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Drought hits Midwest hard Under the most wide-reaching drought since 1956 , the United States has been under extreme weather stress, affecting the nation’s water sources and the people and crops that rely on them.
July 26, 2012
Fish float to the surface in a lake near the West Des Moines Library.
Rodney White
/
The Register
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Aug. 3, 2012
Cattle try to keep cool in the remains of a farm pond in a pasture heavily damaged by drought near Cuba, Ill. Farmers in the Midwest and elsewhere continue to struggle with drought conditions.
Scott Olson
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Getty Images
July 12, 2012
A boat sits on the ground in a dry section of the Morse Reservoir, one of three reservoirs that supply water to nearby Indianapolis, in Cicero, Ind. More than 1,000 counties in 26 states are being named natural-disaster areas, the biggest such declaration ever by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as drought grips the Midwest.
Daniel Acker
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Bloomberg
Aug. 7, 2012
Corn crops have been shriveled by a summer without rain in Platte City, Mo.
Julie Denesha
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For The Washington Post
July 22, 2012
An irrigation system shoots water across a drought-striken soybean field outside Eldorado, Ill. The drought gripping the Midwest, the most extensive the United States has seen in more than 50 years, is pushing corn and soybean prices to record levels.
Jim Lo Scalzo
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European Pressphoto Agency
Aug, 7, 2012
A car kicks up dust as it drives by cornfields in State Center, Iowa. An exceptionally hot summer and the worst drought in more than a half century has caused cut prospects for the U.S. corn crop to a five-year low and has sent prices up to more than $8 a bushel in late-July trading. The price surge and limited supply has also prompted ethanol plants to voluntarily slow production by 20 percent, a two-year low.
Justin Sullivan
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Getty Images
Aug. 8, 2012
A gust of wind picks up dust in the remains of a poor harvest of soybeans in Walker, Mo. Wrapped in plastic, the bales of soybeans will help ranchers feed their cows during the lean months that may come if there is no rain.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 8, 2012
Clayton Arnold examines a bale of soybean plants in the remains of a neighbor's field as workers bale a poor soybean crop to feed cattle in Walker, Mo. In the second back-to-back year of drought, farmers are having to make tough decisions on their crops. Arnold fears his soybean crop may also be a total loss.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 8, 2012
Clayton Arnold picks through a silage sample made from corn in Walker, Mo. Typically, cattle consume silage during winter months, but with pastures burned by the sun, there is a heavy demand for fodder for cows now. In the second back-to-back year of drought, Arnold has had to make some tough decisions. He has been farming more than 40 years, and this is the first year he had to make silage with a corn crop.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 9, 2012
Cows feed on a bale of soybeans in Walker, Mo. Brent Gundy raises Brangus cattle, a cross between an Angus and a Brahman. Brangus typically do well in high temperatures, but the drought has taken a toll on Gundy’s herd. Most summers, the pastures are lush. Gundy has been feeding hay and now soybean bales to them to help them get through the high temperatures. "I'll miss a meal before my cattle do," Gundy said. "I am out in the fields taking hay to them in all kinds of weather. These cows depend on me for everything."
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 8, 2012
David Arnold drives a combine through a cornfield damaged by searing temperatures and little rain in Walker, Mo. He farms a diverse array of crops on nearly 4,500 acres with his younger brother, Adam Arnold, and his father, Clayton Arnold.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 8, 2012
Depleted oxygen levels during prolonged periods of high temperatures kill fish like this gar on the banks of the Osage River at August A. Busch Jr. Memorial Wetlands at Four Rivers Conservation Area in Rich Hill, Mo.
Julie Denesha
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For The Washington Post
Aug. 8, 2012
Workers bale a poor soybean crop to feed cattle in Walker, Mo. In the second back-to-back year of drought, farmers are having to make tough decisions on their crops.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 7, 2012
From left, Kelly Wadel, Brian Harmon and Justin Kliethermes, employees of the Missouri Department of Conservation, gently remove wood ducks from a net as they count and band in the Ducks Unlimited Presidents' Marsh at Four Rivers Conservation Area in Rich Hill, Mo. During the worst drought in three decades, much of the water in the wetland has been severely reduced and habitat for waterfowl has decreased.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 8, 2012
A corn husk rests on cracked earth after water levels dropped severely in the Ducks Unlimited Presidents' Marsh at Four Rivers Conservation Area in Rich Hill, Mo.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
Aug. 8, 2012
Adam Arnold, at far left, talks about the tough decisions ahead with his father, Clayton Arnold, and brother David Arnold in Clayton Armold'd home. Soybeans are the next hurdle for the family farm. With few soybean pods setting on the plants, the three need to decide whether it is time to harvest the crop to help feed cattle. Working together, the Arnolds farm a diverse array of crops nearly 4,500 acres.
Julie Denesha
/
For The Washington Post
July 13, 2012
Lighting strikes over a barn surrounded by a soybean crop in Donnellson, Iowa. U.S. ranchers are rushing to sell off some of their cattle as the worst drought in nearly 25 years dries up pastures, thins hay supplies and sends feed costs skyrocketing. The drought in the Midwest follows another one last year in the southern Plains.
Adrees Latif
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Reuters
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Section:/business/economy
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