» Drought Monitor Presentation Omaha (DTN) – What a season the crop year 2012 has turned into. A season which began with bright hopes for good production, which were bolstered by rapid planting progress, has instead turned into a nightmare of disastrously hot and dry conditions. The Drought of 2012 has carved itself a huge niche in history–alongside the droughts of 1988, the mid-1950s, and the mid-1930s. The scope of this drought is mind-boggling. As of July 19, about 80 percent of the U.S. was experiencing some form of drought conditions. This was a stunning reversal of fortune from just…