CROP COLLAPSE: Drought conditions have worsened in parched Plains states, punishing withering corn and soybeans and devastating pastureland that ranchers depend on.

DRIED OUT: As of Tuesday, the area of the country experiencing extreme drought rose nearly 2 percentage points from the previous week, to 22.3 percent. That was due largely to a worsening of conditions Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

GRAIN GONE: Nearly half the nation's corn crop is rated poor to very poor by the Agriculture Department. About 37 percent of soybeans are in that category and nearly three-quarters of U.S. cattle acreage is in drought areas.