Cracks in the ground are now an inch or two wide. Ponds that have withstood many sizzling summers have gone dry.
With pastures losing their protein and feed hay hard to come by, ranchers are taking their cattle to market early.
Rick Cooper hasn't seen it like this in Sedgwick County, Kansas, in decades.
"Probably 1980," said Cooper, who manages the Andale Co-op branch at Furley in northeast Sedgwick County. "I don't remember anything quite this drastic since then."
This year is drawing comparisons with 1980 and Wichita's other hottest summers, and the heat is being magnified by a lack of moisture.
Wichita and the surrounding area is now in extreme drought, according to the National Drought Monitor. The drought has gradually moved east from southwest Kansas as the summer has progressed and the rain has stayed away.
Read the complete story at kansas.com
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