Boats sit on the dry, cracked bottom of a cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and being lowered 1 foot every five days to provide water for Indianapolis. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the drought currently affecting the Midwest is the worst since 1956. Drought conditions are currently affecting 55 percent of the land mass in the lower 48 states.
Men walk through a field of dead and stalled corn in Geff, Ill. The nation's widest drought in decades is spreading, with more than half of the continental United States now in some stage of drought and most of the rest enduring abnormally dry conditions. The corn crop is in the greatest danger; corn cannot pollinate without moisture. The U.S. ships more than half of the world's corn exports.
Corn struggles to grow in Illinois from lack of rain and a heat wave covering most of the country. The southern part of Illinois has endured extreme heat and very little rain for more than two months.
Four rows of corn left for insurance adjusters to examine are all that remain of a 40-acre cornfield in Geff, Ill. Over ten days of triple-digit temperatures with little rain in the past two months is forcing many farmers to call 2012 a total loss.
Cattle wait in pens under water misters before an auction sale in Conway, Ark. Many ranchers are selling their livestock during drought conditions rather than pay high prices for hay.
Marion Kujawa feeds corn to his cattle near Ashley, Ill. Many farmers in the Midwest have been selling off their cattle because of the lack of available or the high price of hay and corn in the drought-stricken region. According to the Illinois Farm Bureau, the state is experiencing the sixth driest year on record.
A cornfield that has missed pollination due to high temperatures and little rain stands in Geff, Ill. More than 1,000 counties across the U.S. have been declared natural disaster areas due to the drought conditions.
Marion Kujawa looks over a pond he uses to water the cattle on his farm on in Ashley, Ill. Kujawa has been digging the pond deeper after it began to dry up during the current drought.
The gate is closed on a boat ramp leading to a cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels.
The sun rises in Pleasant Plains, Ill. Corn stalks are struggling in the heat and continuing drought that has overcome most of the country.
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