<p>Corn, soybean and wheat prices have soared lately due to poor crop estimates amid extreme drought conditions in 26 states.</p>
<p>The blistering summer and ongoing drought conditions have the prompted the U.S. Agriculture Department to declare a federal disaster area in more than 1,000 counties covering 26 states. That's almost one-third of all the counties in the United States, making it the largest distaster declaration ever made by the USDA.</p>