Drought forces farmers to sell cattle

What auction barns across the country are seeing this summer is unprecedented. It is possibly the largest single year reduction in livestock population ever, leading some to call it “Cowpocalypse.”

“We just don’t have the grass to take care of them,” Kansas cattle auctioneer Brian Little tells CNN’s Ed Lavandera.

It’s all due to the drought which has taken a toll on the cattle industry. The grazing pastures are fried and cost of cattle feed is skyrocketing, causing cows to head to slaughter much sooner than normal.

Cattle rancher Ben Allen is forced to sell half of his herd, 90 cows and calves in all. “I don’t wanna seem them go to slaughter,” he says. “You get attached to the cows, you know them, they know you.”