As of April 18, topsoil moisture conditions were rated mostly adequate to surplus throughout the Flint Hills region. With good to excellent moisture supplies, pasture grasses should grow rapidly as warmer temperatures arrive. There is slightly more pasture available this year than last year. The percentage of available pasture already contracted, as of mid-April, stood at 96 percent. The 1997 Census of Agriculture for Kansas indicates the acreage of pasture lands and rangelands total approximately 4.1 million acres in the Flint Hills region.
Water supplies are good to excellent.
Table 2 illustrates that the average number of grass acres guaranteed for steers and heifers were unchanged or lower than 1998. Table 5 illustrates weight group breakdowns for the three regions. The average reported date for the start of the grazing season under full summer season contracts in the Flint Hills region is April 23, ranging from an early date of April 15 in Woodson and Chatauqua counties to May 2 in Geary county. The average reported ending date for the grazing season is October 18. The average reported starting date for intensive or short season grazing is April 23.