Drought and Prices

I've already exercised Rosie and Remy and Boo and Mona today - and I am pooped.  At 10:20 in the morning, it's 81 degrees with 34% humidity - and that's wet for Colorado air.   Nedi is asleep under my bed, while Lovey has been on the patio watching the maintenance man mow the grass.  More than 61% of the nation's agricultural areas are experiencing drought - and it's the most area, and worst drought conditions, since the year I was born - 1956.  That's not good.  The heat and drought are affecting the costs of everything....
   Here in Colorado, farmers are currently paying 3 times the usual price for hay and grain to supplement their livestock.  A lot of cattle and pigs are going to market early, which means that in the next couple of months, beef and pork will be cheaper than normal and there will be a good supply.  But, come fall, there will be a shortage of those same products ...  not to mention all the corns and other grains and leafy green vegetables that are drying and dying in our fields.  I have read that the cost of what one normally buys will cost at least 15% more within the next 3 months.
   And that doesn't apply only to human food - it will cause the cost of almost all cat and dog foods to rise; horse, goat, beef (which means increased dairy prices, too), chicken, and pig/hog food will also cost more.  This increase in the cost of food for friends, pets, whatever you wish to call them, will probably hurt most those folks on a fixed income - the elderly, who live better lives with a companion animal.  As prices rise, please remember our older friends, human and otherwise, who will need donations to be able to feed themselves and their companions well.  If you can contribute, please give to your local animal shelters and humane societies, as more folks will be unable to pay for the food their pet needs, and will end up "dumping" the animal, or giving it into the care of a shelter...
   The troubles that affect the earth and farmers have an effect on all of us.