Before the American Revolution, a huge tree has been standing in central Missouri, growing to 90 feet tall. The beloved bur oak, which everybody calls "The Big Tree," has survived all kinds of punishments during 350 years on the prairie. But last year's record drought was rough on the tree, causing it to wilt and alarming two locals who nursed it back to health.

The beef industry is shaped like a bottle: It starts at the bottom with 750,000 small ranches and ends with just four meatpacking plants processing about 82 percent of the beef we eat.