i don't want to go back into prison. there are only so many times that i can say, no, i didn't do it. sheridan county, nebraska, is the type of place most people think of as the heartland of the u.s. cafes, greasy spoons, tiny schoolhouses. there's lots of little places like sheridan in this country and they're each unique in their own special place, but sheridan's unique in a special way because in 2012 it was one of the single hottest, driest places in the entire united states. and the people of sheridan are still reeling from the effect of drought. >> we are living in one of the worst droughts of the past 100 years. >> three-fifths of the u.s. from sea to shining sea is dry. zoo can't deny our planet is in the mid- of a massive climate

change. that means more hurricanes, more fires and floods, hitting harder and more often with increasingly devastated consequences. but few natural disasters have more of a global impact than drought. crops wither, animals starve, food production and distribution become strained and prices around the world skyrocket. when that happens, things spin out of control pretty quickly. here in the united states and in sheridan, we're in the middle of a record-breaking drought that's affecting everything from how we fill our gas tanks to the price of a bowl of cereal. in the face of a rapidly changing climate affecting everyone in the world, can the farmers and ranchers right here in the heartland hang onto their way of life? and can we do anything to stop it?

if you live in certain parts of the country, drought is unthinkable as a drought or tsunami. it happens somewhere else. but if you live in sheridan county, nebraska, you're living through one of the costliest natural disasters in u.s. history. sheridan is now one of the driest counties and one of the driest states in the entire country. and nobody around here knows that better than kenny wallace. along with his wife tammy and son cain, he breeds and raises 800 black angus cattle on ranch land which he sells to the beef market. now besides facing a natural disaster, kenny is facing a desperate economic disaster.

the drought may make him reduce the size of hi herd. i want to see what the drought is doing as a rancher, so i'm going to work as a ranch hand. >> hi, i'm morgan. >> welcome to our ranch. >> where we're going today, we're going to try to fit you to a horse. >> okay. good luck with that. >> how often have you rode before? >> i grew up rying but, you know, living in new york city you don't do too much horseback riding. we'll see how it goes. >> you're taller than i thought. we might have to extend the stirrups. >> make you look like a jockey. >> let's go. where's the horse? >> they're out behind the barn. we'll go catch them. >> okay. >> the one over to your right. >> yep. itching his nose on the fence. >> tammy and kenny have been ranching this land for 20 years. >> you took the easy one, didn't you? >> you want to trade? >> they spent most of their lives working hard to build this

business up together. >> i was that close. >> i'll trade you. 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 in school. >> name is tramp. >> tramp. perfect horse for me. >> i'll put out one more for you. >> okay. >> i knew tammy all through high school. >> we started dating when we were seniors. we both lived on ranches. we both liked horses. i thought he was kult. cute. >> it wasn't very long before we decided that we would spend most of our lives together. >> obviously, because we got married fast. >> there's 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. >> and this affects, like, how

much of your land? >> everything that we had cows on, the grass will 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 effected. the average cow needs to eat about 30 pounds of grass every day, so when the grass dries up -- >> you want me to get this? >> yes. >> ranchers have to buy more hay to supplement the cow''s diet and the price of hay has skyrocketed. in 2011 kenny paid close to $60 a ton for hay. in 2012 the price quadrupled and it cost him $250 a ton. because of the lack of grass, kenny's had to buy twice as much hay as he normally would just to keep his cows fed. >> i'm pretty conservative about how much they get right now. it's just too much money -- >> that's for sure. >> it's so dry. >> there's so much dust. they were like dried up stalactites in my nose. where are we going next?

>> we're going to look at some corn. >> in addition to grass and hay, kenny feeds his cattle corn, the key ingredient to fatten them up for market. more weight means more money. >> what's this right here? >> corn distillers. they take the corn and they distill it down. this is what's left. >> right. >> we fed this for about 12 years now. >> how is the price of this changed? >> this has gone up from $20 a ton to $300 a ton. >> rod johnson told me yesterday it was $435 a ton. >> wow. it's already gone up another $135. >> yeah. >> that's a lot. >> the cows are pretty hungry. >> big nugget. >> they go right up. higher corn market, less income in our pocket, less income, high expenses, you're not in business very many years. >> see, i'm intimidating. that's what it is. i'm so scary.

it being so hot here, how did that affect the water? >> generally we have dams, but -- >> wow. >> dams were dry. complete reply dry. been dry a long time. >> right. >> we're in the bottom of -- it's a man-made dam. you can see the line of dirt up here on top. >> normally is it filled all the way to the top? >> taller than the pickup. >> wow. >> we should be completely under water. >> 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's nothing there at all. >> wow. other ramplgers 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 then it don't rain next year, and you have to sell anyway, that's bad news. >> yeah. that's incredible.

as if they didn't have enough to worry about, they're dealing with a new problem. this one is definitely man-made. >> they've been hitting these piles over here. >> up here? >> yeah. >> what little hay they do have is being stolen. >> hay being almost like gold to people, obviously it's becoming a target. >> right. so how many have been stolen? >> we were thinking close to 20. >> wow. >> of course -- >> that's a lot of money. >> it's really getting to be a big deal because hay is so short. it's not like we can find more hay to replace this. >> this is all part of the sting operation. >> well, i don't know. i've been putting lines across it so i can tell if one bale is missing or has been moved. if you could hop up there and mark them for me. >> mark these on top? >> yeah. have i a hard time jumping up there. you're, like, tall. see? now you know what i have to go through. >> yeah.

you need to bring a ladder over here. >> i'm too short. yep, perfect. our main idea of protecting our hay this year is we're just going to grind it all. if they want to steal it, they'll have to pitch it into the back of their pickup. obviously, they won't get the weight. make stuff easy for them, they're going to do it. if you make it harder, then maybe they'll go to someone else. >> pass it off to someone else, right. >> you're doing well. >> thanks. all those years of being a vandal paid off. >> there you go. thank you. >> this one has horns. now you know. >> you're just having too much fun. >> that's el diablo, amigo. you better watch out. >> i'll race you back. you got the bigger bike. >> all right. they have been ranching in these parts for nearly a century and they've survived their fair sure of disastrous weather but this drought is different.

it's taking its toll on them and their herd, leaving them with few options. if things don't improve soon, they'll 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'll survive this drought is anybody's guess. [ man ] this isn't my first career. but it might just be my favorite. [ female announcer ] welcome to the new aarp. we're ready to help you rediscover purpose and passion with programs like life reimagined to inspire you and connect you, resources to help turn your goals and dreams into real possibilities. aarp, an ally for real possibilities. find new tools and ideas for work, money, health and fun at aarp.org/possibilities.

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kenny we willnitz and his wife family are ranchers in nebraska trying to see their way through the worst droughts in history. >> were you up at 4:30 as well? >> no. >> what do have you to do before you go to school? >> check the cows over by the corral. >> how far is school? >> about 30 miles. >> that's a healthy drive have day for school. >> i suppose. >> kenny, give us a run-through what's going to happen today. >> we're going to get the steer calves out to pasture to get them ready to sell. >> i'll get ready. >> want another egg? >> no.

>> don't forget to put gas in. >> they can't afford to feed all their cows through to maturity so they have decided to sell off part of their herd early. it's a tough decision. selling their herd means fewer mouths to feed. >> all the cows we want to gather today should be in this pasture. we just want to get down to the very best cows we're going to keep. >> it's a calculated risk. and in an attempt to cut their losses now instead of ricking their entire herd come winter. >> let's go right down through here. if you can lean forward in your saddle and stand up a little tiny bit. >> then i won't bang my ass so much. >> yeah, yeah. ♪ >> there should be just grass everywhere here. >> oh, man. >> there's not much left for them to eat. >> right. hear that? >> yep. let's move that direction. >> is that what they're doing, talking to each other? >> yep. if you want to get behind her. >> sure. come on. >> okay. >> hey!

>> there's two more. >> come on. >> good! >> ha! six more. >> come on, girl. hey! >> your stirrups are too short. >> my stirrups are a little too short. >> i keep adding links to it. >> if the drought continues into next year, we'll keep selling cattle. we fear that if we have to sell off all the cattle, it would be our last year. >> it's 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 sometimes need to travel hundreds of miles from farms to ranchers in the midwest. many of the country's agricultural products move via the mississippi river, the life blood of commerce and the united states.

but now, even those shipments are in danger as the drought has come to the mississippi, too pp, where just a few months ago water levels were so low, officials believed they might have to shut the river down all together. >> crew, dispatch. >> good morning. over the last 24 hours we've had a total of 93 barges, 59 northbound. >> dallas park has a rudder that's leaking. >> good morning, everyone. we're presently minus 2.15 and falling. the gauge is 5.1 and a slow fall. there's no rain forecasted for the next ten days north of st. louis. of the 21 boats, three are ingram. >> ingram is the largest inland 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. in fact, a whopping 60% of america's grain export has to travel down the mississippi on its way out of the country. the slowdown on the river

doesn't just cost money, people's very lively hoods are also on the line. in 2012, the river reached historic lows. as much as 20 feet below normal. >> the dikes, they're all out of water. you can see the flattest part of it. we normally can run literally on top of the flat part of that rock. it's a very unusual sight. go you don't normally see. off to the right here there's a barge that's lifted over. to our left, or our port side, is a wreck. first time i've seen it. there are several other. they were known hazards but this is the first time we've seen them. we're passing a business right now where you can see the dock barge is listed over due to the shallow water. >> outside of our barge is three foot lower than the inside of our barge, which is setting on

the sloping bank. and as the river falls, we continue to lean more. >> george foster is the owner of j.b. marine, a barge cleaning and repair company he runs with the help of his two daughters. >> you can't put anything down without it. everything falls forward. >> j.b. marine. okay. >> we can't move out in the river any further. normally as the river drops, can you move out. we've moved out as far as we can go. it's done some structural damage. >> the building twisted and there's an inch crack. >> it's a very nos toll gik place for me. i basically grew up here, so it's weird. >> i think we're at mother nature's mercy. being a small company, we're kind of all like family. >> doing all right today? >> yes, sir. >> good. >> one of my major concerns is

jobs. you know, i've got people here that have been with me for over 25 years. i've never had a layoff. >> ed, 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 have i to lay them off. that's going to be one of my worst days. >> oh, my god, the whole side of the hill's gone right now. >> drought's don't just mean lack of rain -- >> warm up here. >> -- they also mean fire. ♪ >> last year saw one of the worst wildfire seasons on record, with more than 9 million acres burning across the country. >> keep him going. >> it's something kenny experienced firsthand, when a wildfire raged through his property, scorching thousands of acres of precious pasture. >> stand by.

>> winds and dry heat helped to whip flames of a wildfire in northwest nebraska. the fire between chad ron and rushville grew by saturday to more than 93 square miles. an area bigger than the size of nebraska's state capital of lincoln. >> we might not clear the other end today but we'll still go as far as we can while there's still light. a lot of country to cover. that fire wasn't nice to anybody. >> see a couple of brown patches where it just kind of -- >> jumped. >> -- jumped. wow, that is scary. if you had a great rain in the spring, would anything grow here? >> here? >> yeah. >> no. that's scorched. that ground is sterilized down there. it's done. >> wow. look at this. you look like you're on another planet. looks like mars. >> when the fires hit, that instantly changed -- >> everything. >> -- everything. if you thought you had two months of grass left.

you instantly have nothing. it's gone. >> how did the fire get started? >> a storm came through. obviously, we weren't getting any rain but we did get lightning. there was two lightning strikes that we know of that started fires. >> come o guys. >> the electricity collected on that smoke. it came the direction that we were at. instantly there was lightning coming out of that smoke cloud. a lot of people seen it come down and hit the ground. minute later there was a column of smoke. that's what started all this. >> the wellnitz? >> way past there. ♪ >> right there. >> to the black. other side! >> get our trucks out of there, man! >> it was kind of eerie to see all that smoke and then hear it's coming this way with no

rain -- >> and lightning. >> -- and lightning out of it, yeah. >> like something out of a horror movie. >> yeah. this is something that hasn't happened, that i've seen, in my lifetime. >> how much ground did it cover in total? >> they've said about 100,000 acres. >> how many acres did you end up losing in the fire? >> about 6,000 achers. >> how much of that is your total, of the total end you would use? >> about half. >> right. >> we had a lot of grass left in here. it looked like we was going to get by for a while yet. >> when you see this land, you know, looking like this, it seems to me like you got to be a glass half full kind of guy. >> well, i believe so, yeah. it will rain and eventually all of us will see green pastures and everybody will be happy again. >> yeah. [ mixer whirring ] my turn daddy, my turn! hold it steady now. i know daddy. [ dad ] oh boy, fasten your seatbelts everybody. [ mixer whirring ]

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on kenny's ranch back in nebraska, the drought hasn't let up. and preparations continue for a potential selloff of the herd. today the wellnitzes call in the vet to separate off pregnant cows, so they can decide how many kous that aren't pregnant can be sold before the winter. >> that one is 80 days pregnant, you said? >> yes. >> 85. >> what they're doing right now by sorting the cattle, you know, because even the cows that already have calfs they separated were already pregnant

with their next calf. >> 75. >> cows that are pregnant, they're sending out to pasture, they're going to keep for a little longer. >> 85. >> the ones that are open, that aren't pregnant, they're bringing in here. these cattle are all separated if they end up taking these cows to market. so, doc, when you reach in, what is the road map? what are you feeling for? >> okay. so, if i'm going in about halfway between my wrist and my elbow -- >> yep. >> -- i always find that cervix first so i have my landmarks. >> yeah. >> okay. 85. >> you can tell how many days just by the size? >> i judge by the -- how big his head is. >> that seems pretty accurate. >> that's what my producers tell me anyway. 70 days. >> 70 days. i'd be running away that fast, too. >> all right.

are you ready? >> 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'd end up. >> whoa. what's going on? >> oh, settle down. >> has anybody ever broken their arm doing this? >> oh, yes. >> all the time? >> yeah. >> all right, doc, i think i'm about ready. >> okay. there's some liver in there -- >> lube? >> yeah. so dip your hand in there. >> oh, my gosh. >> all right. >> all right. cone your hand like this. >> like this? >> yes. >> go into the rectum. >> go straight in? >> yes. >> it's warm. >> yes, it is.

>> it's so warm inside. it's nice on a cold day. feels like a water balloon in there. >> yes. >> run your hand over the curvature. you should feel a calf, with a head about that long. >> yeah. >> yeah? >> yeah. >> that's it. >> this is so crazy. >> that's about a 95 to 100-day pregnancy. >> wow. >> yeah. >> i can feel it right in my hand. >> right. >> and now i can pull it out? >> yes. i'll just go home now. we'll give you a couple more. >> yeah. that's an experience. back on the mississippi river, the low water levels are making life on the ingram barge almost impossible. >> southbound vessel, it's our problem to get out of his way. we'll see you on two. thank you. it's more difficult to navigate

because of this low water. >> we're concerned about just one particular shallow area. >> yes, definitely miss that. >> the grounding problems 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. ten feet of water. >> wow. >> the propellers under this boat are nine feet tall. >> right. so those are almost scraping bottom? >> exactly. >> wow. simply not enough water for it to clear. >> but it's not only people living in the heart of the drought region being affected by it, in fact, it's affecting people all over the world. if you're a rancher like the

wellnitzes, you hope a few months of solid rain will get you tloot the season and then things go back to normal. but for the rest of the world, it may not be that simple. the same corn kenny could barely afford to feed his herd is already now seeding the way for potential global catastrophe. it starts with a failed crop. the smaller corn supply can't meet demands and soon the price of everyday staples which depend on corn as feed, like beef, corn, eggs, poultry rise. to meet requirements for ethanol-based fuel, the already devastated corn crop is further reduced, driving prices even higher. speculators and commodity traders see an opportunity and drive prices even higher. when price spikes in the u.s. begin to ripple throughout the world, so, too, do prices of the

other world's 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. >> have a sandwich and a sloppy joe. kind of a leftover deal here today. >> i love leftovers. i asked kenny about the decision-making process. i said, do you talk about everything? he saidings absolutely, we always talk about everything. >> we don't always agree. usually ken's right -- >> always. >> no, not always. >> for some reason they don't take the hired man's opinion. >> who's the hired man? oh, yeah. >> that's why we had you. >> they made it hard on you. >> yeah. >> kind of the truth actually.

>> i take some of that corn salad down there. >> you said you were up this morning at 4 :00 worrying about things. >> well, i -- i guess, until we get that good soaking rain, we're all going to think the same thing. maybe instead of being dry one year, maybe we'll be dry two years. >> it just means everything to us as far as, you know, whether we're going to be in business next year. >> we wouldn't have many cows left this time next year. >> so, does this make you want to be a rancher? >> sometimes we kid around and say maybe we should just sell out and try did doing something else. we joke around about being a greeter for walmart. it might be -- >> you would like that job for one day and then you'd be like, i have to go outside. >> i think it would be nice to have a 9:00 to 5:00 job. you go to work, you come home and forget about it. just not thinking s this going

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with no rainfall on the horizon, ken and tammy have made a decision, to sell off 200 steer calves. they can only hope, that will be enough to get their family through the winter. ♪ >> hey, cows. hey. >> you can go in the pen and help him. >> let the steers out? >> yeah. if they're big steers wheel let out. if they're a hefer cow we'll put in. >> okay. i guess it just dawned on me what's really happened to our lives. it's been hard. >> come on, cows! come on! come on! >> hey, calves, hey! >> ha! come on. right now we are sorting the calves and the cows. the young steers are what's going to market, so we're basically splitting the babies from their mommies right now.

it is -- it is so sad. >> hey! >> we are selling off cattle earlier than we normally would. obviously, we don't like that. >> usually they'd be waiting another two or three months before that happened. normally they would be weighing about 6 00 pound. as they take the steers early to market, they average around 500. it's a lot when someone is paying you $1.80 a cow. it's a big hit. >> we got a hefer. >> ha! ha! come on. >> heefer. >> ha, ha! come on. come on. ha. >> he's got testicles. let him in. >> it's hard for tammy to hold them. hang on a second, morgan. the calves want to go out, too. >> calves go out, too? >> yeah. not so pushy. a little more patience. you're good.

>> i was a little pushy, apparently, with the cows. my first time. what do you want? >> you're doing good. i'm saying, give them just a little time. >> yeah. >> we're just about done here. >> come on. there he goes. >> the steer calves are being bought by a feedlot in kansas, who can afford to feed them for the coming months. >> we're here. >> morning, doug. >> hey, man. >> it's a nice trailer you got. i like that. >> thank you. >> morning. >> got them all in? >> alan, you've got them coming behind you. come on, cows. hey! >> these guys all got a reprieve. three of them cain is keeping to raise for 4-h. three of those guys get to live a good life for the next year. >> where's 827, mom? >> the one with the funny nose. >> he's a good calf.

>> we rely a lot on cain. we're really trying to make sure he has a childhood but yet we're at the point where we need his help. >> you got a 900 -- i thought we put in 614. >> and 949. >> oh, you did? okay. he's getting big enough and strong enough. he's just like a right-hand man. we don't want him to think he's burdened with this place, but we want him to go out and learn how to work and make his own way in life. cain's going to do well in whatever he does. >> tammy, you can get me three more of the biggest ones out here. >> okay. did cain get off to school then? >> 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 selling cattle, but it would be extremely difficult to continue. >> worst case scenario is they don't get rain and all the cattle ranchers around here are going to be kind of stuck. stuck with -- stuck with expenses and no cattle. >> hey, hey. come on, up there. hey, hey. good deal. thank you. >> you see all the cows coming over talking to the truck now? look at all these poor mommas looking for their kids. i don't have them. i'm sorry. there they go. >> we'll see you down there in a little bit. >> sounds good. >> see you, warren. >> thanks. >> we got it done. ♪ >> ken, where are we headed to

now? >> we're going down to the scales to weigh them. >> the total number of calves you're selling today is? >> 200. >> 200. that has to be a hard decision. >> yeah, it really is. very hard. very difficult. >> you can see their trucks. kenny's steers will be weighed in town, where he'll be paid based on the average weight per animal. this year he's selling two months early and hoping to get about 480 pound per steer. in times like these, every pound and every dollar counts. ♪ turn ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of craving something that i can't have ♪ ♪ turn around barbara ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ ♪ don't you wanna, wanna ♪ don't you ♪ don't you want to see me flaunt what i got? ♪

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kenny wellnitz is a rancher in nebraska suffering through a historic drought. to try to get through it, he's had to sell part of his herd off early. >> what did they weigh? >> 469. 478 gross. >> not quite as much as we hoped, but close. >> yeah. >> on average, the cows weigh in ten pound short of what kenny was hoping for. >> i can write you a check, so -- >> that will work. >> just 478 -- 470 pounds each. >> thanks, doug. >> thank you. >> so, how did you do? >> we were close.

we had them in at 480. they were 469. it's 140 pounds light for the normal time of year that i would sell them. so that's -- that's less money in my pocket, but we'll take this to the bank and deposit it and it will give us an opportunity to buy a little more hay, a little more time, and decide what we're going to do with everything else. >> yeah. kenny and tammy will use the money from the sale to pay back the loans they took on to get through the summer. while it's not an ideal circumstance, it's one more step they can take to stay afloat. >> 75 degrees -- >> we got the check. >> $165,578. >> it goes very fast. ♪ >> hey, fred, how are you?

>> good morning, fred. >> good to see you. hi, marilyn. how are you doing? it's not everywhere you can get a hug at your bank. hi, joyce. >> how are you? >> we'll be doing a little better after we talk to fred. >> well, what's the verdict? what do you think? >> well, we sold some calves. >> trying to do something with the calves. obviously, we didn't have any pasture. we were in a big hurry to do something. normally we sell one load and we sold two loads, so -- >> right. >> the drought just killed us this year. >> look how far ahead? >> two months. they got $1.80 a bid. considerably lighter than normal. >> i think it's the smart thing to do. really. >> we had no choice. we lost so much pasture. >> it's good management in the drought. you need to not be thinking about how you're going to maximize profit but minimize loss. >> right. right. >> do a severe cull on the cows and keep a smaller portion of your best -- >> this is depressing.

>> that's one thing about drought, is it is so exhausting. and it just goes on and on and on. just wears you down. >> have you ever seen a drought in this area this bad? >> no. but -- and i think the fact our resources aren't available from farther away to get feed in. that's the thing. it goes back into iowa, indiana, illinois, so -- yeah, it's not a good year. and then got worse with the fire. >> right, right. >> i neen, the fire kind of put the frosting on the cake for you guys. >> right. >> and looking at your cash flow, your options keep getting restricted. >> we just got to keep praying and hoping and -- >> i don't know what we'd do in another year like this. >> well, i guess i can get a deposit slip wrote out here. >> there you go. >> pen. i mean, there's different

options you got for deferring income. so, if you decide you want to feed cows, you know, but keep them and feed, we can term out some debt and get through. we'll work with you, whichever way you want to go. >> right. >> so, what are you thinking? >> with the loan and to make your payments, do you think all the investment we're going to make in feed and everything else -- >> right. >> -- all winter, will we feel like idiots next summer if it doesn't rain? >> yeah. >> it -- i thought about that, too, you know. that's the thing i think is really tough. you have to decide, are we going to invest or, you know, just -- or if you want to liquidate. that's kind of up to you guys. >> so, it's tough decisions. >> yes. >> yeah, it's not a good year.

>> for kenny and tammy, liquidating the ranch seems unthinkable. they know that the best they can do is what they're doing. to just keep on keeping on. and praying for rain. [ female announcer ] this summer, plan a romantic getaway at a conrad,

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had a leak in a hose, so -- >> did you change it? >> all good there. >> after their talk with the banker, the wellnitzes culled their herd even more. >> ready? >> so today they're sending some cows to auction. >> you're a rancher, big rig driver. you got it all, man. >> the older ones, the weaker ones and the heifers that aren't carrying calves. >> 13? >> 13. >> okay. >> come on. come on, cow. come on! come on! >> hang on a second, morgan. >> i'm sorry? >> give them a little time so they can see where we want to go. >> all right. come on. who's buying these cattle? >> farmer feeders, if they have any feed. a lot of these cattle that are bought right now will be grown over the winter. >> they'll buy the cattle, try to fatten them up and resell

them in the spring? >> that's right. >> okay. we're heading to the crawford livestock market, a cattle auction that happens weekly. >> kenny wellnitz. two bulls. >> kenny's heading back to the ranch, so i'm going to stay and see how the auction goes. >> is there a certain number you're looking for for the cattle? >> i hope it hasn't gone down from last week. >> what was it last week on the pound? >> 70 on this type of cattle, 70 cents a pound. >> all right. >> see you later. >> thanks. >> if kenny can get 70 cent a pound on the cow, the wellnitz will be in a good place to hold onto the rest of their herd. [ auction neeering ]

>> sold to you, $57. number? >> luckily they got the price they needed at auction. 70 cents on the pound. >> hey, man. >> hey, morgan. we did good today. >> great. how did we do? >> came in just over 16 grand. >> good. >> the bulls did good. >> that's enough to hang onto the remaining chunk of their herd, for now. that doesn't mean they can rest easy. as it turns out, 2012 was both the driest and hottest record on year for nebraska. even now, the drought is persisting throughout the u.s. and most of the state. it was the worst fire year on record there in almost a century. about half a million acres burned through nebraska, costing at least $12 million. and while the drought has retreated on the mississippi, barges are now dealing with another climate change catastrophe. flooding. >> the forecast is for near record flooding here. >> but westward the drought is

relentless and the wellnitzes have made more drastic decisions. selling off another 100 cattle and moving the remaining herd to greener pastures in south dakota. and things don't look to be getting better any time soon. climatologists are predicting 20 13 will be another drought year in the u.s. and the nebraska forest service is preparing for another summer filled with potentially devastating wildfires. overall, the cost of last year's drought are estimated at $50 to $100 billion nationwide. if it continues, it could become the costliest natural disaster on record in the u.s. whether you point the finger at man-made climate change or mother nature, most scientists agree droughts are likely to continue if not worsen in the coming years. >> morgan. >> thank you. hope i wasn't too much of a burden. >> no. >> it's been great. take care, guys. bye-bye. >> kenny, tammy and cain are ranchers. it's in their blood. it's what they do. no matter what the future has in store, people like the

wellnitzes will take what comes their way, work hard, keep the faith and make the best of whatever hand their dealt. to application 95-501 for a railroad permit. we'll present evidence, hear evidence from the applicant with regard to this proceeding. there are four elements that i have to receive