Pasture and Rangeland Condition

Pasture and rangeland conditions continue to hold up well across the country, although the news isn’t as bright for our region. USDA meteorologist, Brad Rippey shares more details
Rippey: “If you look at the overall U.S. conditions, they are the highest they’ve been in this late in the year in almost two decades. Now with that said, we’ve seen a dry September in some parts of the country. The mid-South, the mid-Atlantic region and parts of the interior Northwest.”
California netted the biggest downturn with 70 percent of its pasture and rangeland rated poor to very poor.
In Idaho, no range or pasture considered very poor, 45 percent rated fair to poor and 55 percent considered good to excellent. The news isn’t quite as positive in Oregon where 47 percent is rated poor to very poor. 35 percent fair and 18 percent good and no pasture or rangeland in the state was considered excellent.
For Washington, 41 percent of the rangeland and pastures were rated poor to very poor, 37 percent fair and 20 percent rated good and a mere 2 percent rated excellent.