REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Rain provided some relief this past week to areas of the Plains where drought has been lingering. And while pasture and range conditions haven't seen much movement in these states, improvement should be expected.

Nebraska has been the beef-producing state with ongoing issues of poor pastures and range due to drought and wildfires. This week, Nebraska saw no movement on either end of the conditions. The state is holding with 5% of pastures in the good-to-excellent category and 80% marked as very poor to poor.

South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma all saw improvement on the very-poor-to-poor conditions, with improvements of 5 percentage points, 3 points, 4 points and 5 points, respectively. Texas saw no movement on this map.

"We had some really good rain in a lot of areas last week, including a lot of drought areas in the Plains," said DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick. "A front brought more showers to some drying areas in the Midwest, too. The busy pattern continues this week and next week, to boot. Multiple systems and fronts will combine to produce daily showers and thunderstorms east of the Rockies."

Baranick said he expects showers to be more hit-or-miss in the Plains, but a lot of rain is expected to traverse the middle of the country this week. This moisture should help to improve pasture and range conditions for a lot of primary areas.

Arizona continues to have drought concerns, which were also seen in the state last year. Very-poor-to-poor conditions are marked in 83% of the state's pastures and range, while only 8% is rated good to excellent. Most of the state is in D2 severe drought, according to the drought monitor map. Overall, the drought monitor shows improvement across the country, especially in the Southeast U.S.

Baranick said warmer temperatures could have some effects on pasture and range conditions, with some areas of the Central and Southern Plains, as well as the Midwest, seeing temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit. Triple-digit readings are possible in west Texas.

"But the heat is somewhat short-lived," he said. "One of the fronts will move through the Northern Plains on Tuesday and spread milder air down the Plains and into the Midwest for the following couple of days. It won't be super chilly, but a noticeable drop in temperature."

Cooler air over the coming weekend into early next week will reduce stress for those areas. He said this is the type of pattern that tends to be more favorable for pasture and range conditions.

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

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.