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Forecasting climate and plant production provides an advantageous way to move from reactive to proactive grazing land management. Throughout grazing lands water availability and temperature are primary drivers of annual net primary plant production (ANPP) and total annual precipitation is a fundamental indicator of ANPP in native plant dominated communities that receive less than 500 mm of precipitation. In this paper we review the process by which forecasts are produced and showcase several examples of where climate and plant production forecasts can be useful in diverse US rangeland ecoregions. While forecasting is probabilistic and may not be beneficial in all circumstances, our results suggest that if forecasts are used over time, they can provide higher quality information than just chance alone. Collectively, climate and plant production forecasting could aid in moving grazing land management from a reactive to a proactive discipline by allowing producers to prepare for drought or flooding events, set appropriate stocking rates and avoid inflated hay costs, select the most appropriate crop species for annual conditions, and improve rangeland success by only seeding when weather conditions are suitable for establishment.