NASS Data Shows Better-Quality Pastures

OMAHA (DTN) -- Continued rainfall as needed has kept pasture and range conditions good throughout a large part of the country.

Improvement is seen in the drought-stricken state of Nebraska with a movement of 9 points in the good-to-excellent category and 11 points fewer in the very-poor-to-poor category, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report on Monday. While only 33% of pasture and range is considered good to excellent, only 26% is in the very-poor-to-poor conditions.

Other states seeing pasture improvement include Iowa, Montana and Oklahoma, moving 4, 5 and 6 points, respectively. States seeing a smaller percentage of pastures in the good-to-excellent category are Wyoming, Colorado and North Dakota with a decrease of 16, 10 and 7 points, respectively. Wyoming still only has 21% of pasture and range rated good to excellent. The Southwest states of Nevada and Arizona continue to suffer the most in the country with zero percent and 4% of pasture and range considered good to excellent, respectively. Montana has seen improvement, but still only has 17% of pastures and range rated good to excellent.

Nevada has 90% in the very-poor-to-poor conditions category, and Arizona is at 78%. Montana still has 56% considered very poor to poor, which is a 9-point improvement.

Hotter and drier conditions are expected through the Central and Southern Plains, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"A ridge in the region will strengthen this weekend and may push these disturbances north and east next week," Baranick said. "Though some isolated showers may form in the High Plains, this would generally cause hotter and drier conditions going into August."

The Midwest will see a front move through this week with showers and thunderstorms, mostly to the northwest. Temperatures south of the front are increasing and could cause stress to the areas that are a bit drier, Baranick said. More rain is expected through the Northern Plains through next week to make for good growing conditions into early August.

The increase in moisture has led to some challenges with weed growth in pasture and hay fields, especially throughout the Midwest.

Iowa State University Extension Forage Specialist Shelby Gruss said regular pasture monitoring and addressing weed issues early can help provide minimal long-term impacts.

"In predominantly grass-based pastures, selective broadleaf herbicides can be used effectively without harming the forage species," she said. "However, in mixed grass-legume stands, herbicide options are much more limited since most broadleaf herbicides will also damage desirable legumes. In these cases, mechanical control methods like mowing, hand-pulling, or grazing management become especially important."

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	11	17	29	32	11
Previous week	11	17	26	33	13
Previous year	12	17	31	33	7

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