REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Cattle producers in much of the Southeast U.S. have seen an up-and-down year that is ending with more dry conditions.

Alabama cattleman Eric Smith runs stocker cattle in the Southeastern coastal states and said the spring started out with a very wet pattern, so much that many producers didn't get hay baled like they needed to.

"It was so wet, that some people got the hay cut and then couldn't get in the saturated fields to get it baled," he said. "Others never got grass cut and it got tall and rank. Either way, it was a lot of waste."

Then when summer came, the rains quit and drought conditions set in. "Typically, we get hurricanes or tropical depressions to provide summer moisture. We didn't have that this year," he added.

WEATHER HAS BEEN VARIABLE

DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said the weather patterns for the southeastern states this fall have been all over the place. "We have seen some rather large rainfall events that have passed through the region and have missed others at the same time," he said. "Drought had been growing across southern Alabama, Georgia and northern Florida; but recent rainfall has eased that significantly over the last couple weeks."

Baranick added weaker showers farther north from Kentucky and Tennessee into the Carolinas had started to trend this portion of the region toward drought, only to have some good rainfall move in at the end of last week to alleviate those concerns. "We've also seen some large swings in temperature from bitter cold to unusual warmth," he added.

REMAINDER OF 2025 LOOKS WARM

Smith said some areas have had some rain and have been unusually cool, but the rest of the year is looking warmer with sun, which he said is perfect weather for growing grass or cover crops to help feed the cattle.

"In the winter in the Southeast, we graze a lot of corn and peanut-growing land that has cover crops planted in a conservation tillage plan," Smith said. "Mostly ryegrass and oats are what we will rely on turning cattle out around Christmastime and getting us to spring grass season."

Without the use of cover crop grazing, Smith said the pastures are not fit for grazing once a killing frost has come through. That is when producers must rely on stored hay to feed cattle. He said as long as producers treat their grassland like a crop and don't cheat it from management like fertilizer, it will provide cattle with the needed nutrition to grow.

MIXED FORECAST AHEAD

The forecast for the rest of winter and spring, according to Baranick, looks to continue the trend of mixed conditions. A variable storm track is expected through January after the last part of December's unseasonably warm and dry conditions. The storm track for February and March is more stable with more scattered precipitation in this area and more moisture in Kentucky and Tennessee.

"With the variable conditions already in place, that could be a bit more extreme once we get into mid-spring. Temperatures are also forecast to be above normal for February and March periods, causing forages and pastures to be a little quicker to develop that normal," said Baranick.

For conditions in the Northern Plains, see: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

For conditions in the Southern Plains, see: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

And for Midwest pasture conditions, see: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

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

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

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