In the Middle West, the drought continues

We suppose it's close to cruel to taunt New Englanders with a photo of a dry roadbed (this one taken just north of Omaha in the Ponca Hills) but the particular curse inflicted this year by nature in the middle of the country is a severe and ongoing drought.
     Well, it's a curse if you grow corn or soybeans. Pumpkin farmers are enjoying bumper crops, according to Bloomberg:

The orange vegetable is usually planted from late May to early July and harvested in late September or early October. This year’s drought included the warmest weather since 1936 in Illinois, the largest U.S. grower of corn and soybeans after Iowa. Field conditions began deteriorating in June, and by July more than 95 percent of the state was experiencing a severe drought, according to the Drought Monitor in Lincoln, Nebraska.