Weather

Recent rains improve late-season crop conditions

On the Plains, beneficial showers linger in parts of Oklahoma and Texas. Meanwhile, hot weather continues to expand across the northern Plains, where small grain harvesting is nearing completion. Elsewhere, critically dry conditions persist on the central Plains, where nearly all of the rangeland and pastures are rated very poor to poor in Nebraska (93% very poor to poor) and Kansas (92%).

Across the Corn Belt, mild, mostly dry weather prevails. During the week ending August 19, soybeans rated very poor to poor fell (improved)—on the strength of cooler weather and recent rainfall—five percentage points in Indiana, Michigan, and South Dakota. Even with the improvement, more than one-third (37%) of the U.S. soybeans are rated very poor to poor, including 45% in Indiana, 35% in Michigan, and 31% in South Dakota.

In the South, showers continue in the southern Atlantic States. On August 19, at least 40% of the pastures were rated in good to excellent condition in every Gulf and Atlantic Coast State from Louisiana to Virginia— led by Florida with 83% good to excellent. In stark contrast, drought remains entrenched across the Mid-South, where nearly all of the pastures are rated very poor to poor in Missouri (99%) and Arkansas (85%).

In the West, several large wildfires remain active, primarily from northern California to the northern Rockies. However, Northwestern heat also favors fieldwork, including small grain harvesting.