'Am I out?' Drought and rising costs from Iran war deepen pain for US farmers

By Tom Polansek and Julie IngwersenTULIA, Texas, May 20 (Reuters) - Scott Irlbeck crouched in a field of stunted wheat plants in a parched stretch of West Texas and slipped his hand into a crack wide enough to swallow it.Last autumn, Irlbeck planted a crop that barely grew because rain never came. He now hopes his insurance adjuster will declare it a total loss so he will not need to spend money on pricey fuel to harvest it next month.

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