NASS Data Sees Poor Pastures Overall
Upper Plains Pastures Struggling, Forecast Showers Could Offer Short-Term Relief for Some Areas
OMAHA (DTN) -- The first part of June is typically when cattle producers have all their cows on pasture. Conditions of pasture and range currently look to be suffering for quality as compared to a year ago.
While pastures and range in good-to-excellent condition seem to be widespread in 2025, those in the very-poor-to-poor category are more extreme than the previous year. The southwest states of Arizona and Nevada are especially dry with 81% and 95% of pastures in the worst category, respectively. Montana continues to see 53% of pastures in very poor-to-poor conditions and with only 14% rated good to excellent.
Southern states seem to have improved on pasture conditions with Texas having 31% in the very-poor-to-poor category as compared to 41% last year. The 2025 number is 7% worse than the previous week. Oklahoma has only 11% of pasture and range in the very poor-to-poor category, while 77% are good to excellent.
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The Upper Plains, including Nebraska and South Dakota, continue to have some droughty conditions. Nebraska has 31% of pasture and range in very poor-to-poor conditions and only 27% are good to excellent. South Dakota is also suffering with 27% rated very poor to poor and 36% in good-to-excellent condition.
DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said that while the hot conditions have moved in for a few days across much of the center part of the U.S., the more consistently hot and dry conditions are expected to become more of a problem as we get more into summer.
Baranick expects a front to produce showers and thunderstorms in the Midwest through the weekend. Some heavy rain could be seen in the southern U.S. again if a front gets held up.
"Some isolated showers moved through this past weekend before a front moved into the Central Plains on Sunday with more widespread showers and thunderstorms into Nebraska," he said.
The overall forecast for showers could bring some much-needed short-term relief to pastures and range in dry areas.
See the accompanying maps for more on the changes in various states.
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National Pasture and Range Conditions (48 states)
| Very poor | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent | |
| 48 States | 12 | 17 | 28 | 31 | 12 |
| Previous week | 11 | 17 | 26 | 33 | 13 |
| Previous year | 10 | 15 | 28 | 39 | 8 |
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