Instead, withered brown plants, barely half that height, are straggling out of the barren soil. The sorry landscape, repeated in states across the American heartlands, is testimony to the worst drought to strike the region for more than half a century "This drought has already devastated the corn crop," said Mr Melton, who farms 1,500 acres settled by his great-great-grandfather in the late 19th century. "We're just praying for some rain to save the soybeans."