How the worst drought in 50 years is affecting some local vendors and shoppers

CLEVELAND - July was the hottest month ever on record for the continental U.S. according to NOAA. As analysts say the drought is slashing U.S . crop and livestock production, some local produce vendors and shoppers are already feeling the affects.

Tina Lustig says drought conditions haven't stopped them from providing fresh produce to customers at Greg's Produce stand in the West Side Market but she doesn't expect that to last.

"Yeah, I think that the whole country will feel it, this winter and next spring how can they not," she asked.

Lustig said she believes the effects of this summer's drought will be obvious this winter.

"That's our food source, it all comes down to that, even livestock, they have to be fed also from crops, so it's gonna affect everything and then with gas prices also," Lustig said.

Her vendors forewarn their prices will go higher.

"We'll just keep buying and pay the price we have to pay. We'll try to keep our prices as low as we can like we do," she said.

"Like the corn's been affected a little bit, the yield hasn't been as good," Tom Dunderman said as he explained what produce has looked like from some local farmers.

Dunderman runs The Basketeria in the West Side Market.  He said he is surprised the prices aren't higher already.

"Usually when you've got a problem like this with the drought and your yields less it's a normal supply and demand thing when supplies are low and demand is high prices go through the roof, so far I haven't seen that," he said.

Chardon shopper, Beverly Voss, disagreed. "It's higher a lot higher this year," she said.

Voss' daughter, Julie Winecoff, was visiting from South Carolina, and said what she's seeing in the Midwest is a total switch from the south.

"The total opposite with the grass and the plants and everything it's so brown, I've never seen it like that. I used to live here and I asked my sister I said you're having a drought," said Winecoff.

Meanwhile Mark Zarefoss, owner of Jim's Meats,  has been in the market for 32 years. He said he doesn't know what they're going to do. He wonders how his business will survive the drought.

"We've been affected by this for a while now," he said. "The gas is high, which affects travel and then you know it affects your product cause you've got to deliver so yeah it's affected everywhere."

Zarefoss said most of all he's concerned about keeping low prices for customers so the aftermath doesn't affect them. "So that you can hold on to your customers, you gotta hold your prices down but you can only do that for so long with the way things are going. I don't know what we're going to do. It's that bad," he said.

More than 60 percent of the continental United States is suffering moderate to severe drought. The government will make its first estimate of the fall harvest on Friday.