Since the beginning of time, man has lived and worked, subject to the whims of Mother Nature. The earliest livelihoods—fishermen, shepherds, and farmers all evolved in order to weather whatever storm came their way, and, for the most part, we have learned how best to deal with nature's wrath.

Recent events throughout the United States however, have left the breadbasket of our country ravaged—in some cases under water, and in others, completely barren.

Throughout the Red River Valley, flooding has reached up to 38 feet, and the large amount of moisture levels in the soil have severely impacted the arable land that the region relies on—in some cases rendering it completely useless.

In North Dakota, residents of Minot are experiencing overflow from the Souris River, making this the second time in just a few months that some 11,000 people will have to evacuate their homes due to flooding.

But the Souris is not the only river rising beyond its banks. The Missouri River continues to invade parts of Nebraska, a situation that has gotten so dire, that there is a chance the state could be categorized as a disaster area—something that is only considered when 30 percent of the area's production comes to a halt. Unfortunately, with 110,000 acres of Nebraska flooded, this seems to be very likely.

In an attempt to head off this impending economic slowdown, Senator Ben Nelson has begun to act on behalf of his district, inviting Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to tour the area. The Secretary said during his visit that this kind of flooding is likely to stay around for at least two months—a tough thing to hear for Nebraska and Iowa growers who have already lost nearly half a million acres of corn.

In addition to flooding the fields, the high water levels are working away at the levee that protects Brownville area farmers. With the destruction of the levee, local farmers say any hopes they had for this growing season are long gone.

"I don't have the words to describe the devastation our crops have seen this year," said Mike Woltemath a grower who lost his home, bins, machine shed, and all of his crops, to the floods in Hamburg, Iowa.

"It's tough to see so much hard work under water…but even more so, it's hard to know how to face next year. We'll start over. We always start over. But if it weren't for crop insurance, we would be out of business. It's years like this that we couldn't get by without insurance. We'd always rather bring in a crop and have that satisfaction, but sometimes weather doesn't play along."

And unfortunately, Mother Nature's bad humor doesn't end there.

The Missouri River continued its wave of destruction in northern Missouri, where several levees are beginning to fail, threatening 13,000 acres worth of productive farmland.

The floods will continue to set records from Montana to Illinois through the month of July, with reports estimating that the water will continue across millions of acres from Alberta to Ohio, leaving at least 500,000 acres of destroyed farmland in its wake.

In Minnesota, the USDA has reported that corn has only reached a height of—10 inches compared to the 20 inches it had grown this time last year—due to heavy and continued rainfall. Equally as telling is the soybean crop, which reached a height of three inches, compared to six last year.

The flooding is so bad that 34 Minnesota counties have been declared primary disaster areas, meaning that they have suffered at least a 30 percent loss in economic output, while further west, the Bighorn River, Little Bighorn River, Tongue River, and Yellowstone River are all approaching or above flood stage.

Unfortunately, the other half of America's breadbasket is looking a little dry.

Droughts In Texas and throughout the South and Southwest have caused fields to be clogged and "blown out"—something that happens when strong winds blow away the dry top soil—while record temperatures, some as high as 116 degrees, are scorching what few crops are still hanging on.

More than 82 percent of the state of Texas is currently experiencing extreme or exceptional drought, which has reduced agricultural production in cotton and wheat yields significantly.

"This is the worst drought year I've seen, without a doubt," said Dan Smith, a fourth generation farmer from Floyd County, Texas.

"Other years we had moisture in the winter and spring but the last measurable rain we had was during harvest last year—October 14th—then the wind howled through March, April, May and June so we had very little moisture in the soil at planting and have kept irrigation going non stop to keep the crop going. This is the first crop I have grown in 37 years of farming that all the moisture it has received is only from irrigation."

But irrigation can only hold off the inevitable for so long.

"Right now our greatest concern is for the corn crop. Corn does not perform in high temperature and windy conditions and there is no dryland cotton on the high plains of Texas… Some irrigated cotton has been abandoned to concentrate the water on fewer acres."

The dry land has not only sparked a domino effect of economic inaction, but close to 10,000 wildfires that have scorched more than 2 million acres and destroyed 313,000 acres of grassland that served as feed for livestock—a major problem considering that Texas is the nation's top cattle producer, and yet ranchers have no choice but to stand by as they watch their herds' food go up in flames.

"I am thankful for our present farm bill and its direct payment and crop insurance provisions," Smith said. "Without them, this year would put many family farmers out of business and the way would be paved for corporate farm takeovers, and the loss of an affordable, secure supply of food and fiber."