Historic dry stretch affects US crop yields

Ever heard of the Crop Watch? They track how crops are doing. And guess what they found; our soybeans have been struggling for the past three weeks all because of a super dry summer. 

22 fields of corn and soybeans, and not a single drop of rain for any of them last week. Old-time farmers say they've never seen anything like this. 

Now, crops are rated from 1 to 5. The average is 3. This year, soybeans went from a hopeful score of 4.16 three weeks ago to a worrying 3.77 now. However, it's still a tad better than the last two years. 

And corn has gone down too, from 3.8 to 3.7. Especially in states like Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa, and Indiana. 

But wait, there's a silver lining. North Dakota got a sprinkle of rain, and the hot temps from the weekend are expected to cool down. Some fields are all prepped for harvest. A Kansas farmer even said he's harvested about a fifth of his corn and it's looking good, thanks to its early growth. 

But it's not all great. Not many soybeans in Kansas are watered regularly. Some places might even get crops that are lighter because they grew too fast. Also, places like Indiana and Iowa are seeing reduced crop quality due to the heat and dryness.