Adding to a mountain of other challenges, "corn disaster" is not what we need to hear. Life is tough enough. After weeks of drought and days of blistering 100+ temps, corn is succumbing to these tortures. Soybeans are next in line. No way can crops withstand such harsh onslaughts of dry, blast-furnace conditions. Fields like this one, right, are becoming prevalent, not the exception. This is America's bread basket.

Photo: Dead cornstalks lay in a field in Indiana's northern Vigo County. This drought has scorched thousands of acres of cropland in the state and throughout the Corn Belt, hurting farmers and raising corn and ethanol prices.

"According to AccuWeather.com Agricultural Meteorologists, you can't raise a corn crop with less than an inch of rain over six weeks, combined with 100-degree and higher temperatures. However, these conditions have taken place in much of the southern corn belt through the week of July 4, 2012." —Record Heat Wave Resulting in a Corn Belt Disaster, AccuWeather, July 8.

This "rain map" below shows that most places in corn growing areas – and throughout the U.S. – received much less than minimally acceptable moisture. AccuWeather states that even though these areas have seen severe droughts dating back to the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s, much of the Corn Belt never put in irrigation. That is simply mind-numbing! For those of us in the high desert, it is like breathing. If you don't do water, nothing survives. So in the Grain Belt, it's up to God, and He alone, whether or not we have corn – and other crops. There are no words for this kind of short-sightedness. Farmers may not be able to afford it now, but they should have done it when they were in tall cotton, so to speak.

TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE, IT'S LIKELY TOO LATE

The last time growing conditions even approached this level of devastation was the 2007-2008 floods that ravaged farmland from North Dakota south through the Gulf. However, today's circumstances are much worse. At least then crops had a bit of a chance.

Image: Look at the drought maps of last year compared to this. Roughly 3/4 of America is experiencing severe dryness. If we don't get water – a lot of it and soon – more crops besides corn and soybeans may fall.

Since high temps and drought hit right during pollination time, corn plants are either producing NO corn or else runty ears. Many farmers are already turning their crops under and making silage for animals.

"Silage" for those who haven't experienced it firsthand, is a crop gathered into one area and allowed to ferment, translate that to "rot". It stinks beyond most publicly acceptable words. Silage is considered a low-grade feed and only used in less than ideal circumstances. When traveling through rural Greeley, CO, there were certain areas where it was best to breathe through the nose because silage was so offensive and penetrating that even with car windows rolled up bile threatened to erupt. Imagine what it was like living on those farms! My husband used to say it was a side-product of brown-gold. Rubbish! It was more like black gag.

These headlines tell the story with no pretty words softening the impact.

"Drought conditions are becoming dire in the central corn belt, with corn and soybean conditions deteriorating fast in the central corn belt states of eastern IA, ILL, IND, OH, KY, and TN such that crop conditions are taking significant drops each week." —Central Corn Belt Drought Getting Dire, Agriculture, July 6.

"Fears are rising that grain crops in the core of the U.S. Corn Belt – the top corn-producing region in the world – will suffer big losses that are already causing farmers to plow up fields in other regions of the belt, agronomists and traders said last week. Iowa and Illinois – which produce about a third of all U.S. corn and soybeans – are threatened by the harshest heat wave in more than half a century. Blistering temperatures, combined with little rain, are stressing corn during pollination, the key growth stage." —Drought, Heat Killing Corn Crop, Columbus Dispatch, July 6.

"Already, the corn crop is down 20 percent from last year and the concern is that it will deteriorate to match the 1988 "monster drought" losses of 30 percent." —Record Heat Could Lead to 'Monster Drought', Christian Broadcasting Network, July 6.

"Corn stocks are in serious trouble in the Midwestern United States as summer temperatures soar and rainfall fails to meet farmers expectations. With less corn production in the world's highest-production growing areas, world food prices are expected to soar alongside the thermometer this summer."—Corn Harvest in Midwest Threatened by Drought, Sweltering Heat, Global Post, July 6.

"The worst drought since 1988 has gripped a large portion of the Midwest, shriveling corn yields and producer profits. The drought, along with extremely high temperatures, extends into the Mid-South and has been particularly damaging to dryland corn production in west Tennessee. The drought and heat could not have come at a worse time, according to grain analyst Richard Brock, with Brock Associates." —Midwest Drought Could Persist, Meteorologist Says, Delta Farm Press, July 6.

SURVIVING A DOUBLE SLAM

The tandem hammer of drought and heat have already taken a toll on this year's corn crop over a large part of America's Corn Belt. Not much has escaped. As summer continues, expect other crops to fail or be severely damaged. This is just the beginning.

IT'S BIBLICAL AND IT'S COMING

Remember Revelation's 3rd and 4th Horsemen of the Apocalypse? It is the prophecy of famine and horrendous inflation so severe people haven't enough money to buy food.

Revelation 6:5-8: "When He (Jesus) broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, Come and look! And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and in his hand the rider had a pair of scales (a balance). And I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius [a whole day’s wages], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine! When the Lamb broke open the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature call out, Come! So I looked, and behold, an ashy pale horse [[a]black and blue as if made so by bruising], and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades (the realm of the dead) followed him closely. And they were given authority and power over a fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with famine and with plague (pestilence, disease) and with wild beasts of the earth. "

We are seeing the early warning signs as God never levies punishment without due warning. It is the last bit of time for people to repent and fix their lives.

This not something we relish, not if we really think this through, consider how hard it will be... realize what an excruciatingly painful time this will be. Most of us wish we could be like Dorothy in OZ, click our heels and just go to the other side, but it doesn't work that way. There is a whole lot of ugly to go through. This is when spiritual, mental and physical prep come in.

FARMERS' CHALLENGES

Farmers in a 14-state area face crop failures again. Some will see financial ruin, which ultimately must be passed onto the consumer and worse, these farmers may be out of busines. Larger consortiums may escape with fewer bruises. Worldwide, people will feel this devastation as so many depend on our Nation's exports.

It's not just this year's crops that are at risk. It's the small farmer who is most likely not to use GMOs, who goes to the expense to farm organically, who has your best interests at heart. He will feel the $$ pain first and sharpest, and succumb fastest. He has no choice and few options. Support your local farmers' markets and CSAs – Community Supported Agriculture! Find yours!

This corn crop disaster was first seen from Kansas to the Ohio Valley. In the last few weeks, drought and heatwaves spread northward from portions of Nebraska and Iowa to southern Wisconsin. This is impacting nearly all of our Nation's Corn Belt.

CORN, THE INVISIBLE MEGA-INGREDIENT

Since 75% of grocery store products use corn as a key ingredient, expect food prices to skyrocket. Corn is also a staple in many fast foods. Corn is in ethanol and the main food source of chickens. In addition to this, maize is in many things that aren't obvious like adhesives, aluminum, aspirin, clothing starch, cosmetics, cough syrup, dry cell batteries, envelopes, fiberglass insulation, gelatin capsules, ink, insecticides, paint, penicillin, powders, rugs and carpets, stamps, talcum, toothpaste, wallpaper, and vitamins. That's just for starters...

Expect dairy, poultry, beef prices to rise and every product that contains corn syrup. The list is nearly endless.

This is a huge heads up for you to purchase corn-using products NOW before these conditions reflect in grocery goods. It will be a narrow window of opportunity.

The other scary thought is how many contracts the U.S. government has entered into obligating us to sell this precious grain to other countries. When I inquired about this obligation during the 2008 crisis, no one had an answer and said I'd have to contact a U.S. grain lawyer. Because circumstances have not been this dire for 80 years, no one really knows, or they aren't saying, lest they scare they pants off Americans in yet another arena. Government's mantra is keep us fat, happy and above all – ignorant. Those of you who listen to Steve Quayle, Alex Jones, Coast To Coast AM should have a huge heads up on what's going on. Pull your head out of mainstream news; ignore the plush-lined hammer pounding the message of "everything's OK, no worries." Anyone, anyone not understanding this is sniffing the fumes of our demise and not sensing truth.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU?

Right now the stock market is undergoing massive downswings. Double ditto for precious metals. At this point, let me say that Stan and I do NOT sell precious metals and only want the best for our readers so we can freely voice our opinion. Looking at this situation, the stock market is artificially propped up and the metals market is likewise suppressed. At some point, these two arenas will collide and it will be fatally ugly for those buying into every day NYSE/Dow charts thinking everything is OK. It's not. We are in death throes or normal. Don't be fooled.

Factoring in that your retirement, investments and financial life-lines are basically screwed, you need commodities, HARD assets. This means tennis shoes, food, water purification, make-up (yes, men get off my back, it's a morale booster and who wants to look at "ugly"), medications, food, fuel, gardens and better yet, alt. energy, greenhouses, seeds, tobacco and booze for barter, toilet paper and TONS OF OTHER VALUABLE resources. We're concerned, friends, that we're getting down to the wire. You MUST prepare. Shortly "normal" life will not be recognizable. This is hard to visualize, yet it is on the horizon. I know it in my gut and my gut would rather be on a white beach sliding into azure waters, playing in the surf.

Source : standeyo.com