Drought Impacts Iowa Cornfields

Corn withers in fields in Iowa as the Midwestern United States suffers record high temperatures and the worst drought in a generation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that the drought has rapidly increased in severity over the past month. As of August 1, more than half of U.S. counties had been designated as disaster areas by USDA in 2012, mainly due to drought. Less corn means higher prices. And higher prices mean the world’s poorest — who spend as much as 80 percent of their meager daily incomes on food — can’t afford to eat. On July 30, the World Bank issued an alert about food price volatility, noting that prices of wheat, corn and soybeans rose 30 percent to 50 percent in June. The U.S. drought is partly to blame.