DENVER (AP) - California ranchers, despite near-record beef prices, are culling their cattle herds in response to one of the most severe droughts the state has ever faced, and Colorado ranchers are taking advantage.
The Denver Post reports Colorado ranchers are buying steers as they have in years past, but they are also buying cows to rebuild herds thinned after years of dry conditions. The state Department of Agriculture says nearly 57,000 cattle have entered Colorado this year from California, compared with 28,980 in the first four months of last year.
Billy Gatlin, executive director of the California Cattlemen's Association, says about 150,000 of the 600,000 breeding cows in California have been sold off this year.
Agriculture officials say California's cattle are mostly being sold in Nevada and Texas.
