of Forecast Operations Ken Reeves. This year's spring wheat crop has been devastated by the lack of significant rainfall and the persistently high heat that has been occurring across the region. Compounding this problem is that the expected poor spring wheat harvest will follow on the heels of what is a very low yield winter wheat harvest. "We're going to be looking at very tight wheat supplies in the U.S. going forward," said Reeves.

"The hot and dry conditions in North Dakota are illustrative of the nasty one-two punch that farmers across the region are experiencing," said AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Dale Mohler. In Bismarck, ND, there was only .8 of an inch of rain in June, compared to the 2.59 inches normally received. For July, no significant rain has fallen so far, where Bismarck would typically receive about an inch this far into the month.

Also contributing to this year's compromised spring wheat crop are higher-than-average temperatures, because with higher temperatures come higher evaporation rates, which diminish the impact of any rain that does occur. Bismarck, for example, has seen temperatures average almost four degrees above normal since the beginning of June.

"While temperatures in the region will cool a bit next week, as for precipitation, there's no relief in sight," added Mohler. "But at this point, even significant rain would not make much of a difference for this year's crop."

Nationwide Economic Impact of the Drought

Spring wheat is used to make bread products, and 90% of the hard red spring wheat crop in the U.S. is grown in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and eastern Montana. The prolonged drought in the region during peak growing season will likely devastate spring wheat yields when the crop is harvested in August. Anticipating this, spring wheat futures are up 40% since March, and have reached their highest price in more than a decade.

"From a business standpoint, any producer or purchaser of bread products is going to be faced with a nasty dilemma," said Reeves. "There are two things that can be done when facing higher prices -- attempt to pass the costs on to customers, or absorb the higher prices and suffer reduced operating margins. So while many fast food companies may feel the pinch or pass on increased costs, they may also, by virtue of their size, squeeze their suppliers. In this case, consumers may not immediately feel the effects of higher prices, but those producers of bread products caught in the middle certainly will."

"Another factor to consider is the plight of spring wheat growers," said Mohler. "A drought of this severity could wipe out some of the farmers in the region."

A Cycle of Drought

Since the beginning of the year, AccuWeather.com meteorologists have been warning that the U.S. would be entering a "summer of climatic hardship" in 2006 based on forecast weather patterns, and the Northern Plains drought is yet another example. This type of drought has occurred before. Specifically, the U.S. appears to be entering a climatic pattern similar to that experienced in the 1930s, when the catastrophic "Dust Bowl