When that tree is sawn into boards, those growth rings produce grain and figure that's straight, consistent and predictable.

NPR: Excerpt: 'A Splintered History Of Wood'

Wavy, ribbon and curly grain are byproducts of spiral grain that reverses itself periodically as a tree grows to produce a thing called interlocked grain.

NPR: Excerpt: 'A Splintered History Of Wood'

Of course, higher corn and grain prices produce ag losers, too, as feed costs climb.

FORBES: How To Make Money Off The Drought: Fertilizers And Food

"Europe has enough grain to produce both its food and fuel needs, " he added.

BBC: EU acts against harm from biofuel crops

Water was also plentiful it takes 1, 000 tonnes of water to produce a tonne of grain and an ingenious process known as Haber-Bosch makes synthetic nitrogen fertiliser easily available to grain farmers.

ECONOMIST: Food in rich countries

October's harvest is expected to produce only some 2m tonnes of grain, and that is assuming North Koreans do not try to cut the crops before they have fully ripened (maize output doubles in the last few weeks of the growing season).

ECONOMIST: Something on the table in North Korea

The problem: It takes so much grain and other resources to produce meat, he says.

CNN: As children starve, world struggles for solution

Thus far the star of this new science has been ethanol, a car fuel made from corn, but around the world chemical, grain and biotech companies are working to produce auto paint, cosmetics, even apparel fiber from renewable resources.

FORBES: Magazine Article