As beef prices rise, cattle herds go missing in Idaho

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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — More than 150 cattle valued at about $350,000 have been reported missing in southeastern Idaho, and authorities aren't excluding modern-day cattle rustling as beef prices have soared.

FILE -- In this Nov. 11, 2004 file photo, livestock stand in a feedlot outside Caldwell, Idaho. More than 150 cattle valued at about $350,000 have been reported missing in southeastern Idaho, and authorities suspect modern-day cattle rustling as beef prices have soared. Three ranchers say roundup searches in recent weeks in the hills and gulches on the remote summer range where the cattle graze have come up empty in Bingham and Bonneville counties. The losses include a herd of 50 Black Angus consisting of 25 cows and 25 calves valued at $150,000. Another herd of 41 cow-calf pairs, meaning 82 animals total, plus 10 cow-calf pairs, or 20 animals, all valued at about $200,000, from another rancher are also reported missing. (AP Photo/Troy Maben, File)

Three ranchers say roundup searches in recent weeks in the hills and gulches on the remote summer range where the cattle graze have come up empty in two counties.

Law enforcement officials say they have little to go on because it's not clear when the cattle might have disappeared after being turned out early last summer.

U.S. cattle industry officials say beef prices are at record highs due to a combination of factors that include past droughts that caused cattle numbers to shrink and increased demand for beef on a global scale following the Great Recession.