WACONIA, Minn. (DTN) -- Mississippi farmer Thomas Clay has spent much of the last month maintaining his five center pivots and furrow irrigation system.

He can irrigate about 65 percent of his acres, and that's proved to be a blessing this season. His Humphreys County farm, near Silver City, Miss., about 60 miles north of Jackson, hasn't received any rain since May 26 and temperatures the last two weeks ran in the mid to upper 90s.

"If it can stay in the lower 90s, it's not quite as bad, but when you get up to 95 or higher, it really ...