Ind. farmers unload livestock as drought continues

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana farmers are selling their livestock quicker as they deal with the continuing drought.

Indiana Pork Producers Executive Director Michael Platt said Monday that pig sales are almost double what they would be in an average July. Indiana Beef Cattle Association Vice President Joe Moore says cattle sales also are up and could cause an increase in beef prices toward the end of the year.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman says she returned from a meeting of the nation's lieutenant governors where they concluded Indiana is at the "epicenter" of the drought. She also serves as the state's agriculture secretary.

State officials are still telling Hoosiers to conserve as much as water as possible, but Skillman says it's unlikely the state will impose mandatory restrictions.
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   Online: http://www.drought.in.gov