METROPOLIS, Ill. — Like Kent Korte's livestock, we'd all like to run from the heat. Korte buys and sells cattle, making him the middle man. And recently he said more and more farmers are turning over their livestock because the heat is hurting their ability to keep them alive.
"We are having an overflow of cattle. People don't have any hay. They don't have water. Their ponds are going dry. They know the price of grain is going to go up. So I mean, they have no choice," he said.
It's forcing him to take on more of the animals. While it may sound like a money maker, Korte said it's becoming a burden. " We're trying to move them faster. The longer you hold onto them the more stress it is on them. The more chance you have for a loss," he said.
Korte buys and sells from five other states, including Texas, which saw a similar heat wave last year.
"As I talk from the boys that I buy from out there in Texas right now, they said they're not back to where they should be," Korte said.
So he knows there may be no quick fix for the farmers in the Paducah area who Korte said want more, steady rain because their property and profits are drying up.
"We're hoping for some more. Like I say, it don't help much when it barely settles the dust," he said with a smile.
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