Rangeland Productivity Forecast updated 

As the growing season starts to wind down, peak production across grasslands has come and gone. The Grass-Cast Forecast, which estimates forage productivity or future forage growth on native rangelands also winds down as dormancy sets in. 

Because of this, the three “what-if” scenarios shown in the map, made on Aug. 6, look similar across the precipitation probabilities. 

In the eight- to 14-day precipitation outlook provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), much of the region is likely to experience near to above average precipitation. 

However, as many rangelands did not receive adequate moisture during the growing season, areas shown in yellow, orange and red are likely to remain this way. 

Individuals can find specific production estimates for their local area by visiting the zoomable maps at grasscast.unl.edu. 

It is important to remember Grass-Cast provides a forecast for total production, rather than grazeable production. So, if the map indicates an area might have 20 percent less pounds per acre than usual, this could translate into a 40 percent reduction in grazeable forage if the “take-half, leave-half” rule is followed. 

Averi Reynolds is an ORISE science communications fellow for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Northern Plains Climate Hub, serving Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota. The USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub strives to provide unbiased information about adaptation and mitigation strategies for ranchers, farmers and foresters to help increase their operations’ resilience to weather variability and a changing climate. For more information on the Northern Plains Climate Hub, visit climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/northern-plains.