drought 2012

In the past three years, Midwestern farmers have seen flooding, then record-setting drought, and now flooding again. "As much as we think we have things cornered and we know what's going to be happening, you just don't know what will happen," a meteorologist says.

The year's dry, hot weather forced aquaculturists to spend a lot more to keep their fish healthy and fed. For US catfish farmers, though, already suffering from competition with Asia, the drought has been an especially hard blow.