LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- The price of everyday items at the grocery store are looking to go up in the coming months.
Co-owner Philip Bonner of Bonner's Grocery in Little Rock says the drought is causing a dual-effect. The short term, prices dropping. He says that some of the farmers sold as much as possible before crops burned up in the field. He saw prices drop temporarily but thinks we're going to see more produce prices go up soon.
"Usually it (prices) fluctuate up and down at different times, but we haven't seen it go down any lately," says Bonner. Since the drought, Milk prices have gone up nearly a nickel every 30 days.
Still Senior analyst Gene Martin at Farm Bureau says groceries haven't felt the heat yet. He says, "the end users are going to have to pay more-- that's your livestock feeders your pork and hog producers, poultry people... their cost production is about to go higher."
The ripple effect will start at wholesale crop and meat prices, then make its way to your favorite supermarket. To offset the increase, Bonner thinks his customers will buy generic and purchase more in bulk.
This year's drought will last far longer than 2012. Farm Bureau analysts say wholesalers are going not only out-of-state, but out of the country, to buy crops. Chances are, next year, they're likely to go back to those same sources for their produce.