Drought leads to higher meat prices

The menu was a little bit different at one Labor Day church barbeque in Maumelle Park Monday. They had burgers, dogs, and a couple slabs of ribs -- but no pork chops.

"They asking me now," said Joseph Crout, "where's the pork chops man? But we don't have none in here."

Here's why -- they're just too expensive.

"In the last month, month and a half, we've seen an increase in pork, poultry, and beef," explained Philip Bonner of Bonner's Grocery in Little Rock. He said the price increases are largely due to the drought.

"The drought has affected the corn and the feed that they use to feed beef, poulty, and pork."

Bonner says the higher prices haven't affected sales yet, but he is concerned, largely because if you're paying higher prices, so is he.

"It starts taking some of your cash flow out of the business until the price starts going down, if it does," Bonner said.

That's a big "if."

Just ask Crout, who's hoping for lower prices too.

"So I can start back barbequing my pork chops," he said.