This past week marked USDA’s final Pasture and Rangeland Condition rating for 2024 and the end result is some of the lowest on record since 2012.
According to USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey, “We are looking at the amount rated very poor to poor getting past the 50% mark during the week to reach 51%, very poor to poor. That is up three points from last week. Meanwhile, pasture and rangeland rated good to excellent, down to 19% nationally from 23% a week ago.
Rippey goes on to share which states are really driving those national numbers.
“That national number of 51% is being pushed higher by values being above 50% very poor to poor in fourteen individual states led this week by West Virginia, 966% very poor to poor. Other states in key agricultural areas that are above 50% include Ohio in the Midwest, we have Tennessee and Arkansas in the South, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Montana on the Great Plains, and then in the West, we have New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. Washington leads the West 77% very poor to poor,” he explains. “Those poor pasture conditions really extend coast to coast and show the need for improved moisture in just about every corner of the county.”
Rippey says that the Atlantic Coast looks to be the only part of the country with lingering areas of pasture still in good condition, with Florida rating 67% good to excellent and North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York also well above 50%.
