America’s #corn farmers high and dry as hope withers with their harvest

Brutal mix of triple-digit temperatures and lack of rain forces farmers in the corn belt to consider abandoning entire crop

“The worst #drought in a generation is hitting farmers across America’s corn belt far harder than government projections and forcing them to a heart-breaking decision: harvest what’s left of their shrivelled acres or abandon their entire crop.

For Mike Buis, who farms in west-central Indiana, the most he could hope for, his best-case scenario, was saving one-third of his crop.

‘I’d be tickled to death if it would make 50 bushels (1.5 tonnes), if we don’t have rain,’ he said. Most of his crop was a write-off, and Buis was already looking ahead to next year.

‘Some stuff technically is not going to be worth the combine bill to harvest it,’ he said. ‘This is my 49th crop, and I have never had a year like this.’”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/22/americas-corn-farmers-dry-harvest