Across the Corn Belt, mild, dry weather favors corn and soybean development. However, growing-season rainfall has been substantially below normal in parts of the western Corn Belt, leaving one-fifth to one-third of the corn crop rated in very poor to poor condition on August 21 in Nebraska (30%), Missouri (28%), and South Dakota (22%).
On the Plains, dry weather has returned across much of Oklahoma and Texas, following recent, drought-easing rainfall. Meanwhile on the northern Plains, isolated showers are causing only minor small grain harvest delays.
