Widespread rains finally swept across the Midwest this past week, but they didn’t put much of a dent in the overall U.S. drought picture. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says the U.S. corn-in-drought percentage was actually a little higher on Nov. 1, 2022, when 71% of the crop was considered to be in drought. But, he points out, that was after most of the crop had been harvested. Today, crop conditions are drawing comparisons to 1988, but the drought monitor is showing similarities to 2012 with a few key differences.