AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Back in April, we brought you the story of cattle prices reaching a record high, but the drought has struck again, and it's bringing those prices back down.

Oddly enough, it is hay that has had a major impact on the decrease.

How do the two go hand in hand?

According to JD Ragland of the Texas Agrilife Extension Agency, cattle prices have dropped off 10-20 cents a pound.

He says the drought has most definitely played a part in that.

"A lot of our cattle producers have sold off their cattle, simply because there's just not any grazing, so what happens is when there's a huge volume of supply available than obviously the price drops."

in the reverse side of that equation, hay prices have gone up because of that lack of grazing, and Ragland says it's just been cheaper to sell that cattle than to buy the hay.

"Those producers that've been able to hang on to their cattle have really had to use a lot of their hay in terms of supplemental feeding, well since that's been on going obviously the hay supply is short so that drives the hay price up."

He says the issue of supply and demand really comes into play, because when there are more cattle on the market, buyers can pay a lot less.

"Mainly cow/calf producers have just escalated over the past four or five months, simply because there's no grazing available and producers are kind of pushed against a wall, so to speak, to be able to do something with those cattle."

Ragland says a 1500 pound round bale of hay that may have cost you $50 or $60 before, will now set you back $80-$100.

He also said it's going to take four to six inches of rain before we see any significant changes in range-land grazing.