Some SD ranchers selling cattle as drought worsens

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BELLE FOURCHE (AP) — Some South Dakota ranchers are starting to sell off their cattle as drought conditions worsen in the state.

Pastures are drying up, hay and feed are running low and the lack of rain is turning the water bad in stock ponds. Belle Fourche Livestock Exchange owner Dean Strong tells the media that one recent sale that typically would have seen 500 cattle had more than 2,000 head.

Rancher Bruce Blair, of Tilford, has sold off some of his herd. He says his pastures have been depleted and he's had to move cattle into winter pastures — something he doesn't normally do until October.

The U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that most of South Dakota is in moderate or severe drought, and the rest is abnormally dry.

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