LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Cargill Cattle Feeders says an ongoing drought is forcing it to close its feedlot facility in Lockney.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/H39GVH ) the feedlot will wrap up operations this summer — though no exact date has been specified.

The facility northeast of downtown Lubbock employs about 45 people. They will be offered positions at other Cargill facilities in the region.

A lack of rainfall forced another Cargill facility in Plainview, just west of the 2,000-resident town of Lockney, to close in February.

The Lockney feedlot has a capacity for 62,000 head of cattle. Purchased in 1985, it primarily supplied the Plainview facility.

Continued drought has hurt the cattle industry, sparking a shortage of grass for grazing as well as feeding material that comes from rain-dependent crops like corn and sorghum.

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Information from: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, http://www.lubbockonline.com


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