GREELEY, Colo. - An unprecedented number of Colorado corn farmers are going back into their fields after harvest to gather leftover corn stalks. That's because drought has limited the supply of other cattle feed sources, and corn stalk prices are high.

The Greeley Tribune reports that most years, corn stalk isn't valuable enough to justify the expense of baling it. But prices of $100 to $125 a ton have made the stalk worth gathering instead of tilling back into the soil.

Last week's Colorado Crop Progress report showed 97 percent of the state's corn had already been harvested. That's well ahead of most years.