FOUR OAKS, N.C. — Hotter-than-average temperatures are continuing to make North Carolina sizzle this summer. When factoring in the humidity, the last several days have felt like it’s 100 degrees or hotter in parts of the state. That’s dangerous heat for anyone that works outside, like farmer Brandon Batten.

Batten says his cattle are resilient in the extreme heat, as long as they have food, water and shade. Part of his job is to keep the water trough full. The pond near where his cows hang out has been dry for months.

“Now, because they have natural water again because of the rain, they’re not drinking it as much. Maybe every three days we supplement their water,” Batten said. “But you know, that’s kind of abnormal, normally we don’t have to water cows. They have natural water through springs and ponds they can drink. And this is just kind of a sign of how dry it has been.”

The recent rainfall means the cows are back to grazing the lush and green pasture. Three weeks ago it was brown. Batten had to feed hay to his cows during the drought.

“Today, our cattle have plenty of forage. You can see we’re not feeding any hay. They have all they want to eat, but we’ve already almost used our entire first cutting of hay, that we would normally store for winter to keep the cattle going through the drought,” Batten said. “So we don’t have any inventory today.”

Batten, a sixth-generation farmer, is doing all he can to protect his cows. He checks on them more often during the heat wave. He wants to make sure they are well hydrated and healthy.

“The cattle are a lot like us. When it’s hot and oppressive they don’t wanna get out and work hard in the sun and the heat,” Batten said. “They wanna lay around, and stay in the shade, and do as little as possible to conserve energy and try to keep cool. So that’s what they’re doing.”

The brutal heat wave continues to bake much of the country. This burden on farmers could translate to consumers.

“We’re definitely concerned about having to sell some cows because we don’t have feed for them through the winter,” Batten said. “Along with that comes the potential for market crunch on availability, and with the rising demand and inflation, and all the other inputs being extremely high, eventually that’s going to reach the consumer in the grocery store. There’s going to be an increase more than we’ve already seen as far as the price of beef and food for the average American.”