Drought forces beef plant closure

A 2,000-employee beef plant north of Lubbock has become a casualty of years of drought, which has led to the smallest U.S. cattle herd in 60 years.

Wichita, Kan.-based Cargill Beef has said it will idle its Plainview plant Feb. 1, with no reopening date on the horizon.

"The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level since 1952,” Cargill president John Keating said in a news release. “Unfortunately, the drought has not broken, feed costs remain higher than historical averages and the herd continues to shrink."