KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
The extreme heat and lack of rain has farmers going to extreme measures to survive this summer.
Dennis Clayborn and other farmers are pumping massive amounts of water onto their crops to be able to break even. Clayborn said he pumps up to 250,000 gallons of water per day to his crops.
He uses pond water when Mother Nature doesn't provide. His main expenses are fuel and labor.
"We haven't raised our prices yet," Clayborn said. "We won't make any money this year, but we're not going to pass it onto the consumer."
But others are, meaning you'll be seeing higher prices at your grocery store.
But if the drought persists and ponds run dry, the situation will become critical. The drought was a hot topic of conversation at Kansas City's Farmer's Market on Sunday morning.
Most customers are coming during the morning hours. Fewer customers check out the produce by noontime.
"Usually by noon or one o'clock we're just dead," Deb Conners said. "We're getting decent counts for customers. It's just early morning all at once."
The dry conditions mean cattle have less grass to graze on. Glenn Varner said he'll soon have to switch to hay for the cattle on his ranch near Clinton, MO.
Varner said he normally doesn't switch to hay until mid-winter. And the hay he is buying is twice as expensive as in the past.
"I bought enough that would normally last two and half winters," he said. "I'm hoping to get through this winter with it. If we don't get more rain this fall, I'm not going to make it."
Varner said some ranchers are selling their cattle so they don't have to pay the extra costs for feed.
To read additional coverage about farmers and the drought, click here and here and here.
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