WALTONVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- Gov. Pat Quinn says the state will offer an array of debt restructuring and loan programs to farmers and ranchers affected by the drought.
He visited a family farm in the southern Illinois on Monday, where much of the corn crop is wilting.
Quinn says the state has also launched a website to help. It's drought.illinois.gov
The Illinois Farm Bureau says it's the six driest year on record so far. The average precipitation of the first half of the year was 12.6 inches. Much of Illinois' corn and soybean crop is suffering.
Drought is affecting much of the Midwest, where almost a third of the nation's corn crop has been damaged by heat and drought so severe that some farmers have cut down crops midway through the growing season.