Corn

Corn prices are down more than 40 percent from last year's highs.

Farmers are buying more insecticides this season. That’s because one tenacious pest has developed resistance to a genetically modified corn variety.

This summer's drought meant higher corn prices, and turkeys eat a lot of corn. So restaurants -- and you -- will pay more this Thanksgiving.

The Midwest drought has withered the nation's corn crop and pushed prices up. Now, the market for alternative feed for cattle is skyrocketing -- sending farmers scrambling for cheaper alternatives, like gummy worms and ice cream sprinkles.

Substitutes for expensive corn feed range from the unprocessed -- straw and cottonseed hulls -- to a teenager's diet -- ice cream, chocolate and gummy worms.

The U.S. drought is fueling a corn shortage that's driving up prices around the globe. And yet, federal support for corn ethanol -- a fuel additive -- means some 40 percent of U.S. corn will be turned into ethanol this year.

The Midwestern drought is taking its toll on the corn crop, but over the years, more and more acres have been devoted to corn.

Farmers in dry areas who rely on irrigation start off better in a drought than farmers who count on rain. But when water tables fall, irrigation starts to shut down.