There is nothing new under the sun. The greedy merging corporative powers at the very top of the economic and political ladders increasingly control the rest of us with an iron hand.
Consumers rule over producers.
The answer is simple. Exports didn't keep up with production despite the drought. Also, there were severe problems with the sales of Starlink Corn and Roundup Ready Soybeans that were being boycotted by importing countries around the world, especially Asian nations. This current drought cycle begin with the sudden cooling of the Pacific waters in June of 1998 nearly three years ago. However, I'm still expecting that most of the tropical storm action this year will again be pushing up the Atlantic Coastline from Florida to the Carolinas northward into New England and Canada.