The drought in the U.S. agricultural heartland continues to deteriorate crops in the Corn Belt with no meaningful precipitation relief in sight. After the hottest July on record, insured losses from the 2012 drought are now expected to surpass losses of other historical droughts. According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, losses resulting from farmer claims for the crop insurance industry may exceed $ 13 billion with potential losses as high as $20 billion.