The Office of the Chief Economist at the USDA recently tweeted out a link to an internal presentation regarding drought in eleven western states and the implications it has for agricultural markets. USDA's chief meteorologist set the stage for the discussion by outlining centuries worth of droughts that have impacted the area in the western United States. Much of the work was gathered from tree rings, and USDA highlighted what it called mega-droughts that lasted decades rather than months or even a couple of years. It proposes the west, now in a drought, if it continues, could be in a mega-drought.