date:Jul 18, 2012
s of July 15, up from 27 percent a week earlier and 10 percent a year earlier.
Drought, called the worst since 1956, has been unrelenting in the Corn Belt for weeks, although growing conditions to the north and to the west in the Midwest and in parts of the South have been more favorable at least so far. Crops such as oats and rice, for example, appear to be in better shape than the row crops, but the acreage belongs to corn and soybeans.
Good to excellent ratings for corn in the eastern Corn