Ganshorn's farm is in Kosciusko County

Ganshorn's farm is in Kosciusko County, wholesale rayban sunglasses which is in extreme drought. He figures he won't get much return on his corn crop but hopes his soybeans, which are hardier and pollinate later than corn, will survive. STORY: Lower corn crop yields could mean higher food prices He's already calculated what this hot, dry summer means to his bottom line. "It just cancels any idea" of buying a newer used combine to replace his rickety old one, he says, and "there will be no trip to Colorado this year." Searing temperatures and below-normal rainfall across a broad swath of the USA have created a drought that is killing crops and drying up streams. More than 1,000 counties have been declared natural disaster areas, giving farmers access to wholesale price ray ban low-interest loans. Mississippi River water levels in some areas are nearing record lows. The conditions have prompted water-use restrictions in Illinois, Indiana and elsewhere, increased risk of wildfires and a marketplace domino effect that could mean more expensive groceries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week dropped the estimated average corn yield by 12%. That means higher prices for corn, which forces livestock producers to liquidate herds because feed is too expensive. That, in turn, could mean higher prices for meat and dairy products next year because there will be fewer cattle, hogs and cows. Food prices already are ticking upward. The Labor Department said Tuesday that food costs rose 0.2% in June from a month earlier and are up 2.7% from June 2011. The culprit is a weather pattern that produced dry conditions in the middle of the country starting last fall, says Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center. Those conditions were exacerbated by a winter that where to find vintage oakley sunglasses was warmer and drier than normal, he says.