Drought conditions could lead to higher grocery prices - video

Drought conditions could be leading to more expensive trips to the grocery store. Inside the auction house at the Saint Joseph Stockyards, cattlemen are already past nervous. After an encouraging start to their season, that optimism has taken a 180. "We've had the highest cattle prices we've ever had in history," said Merrill Karr, livestock commissioner with St. Joseph Stockyards. "The cattle numbers are down and the demand was good. Then the drought hit and it's changed things all around." Hay fields, cut once so far this season, may not grow back. "I am very, very short on grass and feeding hay already," said cattle rancher Dan Hensley. If Hensley runs out, it'll get costly to feed his 200 head of cattle at his Clinton County operation. With corn prices high, up 28 percent over the last month at seven dollars a bushel, it's reaching a point where raising his herd is just too expensive. He may soon have to sell. "If you give $1,500 for a pair and you gotta sell them for $1,000 now, it really hurts $500 a pair," said Hensley. Ranchers are starting to take that loss. Bad news for them and your grocery bill...more

Here's the KGET news report: