Hello All,
About all the news media says is we need rain.  We were down 14 inches last
year at years end and expected to be around 16 inches below normal at years
end this year.
In January the news media starts counting again with January being short or
above normal.
I have been through several of these Midwest droughts but never like the
current drought.
I meet every Monday when I am home at a local restaurant with farmers.
The talk is if to even plant next year. The ranchers are running only a
small percent of the cattle they normally run. Hay is high priced if you can
find hay to buy. Loads are coming in from out of state.
The small ponds are dry now. Water is getting to be a problem for ranchers.
The TV agriculture programs are now predicting a warmer and dryer winter
than last year. Over 60% of the U.S. is in drought conditions. The only
break we have had was the rain off hurricane Isaac months ago.
The news now is the Midwest winter wheat crop is poor and desperately needs
rain.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Midwest USA

If we see another "dust bowl" (like in the thirties) I guess Midwest
beekeepers will have to load up their bee hives (like in the movie Grapes of
Wrath) and head to California. Randy Oliver says commercial beekeeping is
lucrative in California. Surely room for several hundred thousand out of 
state bee hives until the drought breaks?

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