Drought continues to deepen its grip across the Corn Belt, with Iowa and Illinois seeing some big jumps in the moderate and severe drought categories. As dry conditions expand, it’s also consuming more of the U.S. corn and soybean crops and taking a toll on crop conditions.

The latest national snapshot of drought can be a bit deceiving at first glance. That’s because the U.S. Drought Monitor shows not much change from week to week on a national level, but when you take a deeper dive into the numbers, you see drought conditions worsening in areas of the Midwest, while improving in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

With drought expanding across the heart of the Corn Belt, it means crops are seeing the impacts of the dry conditions. The National Drought Mitigation Center shows drought now covers:

• 57% of the U.S. corn crop
• 51% of soybeans
• 64% of sorghum
• 50% of winter wheat

Those numbers are up from last week, when 45% of corn and 39% of soybeans were covered in drought.

It’s not just the corn crop being hit by expanding drought conditions, but also soybeans. USDA and the National Drought Mitigation Center indicates 39% of the U.S. soybean crop is also in drought, which is an 11-point jump in a week’s time.