"As the war in Ukraine disrupts the global grain market, a volatile climate leaves Kansas on track to harvest its smallest wheat crop in decades."

"This single field, just 160 acres of Kansas dirt, tells the story of a torturous wheat season.

One side is a drought-scorched graveyard for grain that never made it to harvest.

Near the center, combines plod through chest-high weeds and underwhelming patches of beige wheat, just enough of it to make a harvest worthwhile.

And over by the tree line, the most tantalizing wheat beckons like a desert mirage. The grain there is flourishing, the beneficiary of a late-season shift from dry to drenching. But it will never be collected: The ground is too waterlogged to support the weight of harvesting equipment."

Mitch Smith reports for the New York Times August 9, 2023. [2]