Agricultural News
Oklahoma Pasture and Range Condition Ratings At Their Best Since 2010 As We Enter Winter Season
Tue, 24 Nov 2015 06:21:46 CST
As the end of November nears- we are coming to the end of the weekly Crop- Weather reports that are issued by the National Ag Statistics Service- a part of the USDA. The midwest states are always focused on corn and soybean plantings, conditions and harvest numbers. Here in the southern plains- the farm and ranch community watches winter wheat and cotton and grain sorghum conditions from March to November.
However- we can really see the impact of drought on the beef cattle business here in Oklahoma if you look at the pasture and range conditions- and consider the year to year changes. The pasture conditions really model the forced liquidation that Mother Nature dictated earlier this decade when drought pushed hundreds of thousands of Mama Cows off the ranches in Oklahoma and neighboring states.
As we enter the winter season of 2015- Oklahoma pasture-range conditions are in the best condition they have been in since at least 2010, with 43% rated good to excellent and only 17% in poor to very poor condition.
That's a slight improvement compared to last November- and 2015 is much better than the ratings of 2013, 2012, 2011 and even 2010.
Here's the Good-Excellent combined number for the last weekly report of each of the last six years when it comes to pasture-range conditions in Oklahoma:
2015- 43%
2014- 39%
2013- 20%
2012- 3%
2011- 2%
2010- 27%
The poor to very poor ratings soared to eighty to eighty one percent in 2011 and 2012. Here's the Poor to Very Poor Ratings for 2015 back to 2010:
2015- 17%
2014- 22%
2013- 40%
2012- 80%
2011- 81%
2010- 27%
These ratings help explain both the liquidation in 2011 and 2012 as well as the rebuilding in 2014 and 2015 of the Oklahoma Beef Cow herd.
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