You'd think the end of summer would mean the end — or at least beginning of the end — of this year's drought, but the nation's official stat keepers on Thursday revealed otherwise.

With the Midwest corn harvest in full swing, the worst U.S. drought in decades actually worsened: 65.45 percent of the lower 48 states was in some form of drought on Tuesday, up from 64.82 percent a week earlier, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. 

The 65.45 percent is a new record in the 12-year index tracked by the monitor, and it could get worse before getting better.

"I would not be too surprised to see conditions continue to worsen if we do not see widespread rain/snow events" soon, Brian Fuchs, a climatologist who compiles the stats for the Drought Monitor, told NBC News. "The forecast does not bode well for any type of widespread improvements any time soon outside of the central and eastern Corn Belt and maybe into portions of Arkansas and Texas."

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"The western and northern Great Plains have indeed continued to worsen and this has spread into the central and northern Rocky Mountains as well," he added.

Brad Rippey, a meteorologist for the Department of Agriculture, noted that the Seasonal Drought Outlook indicates any improvements are likely to "be at least partially offset by worsening conditions from the Pacific Northwest to the upper Midwest." 

Other stats from the latest Drought Monitor were not encouraging:

• Areas in extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst categories, were at 21.5 percent, up from 20.7 percent a week earlier.
• The worst drought conditions remain in the heart of the U.S. breadbasket, weather.com reported: Nebraska at 73 percent, Kansas at 51 percent and Oklahoma at 42 percent.
• Iowa: 100 percent of the nation's biggest corn producer is in some form of drought. That's the same as the previous week.
• Minnesota: 77 percent is now in drought, up from 64 percent, with extreme conditions in the northwest and spreading into southern areas, weather.com noted.
• North Dakota: 95 percent is in drought, up from 88 percent the week before.
• South Dakota: The entire state is in some form of drought, up from 96 percent.

As bad as it's been, some farmers are feeling lucky they got as much out of their harvests as they have.

"Technology and farm practices have helped compared to the last significant drought in the Corn Belt back in 1988," said Fuchs.

That technology includes seed hybrids engineered to be drought tolerant. While environmentalists are concerned genetically engineered plants will alter ecosystems, farmers are quick adopters.

Related: Drought-resistant corn seen as minimizing crop loss this year
Related: Drought-induced 'bacon shortage' not quite what it seems
Related: Time-lapse photos show drought's impact on corn field

Another factor has been Mother Nature.

"Some soybeans in the mid-South and lower Midwest were helped by late-summer rainfall, which included the remnants of Hurricane Isaac," said Rippey.

In the case of corn, "perhaps one of the biggest wild cards ... was the timing of reproduction," he added. A June/July heat wave "hammered corn in the lower Midwest," he said, while the western Corn Belt was hit by a separate heat wave in July. 

"Fields that managed to pollinate either before or after these two heat waves fared better," he said.

"Still, we lost more than one-quarter (28 percent) of the U.S. corn production from pre-drought estimates — a total of nearly 4.1 billion bushels," he said. "Nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of the U.S. soybean production, or 575 million bushels, was lost."

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Cooler temperatures and rain brought some much-needed relief to the drought-plagued Midwest and South over the past week, according to the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

There was notable improvement in drought conditions from Iowa through Ohio, the report found, and also in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

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But the report wasn't all good news. Conditions deteriorated in Oklahoma, where a lack of precipitation and heat parched the state's soil. Parts of Texas and Louisiana also saw worsening drought.

"It was a week of hit and miss," said the report's author, Michael Brewer, with NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. Brewer told NBC News that some of the areas in the upper Midwest and around the Great Lakes hit hardest by drought "saw some marked improvement from storms."

"Other folks, such as in the High Plains...got hit pretty hard (by drought)," Brewer said. The U.S. Drought Monitor's latest map indicates "exceptional drought" in a significant portion of Kansas and parts of Nebraska and eastern Colorado.

The widespread drought is devastating corn and soybean crops, leading to earlier harvests and lower yields. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 87% of corn crop areas and 85% of soybean areas in the U.S. were experiencing drought as of last week.

"That's played out in the markets where the price of corn is going up to record highs," Brewer said.

With the end of crop season nearing, Brewer added that there's no recovery for this year's crops: "The damage has already been done."

 More coverage of the drought:

Drought sends Mississippi into ‘uncharted territory’  

‘Best year ever’ for some farmers outside drought region     

Drought expected to take toll at checkout 

Americans tell their story of #Drought2012  

In drought-stricken Wisconsin, farmers helping farmers   

Emergency well drilling brings relief to farmers stricken by drought

Have you been affected by the worst drought in more than 50 years? Share your photos with us on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter with the tag #Drought2012. You can also upload your photos in the box below.

FORT WORTH, Texas –  At a grocery store in Fort Worth, shoppers walk the aisles with coupons in their hands and off-brand products in their carts. A still-recovering economy has many looking to save a few dollars on their food bill, a job that is expected to become more difficult before year's end.  

The lingering and pervasive drought that's taking its toll on farmers and ranchers across America's heartland now is expected to soon impact families across the country in the form of higher prices at the market.  

How much higher is a tough question.  

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Rising costs
While the USDA predicts a 3 to 5 percent increase on everything from cereal to steak, some economists believe price hikes will come closer to 10 percent.

 

 

One study suggests a family of four will spend $600 more in 2013 to buy the same products they purchased last year.  

"I'll be more careful about how much I buy so there's no waste and be careful what I buy," one woman told me as she was choosing oranges in the produce section.   

The pictures of wilted crops and hungry cattle – so prevalent this summer – tell us beef and corn will affected. But experts say even items like chips and peanut butter will be more expensive at this time next year.  

“I think we’re going to see price increase across the board,” said Bernard Weinstein, an economist at Southern Methodist University. “Because corn, in particular, is such a ubiquitous product – it’s used in the manufacture of most processed foods. “

So the ripple effect will mean price hikes down every aisle – on products like cereal and chips.

"I will try to find the best price because we don't have a lot of extra money to spend on groceries," said one woman visiting from Ohio and shopping with her daughter.

The biggest hikes are expected to be on some of the staples – dairy, eggs, poultry, pork and beef.

However, beef prices may actually ease a bit in the short term, as ranchers who can't afford to feed their cattle are selling them off early – so there's a healthy supply hitting the market now.

But next year at this time, there will likely be shortages.  So things like hamburger meat, sometimes considered a budget-friendly meal, may soon be priced more like steak.  

‘You’ve got to eat’
Talking to shoppers in this Texas market, they're aware of what's coming and resigned to it.  

"Food is not a discretionary item," one man said as he put a carton of eggs in his basket. "You've got to eat."  

From farmers’ pastures to our own kitchen tables, the drought of 2012 will exact a high toll.

More coverage of the drought: 

Drought sends Mississippi into ‘uncharted territory’ 

‘Best year ever’ for some farmers outside drought region   

Forced to sell cattle during drought, dairy farmers ‘just keep praying’ for rain

Americans tell their story of #Drought2012 

In drought-stricken Wisconsin, farmers helping farmers  

Emergency well drilling brings relief to farmers stricken by drought

Have you been affected by the worst drought in more than 50 years? Share your photos with us on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter with the tag #Drought2012. You can also upload your photos in the box below. 

Could genetically modified seeds be a drought solution?

While farmers across the country struggle with the worst drought in 50 years, CNBC's Jane Wells reports on some genetically modified corn seeds that are specifically made to fight droughts.

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And the global seed business is not small change -- it was a $46 billion in 2012.

But how do these seeds play into the debate over genetically-modified food? Watch Wells report above. 

More coverage of the drought: 

Drought sends Mississippi into ‘uncharted territory’ 

‘Best year ever’ for some farmers outside drought region   

Forced to sell cattle during drought, dairy farmers ‘just keep praying’ for rain

Drought expected to take toll at checkout

Americans tell their story of #Drought2012 

In drought-stricken Wisconsin, farmers helping farmers  

Emergency well drilling brings relief to farmers stricken by drought

See a full play list of drought-related videos here.  

Have you been affected by the worst drought in more than 50 years? Share your photos with us on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter with the tag #Drought2012. You can also upload your photos in the box below. 

Competing for corn with ethanol producers at a time of sky-high prices and drought, cattlemen and other livestock producers have asked for some relief but their plea has yet to get the needed support.

The help would have to come via the Environmental Protection Agency, which has the power to temporarily reduce the amount of ethanol required to be mixed into gasoline for vehicles. Since ethanol is cleaner than petroleum, its use in vehicles helps reduce overall air pollution. 

But the request for a waiver must come from a state or a refiner -- and a day after the plea was made that still hasn't happened.

"Our ears are open and the line of communications is open," Mike Deering, a spokesman for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, told NBC News. But, he added, "we do not have any definitive news at this point and time."

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The Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol trade group, told NBC News that it "wouldn't be surprised" to see a request.

In a statement, the EPA told NBC News that it was in "close contact with USDA as they and we keep an eye on crop yield estimates, and we will review any data or information submitted by stakeholders, industry and states." 

 

Still, Mark McMinimy, biofuels analyst at Guggenheim Partners Washington Research Group, told Reuters he wasn't expecting any change. "I am not sure if this changes the landscape all that much," he said of the livestock producers' plea. "EPA officials and the secretary of agriculture (Tom Vilsack) have all indicated that they are not considering a waiver at this time."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed in his attempt to get a waiver in 2008, and the November elections could make for continued status quo given that President Barack Obama and many other lawmakers are strong supporters of ethanol, which is hugely popular in farm states.

Corn prices have risen 60 percent in six weeks, Reuters reports, and about a third of the U.S. corn supply is used for ethanol. About as much is used as animal feed.

"The drought-induced reductions in the corn supply means that the mandated utilization of corn for renewable fuels will so reduce the supply of corn and increase its price that livestock and poultry producers will be forced to reduce the size of their herds and flocks, causing some to go out of business and jobs to be lost," the cattlemen's association and other livestock groups said in their letter to EPA chief Lisa Jackson.

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