Many areas throughout Kansas have massive numbers of moths flying around outdoors and entering homes. These are army cutworm adults. The army cutworm adults have dark, gray-brown forewings with distinct markings, including a kidney bean-shaped marking on the upper part of the forewings. Adult females lay eggs in the fall with caterpillars emerging from eggs from fall through winter. The caterpillars (larvae) feed on alfalfa and wheat. Army cutworms overwinter as larvae in the soil. Adults emerge from pupae located in the soil in May.

Maintaining the delicate balance of cattle performance and rangeland health is part of the overall goal of managers each year. It becomes easier for these two components to become imbalanced during drought, with several consecutive years of overgrazing contributing to long-term negative consequences on rangeland productivity. While conditions certainly vary, much of Kansas's major beef cattle production areas are in some degree of drought to start the 2023 growing season.

The ongoing drought has affected many areas of Kansas and the Great Plains region. Producers are accustomed to adjusting for shorter-term dry periods but less so with an extended drought.