DROUGHT WORSENS AS USDA CUTS PROJECTIONS
Published online: Aug 29, 2012
Potato Harvesting, Irrigation
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The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map released August 14 held more bad news for the contiguous United States, with 62 percent remaining in some level of drought. And the expanse that is gripped by extreme or exceptional drought rose nearly two percent last week to 24.14 percent.
The center of the drought remains directly over the Corn Belt. With some stage of drought covering the entire states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas, the drought is certainly taking its toll on the corn and soybean crops. According to the August 10 estimates from USDA-the first "in the field" estimates of the year-production numbers are down substantially from what was projected at the beginning of the planting season.
SOURCE: National Crop Insurance Services