missouri also only has 2% in the very-poor-to-poor category, while Florida only has 1% rated here.

The only states in the top 10 list with pasture concern are Montana and South Dakota. Montana only has 17% ranked good to excellent, while 50% are very poor to poor. South Dakota has 44% in the good-to-excellent category and 23% ranked very poor to poor.

Extreme drought continues in the Southwest states of Nevada and Arizona. Nevada has 90% of pasture and range in the very-poor-to-poor category and Arizona has 81% here. These states have zero percent and 5% in the good-to-excellent category, respectively.

DTN Meteorologist Teresa Wells said temperatures are expected to trend warmer in the Midwest with a chance of scattered showers toward the end of the week to bring temperatures back down. The Central Plains are expected to see warmer temperatures, with rain chances likely across Nebraska.

She said scattered showers and thunderstorms will move through the Northern Plains this week, which is good for corn and soybeans, but unfavorable for wheat harvest.

See the accompanying maps for more on the changes in various states.

National Pasture and Range Conditions (48 states)

	Very poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent
48 States	10	16	30	33	11
Previous week	9	17	29	34	11
Previous year	13	18	34	29	6

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