The crippling drought in the United States is driving grain prices ever higher, paving the way for higher food prices and igniting fears of a replay of the crisis of a few years ago.
Corn plants struggle to survive in a drought-stricken farm field near Evansville, Ind. Broiling heat has blanketed much of the U.S. Midwest this week, exacerbating the region’s worst drought in more than 50 years and devastating corn, soy and other vital crops. (JOHN SOMMERS II/REUTERS)
Like this corn in Indiana, crops across the Midwest have shrivelled. The oppressive heat and worsening drought pushed grain prices near or past records on Wednesday. (JOHN SOMMERS II/REUTERS)
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack listens to a question during a press briefing in Washington about the drought. Concerns are growing about food and fuel price inflation in the world’s top food exporter. (KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
Withered corn plants stand next to dried-out hay fields in Princeton, Ind. (JOHN SOMMERS II/REUTERS)
Farmer Merrill Kelsay checks some of his corn in Whiteland, Ind. Mr. Kelsay relies on his crops for the majority of the feed required by his 500 dairy cows, but the drought has lowered yields. (Michael Conroy/AP)
Drought-stricken soybean plants struggle in a field near Princeton, Ind. The new U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday says almost 54 per cent of Indiana is in extreme drought, a situation experts say will take weeks of regular rainfall to relieve. (JOHN SOMMERS II/REUTERS)
Tom Lubbehusen, owner of Lubbehusen Farm in Dale, Ind., cuts and grinds drought-affected corn on his farm to make feed for his cattle. (JOHN SOMMERS II/REUTERS)
Tom Lubbehusen cuts and grinds corn as a dark sky brings thoughts of rain. (JOHN SOMMERS II/REUTERS)
A dried-out field of corn near Paris, Missouri shows drought damage. (ADREES LATIF/REUTERS)
A cow looks for something to eat in a dry pasture southwest of Hays, Kan. More than half of the continental U.S. is now in some stage of drought, and most of the rest is abnormally dry. (Steven Hausler/AP)
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