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tv   Inside Man  CNN  August 18, 2013 7:00pm-8:01pm PDT

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i don't want to go back to prison there are only so many times i can say no i didn't do it. >> sher dan county, nebraska, is the type of place that most people think of as the heartland. there is lots of little places like sheridan, but this is unique in a different way. the people are still reeling from the effects of drought. >> we are living in one of the worst droughts of the past 100 years. >> three fifths of the usa from sea to shining sea is dry. >> you can't deny that our planet is in the midst of a massive kplimt change. that means more hurricanes, more
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fires and floods hitting harder and more often with increasingly devastating consequences. but few natural disasters have more of a global impact than drought. crop s whither, animals starve and prices around the world skyrocket. when that happens, things spin out of control pretty quickly. there is a record breaking drought that is affecting everything from the amount we put in our gas tanks. can the farmers and ranchers hang on to their way of life and can we do anything to stop it?
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>> if you live in sherida county, nebraska, you are living through one of the costliest natural disasters in history. it is one of the driest counties in one of the driest states in the country and nobody around here knows that better than kenny walnuts. along with his wife tammy and son cane, he breeds and raises 800 black an gus cattle which he then sells to the beef market. now he is facing a desperate economic crisis and considering if the drought might force him to reduce the size of his herd.
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i want to see what drought means to the farmer or rancher suffering through one so this week i will work as a ranch hand for the wellnitzes. >> welcome to our ranch. >> where we're going today we will try to fit you to a horse. >> okay. good luck with that. >> how often have you road before? >> i grew up riding but living in new york city i don't do too much horse back riding so we will see where it goes. >> you are taller than i thought. you might have to extend the stirrups. >> you will look like a jockey. >> let's go. >> where's the horse? >> they're out behind the barn. we will go out and catch them. the one over to your right. >> yeah. >> itching his nose on the fence. >> tammy and kenny have been ranching for 20 years. >> you took it easy on me didn't you? >> you want to trade? >> they spent most of their
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lives building this business. >> it's that close. >> ranching has been part of my life since i was very young. my father had a ranch. he would take me everywhere he went and i got a good feel of what ranching was like before i ever even got to school. >> name is tramp? >> perfect horse for me. >> we started dating when we were seniors. we both lived on ranches, liked horses. i thought he was cute. >> it wasn't long before we decided that we would spepd most of our lives together. >> obviously because we got married pretty young. >> there is not a cloud in the sky. >> nope. >> first up, one of the most important jobs on any ranch. we're off to feed the cows. >> you can see by the lack of grass, that's drought. >> this affects how much of your
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land? >> everything that we had cows on, the grass would be gone. >> this drought is the largest in the u.s. in over half a century with more than 80% of u.s. farmland being affected. the average cow needs to eat about 30 pounds of grass every day so when the gras drys up, ranchers have to buy more hay to supplement the cow's diet and the price of hay has skyrocketed. in 2011, kenny paid $60 a ton but in 2012, the price quadrupled and hay cost $25,000 a ton. kenny has had to buy twice as much as he normally would to keep his cow's fed. >> i am conservative right now. it's just too much money. it's so dry. >> there was so much dust. there were dried up sta lag tighted in my knows. >> we're going to look at some corn. >> in addition to grass and hay,
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kenny feeds his cattle corn, the key ingredient to fatten them up for market. more weight means more money. >> so what's this right here? >> corn distillers. they take the corn and they distill what they own and this is what's left. >> yep. >> we fed this for about 12 years now. >> how has the price of this changed? >> from $20 a ton to $300 a ton. >> that was $435 a on the. >> so it's already up another $135? >> yeah. >> that's a lot. >> the cows are pretty hungry. the higher the corn market, the less income in our pocket, the less income, high expenses. you're not in business very many years. >> i'm intim day-to-day. i'm so scary.
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it's so hot here. how did that affect all the water? >> generally we have dams. >> okay. >> wow, this year dams were dry, completely dry. been dry a long time. >> right. >> we're in the bottom of a man-made dam. you can see the line of dirt up here on the top. >> normally is it filled all the way to the top? >> taller than the pick up. >> wow. >> we should be completely underwater. >> how many of these do you have on your property? >> close to 20. they're all dry. >> scary? >> it is. it is scary. you could dig down -- there is nothing there at all. >> wow. other ranchers you talk to, is everybody in the same boat? >> oh yeah. we're all trying to decide what is the best way to make it through the winter. if you put a lot of money into your winter and it don't rain next year and you have to sell anyway, that's bad. >> yeah. that's incredible.
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as if they didn't have enough to worry about, the wellnitz eshave a new problem. >> they have been hitting these piles over here. >> what little hay they do have is being stolen. >> hay being like gold to people, obviously it's becoming a target. >> how many have been stolen? >> we are thinking close to 20. >> that's a lot of money. >> it's really getting to be a big deal. hay is so short exit's not likee can go find hay to replace it. >> is it part of the sting operation? >> i have been putting lines across it so i can tell if a bail is missing. if you can hop up there and mark them for me? >> mark these? >> yeah. i have a hard time jumping up there. you're tall.
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>> our plan this year is going to be to grind it all. if you make it harder maybe they will go to somebody else. you're doing well. >> all of those years being a vandal paid off. >> thank you. >> this one has got horns. now you know. >> you're having too much fun. >> this is el diabol. >> i'll race you back. >> oh yeah? >> you have a bigger bike. >> all right. >> the wellnitzes have been ranching for more than a century. this drought is different. it's take its toll on them and
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their herd leaving them with few options. if things don't improv soon they will have to sell off some of their cows. that's a decision no rancher wants to make. even if they do decide to sell, whether or not they survive is anyone's guess.
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>> i got breakfast ready. >> kenny and his wife are ranchers in nebraska currently trying to see their way through one of the worst droughts in u.s. history. >> were you up at 4:30? >> no. >> what do you have to do before school? >> check the calfs. >> how far is your school? >> about 30 miles. >> we're going to go up to the pas chur and get all of the steer call fs and bring them back to the corral to sell. >> i'll get ready. >> you want another egg or are you all right? don't forget to put gas in.
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>> kenny and tammy can't afford to feed their cows full until maturity. selling early means they will make less money overall but fewer mouths to feed means a better chance of making it through the dry weather. >> all the cows that we want to gather today should be in this pasture. we just want to get down to the very best that we will keep. >> it's a calculated risk. in an attempt to cut their losses now instead of risking their entire herd. >> if you can lean forward in your saddle. >> then i won't bang my ass so much? >> yeah. >> there should be just grass everywhere. there is just not much less for them to eat. >> you hear that? >> yep. let's move that direction. >> so is that what they're doing? are they talking? >> yep. you want to get behind her? >> sure. come on. >> okay.
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>> hey. >> there is two more. come on. >> good. >> ha! >> six more. >> hey! [ whistling ] >> your stirrups are too short. >> they are a little short. >> i keep adding length to it. >> if the drought continues into next year we will keep selling cattle. we fear that if we have to sell off all of the cattle, it would be our last year. >> terrible. >> yeah. >> makes it an extremely dangerous time for a rancher. >> hey. >> come on. >> when a drought like this happens, ranchers like kenny depend on supplemental feeds like corn and hay to get them through the dry spell. products that need to travel hundreds of miles from farmers and ranchers in the midwest. many movie ya the mississippi river. the life oblood of commerce in the united states.
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but now even those shipments are in danger as the drought has come to the mississippi, too. just a few months ago where water levels were so low officials believed they may have to shut the river down completely. >> a total of 93 barges. >> a rudder has been zung. >> good morning, everyone. >> presently minus 2.15 and falling. the gauge is 5.1 and a slow fall there is no rain forecasted for the next ten days north of st. louis. of the 21 boats, three are ingram. >> ingram is the largest barge transportation company in the u.s., moving all types of cargo. thousands of tons of fuel, coal, steel, and cement every day as well as dry goods. 60% has to travel down the mississippi on its way out of the country. the slow down on the river doesn't just cost money.
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people's very livelihoods are also on the line. in 2012, the river reached historic lows. as much as 20 feet below normal. >> the dykes, they are all out of water. you can see the flat part of it, we normally can run literally on top of that flat part of the rock. that's a very unusual sight. something you don't normally see. >> off to the right here, there is a barge that lifted over. to the left is a wreck. this is the first time i have seen it. and there is several other. they were known hazards but this is the first time we have seen them. we're passing a business right now where you can see the barge listed over due to the shallow water. >> the opposite side of our barge is three foot lower than the inside of our barge which is
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setting on the sloping bank. as the river falls we continue to lean more. >> george foster is the owner of a barge cleaning repair company. >> you can't put anything down without it. everything falls forward. >> jb marine. okay. >> we can't move out in the river any further. normally as the river drops we can move out. we have moved out as far as you can go. >> the building twisted. there is an inch crack. >> we are up here it's weird. >> i think we're at mother nature's mercy. being a small company we're all like family. >> you doing all right today?
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my major concern is jobs. i have never had a lay off. >> move up closer to the bridge. >> that's extremely scary. i absolutely dread if this river shuts down and i have to tell some folks that i have got to lay them off. >> oh my god, the whole side of the hill is going. >> droughts don't just mean lack of rain. they also mean fire. last year saw one of the worst wild fire seasons on record with more than 9 million acres burning across the country. it's something kenny experienced firsthand when a wild fire raged through his property scorching thousands of acres. >> winds and dry heat helped
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whip flames of a wild fire in northwest nebraska. the fire between shadron and rushville grew to more than 93 square miles, an area bigger than the state capital of lincoln. >> we will go as far as we can while there is still light. it's a lot of country to cover. that fire wasn't very nice to anybody. >> i see a couple of brown patches where it just kind of jumped. that is scarey. if you had a great rain in the spring would anything grow here? >> no. that's scorch. that ground is sterile down there. it's done. >> wow. look at this. you look like you're on another planet. it looks like mars. >> when the fires hit, that changed everything. if you thought you had two months left of grass, instantly you had nothing. it's just gone. >> how did the fire get started? >> there was a storm that came
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through and obviously we weren't getting any rain but we did get lightning. and there were two that started fires. >> electricity came on that smoke. it came the direction that we were at. instantly there was lightning. a lot of people seen it come out. minutes later there is a column of smoke. that's what started all of this. >> get our truck out of there. >> it was kind of eerie to see all of that smoke and hear it's coming this way with no rain and lightning out of it.
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yeah. >> like something out of a horror movie. >> this is something that hasn't happened that i have seen in my lifetime. >> how much ground did it cover in total? >> they said about 100,000 acres. >> how many acres did you lose in the fire? >> about 6,000 acres. >> and how much of that is total land that you use? >> about half. we had a lot of grass left in here. it looked like we was going to get by for a while. >> when you see this land looking like this, it seems like you got be a glass half full kind of guy? >> well, i believe so, yeah. you know, it will rain and eventually all of this will see green pastures and everybody will be happy again. >> yeah. racell battery. introducing duracell quantum. with its high density core, it's a qua in battery power.
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>> on kenny's ranch back in nebraska, the drought has not let up and preparations continue for a potential sell off of the herd. today the wellnitzes call in the vet so they can decide how many cows that aren't pregnant can be sold before the winter. >> 80. >> that one is 80 days? >> yes. >> 85. >> what they are doing right now by sorting the cattle. the cows were already pregnant
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with their next calf. cows that are pregnant they are going to keep for a little while longer. the ones that are open they are bringing in here. they will end up taking these cows to market. >> so when you reach in, what is the road map. what are you feeling for? >> if i'm going in about half way between my wrist and my elbow -- >> yep. >> i always find that cervix first so i have my landmarks. >> okay. >> 85. >> you can tell how many days just by the size? >> i judge by how big his head is. >> it seems pretty accurate. >> that's what my producers tell me. >> 70 days. >> 70 days. >> i would be running away that fast, too. >> all right. are you ready?
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>> come on cow. >> yeah. >> okay. just grab you one of those green sleeves there. >> should i put two gloves on? >> no. >> momma always said this is where i would end up. >> what's going on? >> settle down. >> has anybody ever broken their arm doing this? >> oh yes. >> all the time. >> yeah. >> all right, dock. i think it i'm about ready. there is some liver cut. dip your hand in there. >> ah. >> oh my gosh. >> all right. >> cone your hand like this. go into the rectum. >> straight in? >> keep going. >> it's warm. it's so warm inside. >> it's nice on a cold day.
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so you feel like a water balloon in there. >> yes. >> run your hand over and you should feel a calf with a head about that long. >> yeah. >> yep. that's it. >> this is so crazy. >> that's about a 95 to 100 day pregnancy. >> wow. i can feel it right in my hand. >> yep. and now i can pull it out. >> i'll just go home now. we'll give you a couple more. >> yeah. that's an experience. >> back on the mississippi river, low water levels are making life on the barge almost impossible. >> that somebody vessel, it's our problem to get out of his way. it's more difficult to naf kate.
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>> we are concerned about one particular shallow area. >> the grounding problem primarily rock formations like spikes in the bottom of the river. >> that could sink a barge. the channel is so narrow, you sink a barge, you just shut the river down. >> that's ten feet of water. >> wow. >> the propellers under this boat are nine feet tall. >> so those are almost scraping bottom? >> exactly. there is simply not enough water for it to clear. >> but it's not only people living in the heart who are being affected by it. in fact, it's affecting people all over the world. if you're a rancher, you hope a few months of solid rain will get you through the next season
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and then everything goes back to normal. for the rest of the world, it may not be that simple. the same corn that kenny could barely afford is now seeding the way for potential global catastrophe. it starts with a failed crop. the smaller corn supply can't meet demand and soon the price of everyday staples which depend on corn as feed like beef, milk, eggs and poultry start to rise. to meet requirements, the already devastated corn crop is further reduced, driving prices even higher. speculators see an opportunity to make a quick profit and artificially inflate the price of corn even higher. the u.s. is the largest exporter of corn. when price spikes in the u.s. begin to ripple throughout the world, so, too, do prices of the
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world's other food staples like wheat, rice, and soybeans. third world countries see food prices begin to rise rapidly. meaning protests and increased civil unrest like food riots. pretty soon the wellnitz's drought is now the world's. >> a sandwich and a sloppy joe. kind of a left overdeal here today. >> i love left overs. do you guys talk about everything and kenny says absolutely. >> we don't always agree but usually ken is right. when it comes to -- >> always. >> no, not always. >> for some reason they don't take the hired man's opinion. >> who's the hired man? >> that's why we have you. >> all the homesteaders would have a dozen kids to work the farms? they made it hard on you. >> there is truth to that,
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actually. >> i will take some of the corn salad. >> you said you were up this morning at 4:00 worrying about things? >> well, i -- i guess until we get that first good soaking rain, we're all going to think the same thing. maybe instead of being dry one year it will be two years. >> it just means everything to us as far as whether we will be in business next year. >> we won't have many cows left this time next year. >> does this make you want to be a rancher? >> sometimes we kid around and say maybe we should sell out and try doing something else. we have joked about being a greeter at walmart. >> for one day. you would like that job for one day and then you would be like i have to go outside. >> it would be nice to have a nine to five job. you go there work and come home and forget about it. you don't have to think about is this going to die or live.
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>> with no rain on the who roy zon, ken and tammy made a decision. sell off 200 steer calfs. they can only hope it will be enough to get their family through the winter. >> keep the steers in and let the cows out? >> yeah if they are big steers, let them out. >> it really dawned on me what has happened to our lives. it's been hard. >> hey. hey. >> come on. >> right now we are sorting the calfs and the cows. the young steers are what's going to market. so we're basically splitting the babies from their mommies right now.
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>> we are selling off cattle earlier than we normally would. obviously we wouldn't like that. >> usually we would be waiting another two or three months. normally they would be weighing about 600 pounds. today they will be averaging around 500 pounds. it's a lot when someone is paying you 1.80 a pound. that's a big hit. >> we got a heifer. >> come on. >> come on. ha. >> he has got testicles. >> it's hard for tammy to hold him. >> whoa! >> the calfs want to go out, too. >> not quite so pushy. a little more patience. y
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you're good. >> i was a little pushy. >> you were doing good. just a little tough. >> yeah. >> we're just about done here. >> there he goes. >> the steer calfs are being bought by a feed lot in kansas who can afford to feed them in the coming months. >> hey, doug. nice trailer you got. i like that. >> thank you. >> morning. >> allen, you got them coming behind you. >> come on cows. >> these guys all got a reprieve. three of them is keeping to raise for 4h. three of those guys get to live a good life for the next year. >> where is that 827? >> the one with the funny nose. >> we rely a lot of cane.
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really trying to make sure that he has a childhood but yet, we're at the point where we need his help. >> he has 900? >> i thought we put put in six more? >> 949. >> he's getting big enough and strong enough he's just like our right hand man. >> there is 820. >> we don't want him to think that he is burdened with this place but we want him to go out and learn how to work and make his way in life. he will do well in whatever he does. >> tammy. you can get me three more of the biggest ones out of here. >> okay. did cane get off to school? >> i hope so. i told him to. >> there goes the first batch. 84 head of cattle in that truck. >> if the drought continues into next year, we will probably keep
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selling cattle, but it will be extremely difficult to continue. >> worst case scenario is they don't get rain and all the cattle ranchers will be kind of stuck with -- stuck with expenses and no cattle. >> hey hey. come on. up there. hey hey. thank you. >> see all the cows coming over talking to the truck now? look at all of these poor mamas. i don't have them. i'm sorry. there they go. >> we will see you down there in a little bit. >> sounds good. >> see you, warren. >> okay. >> we got her done. >> where we headed to, now?
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>> we're going down to the scales and weighing. >> so the total number of calfs is 200. that's got to be a hard decision? >> yeah. it really is. very hard. very difficult. >> you see their trucks. >> kenny's steers will be weighed in town where he will be paid based on the average weight per animal. this year he is selling two months earlier and hoping to get about 480 pounds per steer. every pound and every dollar counts. mom, dad told me that cheerios is good for your heart,
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>> kenny wellnitz is a rancher in nebraska. to get through the drought he has had to sell off part of his herd early. >> 487 gross. >> not quite as much as we hoped but close. >> on average, cows weigh in ten pounds short. >> i can write you a check. >> just 470 pounds each. >> thanks doug. >> thank you. >> weer with close. we had them in at 480.
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they were 469. it's 140 pounds light for the time of year that we would sell them. that's less money in my pocket but we will take this to the bank and deposit it and give us an opportunity to buy a little more hay and a little more time and diseaecide what we're going do with everything else. >> it's not an ideal circumstance, it's one more step they can take to stay afloat. >> we got the check. >> $165,578. >> it goes very fast.
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>> hey. it's not everywhere you can get a hug at your bank. >> how are you doing? >> we will be doing a bit better after we talk. >> what is the verdict? >> we sold some calfs. >> we obviously didn't have any pastures. we were in a big hurry to do something. normally we sell one load. we sold two. the drought just killed us. >> how far ahead? >> two months. considerably lighter than normal. >> right. i think it's a smart thing to do. >> we didn't have no choice. >> exactly. >> we lost so much pasture. >> its good management in the drought. you need to not be thinking about how you're going to maximize profit but minimize loss. >> right. >> a severe cull on the cows and keep a smaller portion of your best. >> this is depressing.
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>> that's the one thing about drought. it's so exhausting. and it just goes on and on and on. >> have you ever seen one like this? >> no. and our resources are not available to get feed in. it's not a good year. and then it got worse with the fire. the fire kind of put the frosting on the cake for you guys. your options keep getting restricted. >> you got to keep praying and hoping. >> i don't know what we would do in another year like this. >> i guess i could get a deposit slip going here. >> there you go. >> a pen. >> there is different options you got for deferring income.
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if you decide you want to feed cows, you know, keep them and feed, we can term out some debt and get through. we will work with you which ever way you want to go. >> right. >> what are you thinking? >> with a loan and to make your payments, do you think the whole investment we will make in feed and everything else all winter, will we feel like idiots next summer if it doesn't rain? >> i thought about that, too. you know, that's the thing that i think is really tough. you have to decide are we going to invest or, you know, just if you want to liquidate. that's up to you guys.
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>> it's a tough decision. >> it's not a good year. >> for kenny and tammy, liquidating the ranch seems unthinkable. they know the bst of what they can do is what they are doing is keep on keeping on and pray for rain. more than just flexibility and convenience. so here are a few reasons to choose university of phoenix. our average class size is only 14 students. our financial tools help you make smart choices about how to pay for school. our faculty have, on average, over 16 years of field experience. we'll help you build a personal career plan. we build programs based on what employers are looking for. our football team is always undefeated. and leading companies are interested in our graduates. we'll even help you decorate your new office. ok. let's get to work.
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>> had a leak in a hose. >> after the talk with their banker, the wellnitzes cull their herd further. today they're sending some of their cows to auction. >> you're a rancher. you're a big rig driver. you got it all. >> the older ones, weaker ones, and cows that are not carrying calfs. >> 13? >> yeah. >> come on, cow. come on. come on. >> just give him a little bit of time so they can see where we want to go. >> all right. come on. >> and who is buying these cattle? >> farmer feeders if they have any feed. a lot of the cattle that are bought right now will be grown over the winter? >> so they will buy them and try to fatten them up and try to
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resell in the spring? >> that's right. >> we are heading to the crawford live auction market. cattle auctions that happen every weekend. >> kenny is headed back to the ranch. >> is there a surgecertain numb you're looking for? >> i just hope the price has not gone down. >> what was it? >> in the 70s. 70 cents a pound. >> see you in a bit. >> see you later. >> if kenny can get 70 cents per pound per cow they will be in a good place. >> open cows.
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luckily the wellnitzes got the price they needed, 70 cents a pound. >> we did good today. >> how did we do? >> just over 16. >> that's enough the hold on to the remaining herd for now. but that doesn't mean they can rest easy. 2012 was the driest and hottest year on record for nebraska but now the drought is persisting throughout the u.s. and most of the state. it was the first fire year on record there in almost a century. the fires cost at least $12 million. while the drought has retreated on the mississippi, barges are now dealing with another catastrophe, flooding. >> the forecast is for near record flooding. >> but west ward the drought is relentless and the wellnitzes
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have sold off over 100 more cattle and moving half of the remaining herd to south dakota. things don't look to be getting better any time soon. 2013 is predicted to be another drought year and nebraska forest service is preparing for another summer filled with potentially devastating wild fires. the cost is estimated 50 to $100 billion nationwide. it could become the costliest natural dis aster in the u.s. whether you point the finger at man or mother nature, most scientists agree that droughts are likely to continue in the coming years. >> i hope i wasn't too much of a burden. it's been great. take care. meeting tammy and cane, they are ranchers. it's in their blood. it's what they do. people like the wellnitzes will
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take what comes, work hard and make the best of whatever hand they are dealt. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> oklahoma city lies at the geographic heart of the country. it's probably the last place you would pick to be targeted for destruction. then came the morning of april 19, 1995. >> good morning.

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