South Dakota is cattle country -- the industry is by far the largest employer in the state. Agriculture was also a huge drain on the economy in 2012, knocking a full two percentage points off the state's growth.
It's all related to the drought. Severe water shortages in 2012 caused the price of corn, hay and other crops used as animal feed to soar. That put big pressure on the state's ranchers, and many had to sell at least part of their herd to ranchers from out of state.
"When will those cattle come back, or will they ever come back?" asked Courtney De La Rosa, the state's director of agriculture policy.
Making matters worse, De La Rosa said that ranchers generally don't have access to the insurance programs that cover many crop farmers.
