Kansas Grassland Conditions
This page provides users with a quick link to up-to-date information including current plant growth, drought conditions, current weather and streamflow. The latest NRCS NRI Rangeland Resources Assessment is included. Grazing folks should be especially pro-active in monitoring and recording plant growth and precipitation on a year-round basis, then using that information in developing a drought management plan as a key component of their over-all grazing management and ranch management plan.
Is Kansas Native Grazing Land Threatened by Farm Bill Policies?
Compared with producers in other regions, producers in the Northern Plains (specifically Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota) were more likely to convert rangeland to cropland. The Northern Plains accounted for 57 percent of U.S. gross conversions of rangeland to cropland in 1997-2007, even though the region encompasses only 18 percent of the Nation’s rangeland. See recent USDA ERS Report
Kansas Applied Remote Sensing - Green Report
Green Report - KARS present vegetation greeness and crop biomass/vegetation relative condition maps. Dr. Kevin Price, Department of Agronomy & Department of Geography, Kansas State University, has kindly provided and given permission to use a two part presentation, "Comparative Mapping of Vegetative Growth" Part 1 and Part 2 he put together to explain how the Green Report is prepared and interpreted.
National Drought Mitigation Center - U.S. Drought Monitor and Drought Planning
This "drought planning" link is a brand new site under development by the National Drought Mitigation Center that is not actually public as yet. This is a temporary address for the site. If you are interested in testing it out, you can enter "reviewer" for username and "ranchplan" for password to log on to the site. After you log on, click on one of the green tabs and you should be able to navigate the site. There are still features that have not be developed as yet. We will let you know when this site goes public. The National Drought Mitigation Center contact for this site is Tonya Haigh, Research Specialist,(402) 472-6781, thaigh@unlnotes.unl.edu)
Current Kansas Weather Conditions
- National Weather Service
- Rangeland Fire Danger Index
- Current weather radar
- KSU Research and Extension Weather Data
- Kansas CoCoRaHS - Daily Precipitation Map
USGS Streamflow Information
The following United States Geological Survey (USGS) site provides real time streamflow (you can check your local stream levels), water quality, and groundwater levels for over 200 sites in Kansas.