Nearly half of the land mass of the contiguous United States is experiencing drought conditions, according to the latest US Drought Monitor released last week, and conditions are getting worse in the Northern Plains and west of the Rocky Mountains. The drought is dire in California, with nearly half of the state is in “exceptional” drought, up from one-third of the state in July.

Conditions in the upper-midwest have affected corn and soybean crop ratings and the USDA’s take on inventories, with 60% of the corn crop was rated good/excellent in the latest assessment earlier this week. The other major concern is for water supplies and feed crops in the south west, where for the first time ever, the US government declared a water shortage on the Colorado River, a life source to the region.

Heavy rains are expected across the upper-midwest in the next few days, which will help the soybeans crop, but will arrive too late to make a big difference to corn yields.