Drought Limits Grazing Improvement

REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Pasture and range conditions showed little improvement across most major beef-cow states last week, with more than half of grazing land still rated poor or very poor in Texas and Oklahoma, according to the weekly USDA NASS Crop Progress report.

The top two states for beef cow numbers -- Texas and Oklahoma -- both have over 50% of pastures and range in the very poor to poor category. In Texas, 52% of pasture and range acres are rated poor to very poor, while Oklahoma stands at 66%. These states only have 16% and 9% in the good to excellent category, respectively.

Missouri has seen more of a shift to the negative side for pasture and range conditions over the past few months. Only 31% of the state's pastures and range are rated good to excellent, while 36% are in the very poor to poor category.

Nebraska has suffered from bad pasture and range conditions most of the year due to drought and wildfires; however, more recent rain has helped in the recovery process. While 47% of Nebraska pastures and range remain in poor to very poor condition, the share rated good to excellent has improved to 25%.

DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said that last week allowed for a lot of draining of pastures and range.

"Warm temperatures helped those same areas utilize the water in the soil, while other areas that weren't so lucky unfortunately dried out," he said.

The Southeast has struggled with less-than-ideal pasture and range conditions, as well, but received some relief due to hurricane rainfall.

"We did see some very heavy rainfall in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic due to Hurricane Isaias moving through over the weekend," Baranick added.

As we move into mid-October, weather is variable across the country, with some areas of warm temperatures to help fall grass growth and other areas of very cold temperatures and snow. Montana saw snow over the past weekend in some areas where moisture was much needed. Baranick said that snow will melt this week, leaving behind some good soil moisture for growth up across the north.

He also expects the Western storm system to be slow to move across the country this week, resulting in more rounds of widespread showers and thunderstorms across the Plains and Midwest, including some areas of heavy rain.

"The rainfall should help to continue reducing drought in a lot of the Southern Plains. Some showers will also occur in the Northern Plains, particularly in South Dakota, which could help with the drought there as well," Baranick added.

A burst of cold air is expected behind the system for this weekend, which may result in some frosts across the Northern Plains and Corn Belt.

"But any cold air should be brief, with warmer temperatures coming back in this weekend into next week," he concluded.

Nationally, pasture and range conditions improved slightly during the past week, with fewer acres rated very poor and more moving into the fair category. While drought continues to weigh heavily on grazing conditions in several key cattle states, forecast rainfall and improving soil moisture could offer additional relief heading deeper into fall.

	Very poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent
48 States	21	27	30	18	4
Previous week	22	27	28	18	5
Previous year	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

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