The United States is experiencing its driest fall on record, which could potentially impact the quality of upcoming fall crops, experts told ABC News.

About 77% of the continental United States is abnormally dry, and nearly half of the country is facing drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The spatial distribution of dry conditions varies greatly across the continent, Josue Medellin-Azuara, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Merced, told ABC News.

Improvement in drought is not expected across much of the South, the Plains and parts of the Upper Midwest due to expected La Niña conditions this winter that would further strengthen, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts. drought.

However, a large portion of the fall harvested crops in these areas have enjoyed good growing conditions throughout the summer and are now being harvested, meaning overall production is not expected to be too affected, said Joseph Glauber, a senior fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and former chief economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told ABC News.

Some summer crops are even expected to see record yields, according to the latest report from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Record yields for corn and soybeans – at 183.8 bushels per acre and 53.1 bushels per acre, respectively – are expected.

Drought conditions are a relatively recent development. As of June 2024, drought coverage in the United States was at a four-year low, according to the USDA, citing statistics from the US Drought Monitor.

Drought conditions in the continental United States increased from 12% in June 2024 to 45% in October 2024, according to the US Drought Monitor. July was “good,” but the drought really started to get worse in August, Glauber said.

The drought could impact the quality of many fall crops, such as yield test weights, Glauber said. The sudden shift to dry weather favored a rapid pace of ripening and harvesting of summer crops, according to a statement provided to ABC News by the USDA. As of October 20, more than 81% of U.S. soybeans and 65% of corn have already been harvested, compared to five-year averages of 67% and 52%, respectively.

“Any time you stress a plant, you risk problems that could develop,” Glauber said.

An autumn drought can also create a ripple effect throughout subsequent seasons, Precious Tshabalala, Food Economist & Environment of the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News.

The USDA’s Economic Research Services predicts food prices will rise by less than 2% in the near future, but if the food in question is used to feed livestock, a domino effect of rising prices – for produce dairy and meat – could happen, she said,

“Any disruption to water supply during critical harvest phases or even during the growing season could result in lower yields,” Tshabalala said.

Additionally, according to the USDA, there has been some recent degradation of rangelands and pastures, as well as a lack of soil moisture for the establishment of fall-seeded crops, including corn wheat. winter. As of October 20, nearly half (48%) of U.S. rangelands and pastures were rated in very poor to poor condition.

Places like California, where precipitation is highly variable, are used to these conditions, Medellin-Azuara said. They generally rely on melting winter snowpack, which then flows into irrigated rivers and feeds agricultural fields.

“At this point, we’re not as affected by the drought,” he said. “We produce most of the crops in the summer.”

Despite the impacts of the drought, food prices are not expected to be significantly affected, Glauber said, adding that it is generally the global market – such as the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the impact on wheat production – which causes prices to rise. drastically.

“The price of typical groceries at grocery stores — only 25 percent of that is agricultural value,” Glauber said. “The rest comes from post-operations, meaning transportation and distribution costs, and even things like wage rates, all of which have increased since the pandemic.”

Tshabalala warned that as global warming worsens, rainfall variability and its impact on farmers and food prices will also increase.

“These catastrophic weather events will cause variations in temperature and rainfall, increasing the risk for farmers and, therefore, affecting food availability and ultimately food prices,” she said. “We’ve seen this in the past, so the trend is still the same, if not getting worse.”

ABC News’ Max Golembo contributed to this report.