U.S. drought crisis

Triple-digit temperatures and weeks without rain withered and destroyed many crops in the Midwest, sending commodity soybean and grain prices soaring in 2012.

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  1. FILE - This NOAA satellite image taken Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, provided by the National Hurricane Center shows Category 2 Hurricane Sandy moving northward across eastern Cuba. According to the Nation
  2. FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2012 file photo, dust is carried by the wind behind a combine harvesting corn in a field near Coy, Ark. A brutal combination of a widespread drought and a mostly absent winter
  3. Rancher Gary Wollert pauses before heading out for work on August 23, 2012 near Eads, on the plains of eastern Colorado. The nation
  4. Cattle eat hay on August 23, 2012 near Eads, on the plains of eastern Colorado. Many ranchers, who
  5. Darren Becker, his hands black from a day of farm work, looks over his cattle field on August 24, 2012 in Logan, Kansas. Like many Kansas farmers who
  6. Darren Becker sifts through arid topsoil under a ruined crop on the family farm on August 24, 2012 in Logan, Kansas. Like many Kansas farmers who
  7. A bull sniffs through a barbed wire fence on the Becker family farm August 24, 2012 in Logan, Kansas. Like many Kansas farmers affected by the record drought, the Beckers are working hard to hang on t
  8. In this Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012 photo, Terry Slotty, one of the organizers of the Wisconsin State Cow Chip throw, stands over this year's chips in Sauk City, Wis. Organizers had to dip into chip re
  9. In this Aug. 22, 2012, drought condition water levels have taken their toll on the wildlife at Anderson Lake State Fish & wildlife Area near Astoria, Ill. According to the latest drought report releas
  10. Barges and their towboats accumulate alongside the Mississippi banks of the Mississippi River near Greenville, Miss., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say low wa
  11. The 350-foot U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  12. A winch and a crane keep a dredging apparatus steady as it sucks up sand from the bottom of a navigation channel on the Mississippi River on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012 near Memphis, Tenn. The Mississippi R
  13. Water gets churned up at the end of a dredging pipeline connected to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  14. A lowering river allows the sand bars to emerge in the Mississippi River near Greenville, Miss.,Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say low water levels that are re
  15. In this Aug. 3, 2012 photo, Tony Frost, of Frost Farms, surveys a pond in the cattle pasture that serves as the water source for his cattle that has nearly dried up in Tallula, Ill. After months of dr
  16. In this Aug. 3, 2012 photo, Tony Frost, of Frost Farms, lines up a hose into a 1,000-gallon water tank in Tallula, Ill., as he fills it to take back to the farm for his cattle. After months of drought
  17. This photo from Aug. 1, 2012, shows a drought damaged ear of corn in Westfield, Ind., corn field. U.S. corn growers could have their worst crop in a generation as the harshest drought in decades takes
  18. In this Aug. 3, 2012 photo, a stock tank is filled with water by Tony Frost, of Frost Farms, for his cattle in Tallula, Ill. After months of drought, the central Illinois creeks and ponds that the 300
  19. This photo from July 31, 2012 shows dried corn plants in Yutan, Neb. U.S. corn growers could have their worst crop in a generation as the harshest drought in decades takes its toll, the government rep
  20. A pepper plant grows on the farm of Jerry Jimenez on July 26, 2012 near Cobden, Illinois. Jimenez
  21. A towboad and its barges pass under the old Mississippi River bridge at Vicksburg, Miss., Thursday, July 26. 2012. in a switch of extremes, the river has dropped to very low levels this summer unlike
  22. Drought US
  23. A field of corn withers under triple-degree heat north of Wichita, Kan., in Sedgwick County Monday, July 16, 2012. The drought gripping the United States is the widest since 1956, according to new dat
  24. Corn stalks struggling from lack of rain and a heat wave covering most of the country are seen Monday, July 16, 2012 in Farmingdale, Ill. The nation
  25. An empty dock sits on the bottom of a dry cove at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and being lowered 1 foot every fiv
  26. Corn stalks struggling from lack of rain and a heat wave covering most of the country lie flat on the ground Monday, July 16, 2012, in Farmingdale, Ill. The nation
  27. A pontoon is anchored on a mud flat as the owner could not reach their dock at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Monday, July 16, 2012. The reservoir is down nearly 6 feet from normal levels and b
  28. Lighting strikes over a barn surrounded by a soybean crop in Donnellson, Iowa Adrees Latif / Reuters
  29. Drought US
  30. Steve Niedbalski chops down his drought and heat stricken corn for feed Wednesday, July 11, 2012 in Nashville Ill. Farmers in parts of the Midwest, dealing with the worst drought in nearly 25 years, h
  31. Drought destroys Iowa’s corn
  32. Drought US