After a favorable June, hot and dry conditions took hold across much of the Corn Belt in late July, stressing corn during pollination and soybeans during pod set. Minnesota and Wisconsin saw the sharpest decline as flash drought developed, while dryness also expanded across western Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
A band running through central and eastern Iowa into Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio has stayed drought-free from planting through harvest. Those eastern states dealt with excess moisture and saturated soils instead, a different threat to yield potential.