* High heat to last through Friday
* Cooler and few showers by the weekend
* Heat returns next Wednesday-Friday
* Pollinating corn getting stressed
* Feedlot cattle and pastures under duress
CHICAGO - Mother Nature is hell this week, especially for American farmers and ranchers.
A heatwave has descended on U.S. cropland and pastures, with no relief in sight until the weekend, and then only for a short time.
The hot weather was stressing the pollinating corn crop, and putting grasslands and cattle under duress. Temperatures should cool by the weekend, an agricultural meteorologist forecast Wednesday.
"It's still hot and humid and it will stay that way this week, a little cooler by the weekend and a few showers can be expected then," predicted John Dee of Global Weather Monitoring.
He said temperatures would remain in the mid to upper 90s Fahrenheit to low 100s F throughout the Midwest and cool down to the mid to upper 80s F by early next week. Light showers were also forecast for next week.
"There will be some rainfall, mostly 0.2 to 0.6 inch up to an inch in some areas and about 65 percent coverage," he said. The bulk of the rainfall will be in the northern and eastern Midwest.
An atmospheric high pressure ridge hanging over the Midwest was blocking moisture from moving into the crop belt, as well as causing a buildup of heat.
The hot weather was not only stressing crops and reducing production prospects, but endangering livestock and humans exposed to the searing temperatures.