BUTTE — The dead were stacked in two piles, 70 cows in one, 30 in another, hidden away in the crevices of this scenic, hilly ranch country where cattle outnumber people.

Carl Schuman, a former county prosecutor who owned the cattle with his two bothers, says he knows what happened: They died “mostly of old age, and some younger ones got pneumonia.’’

But state investigators have another theory about what happened earlier this year on the Schuman ranch, where pastures this summer were nearly stripped bare from overgrazing while grass in adjoining pastures was about a foot high.

They think the animals might have starved to death.

Investigators haven’t had to go out of their way to find dead cattle in Nebraska, where 6.5 million head roam. Since early this year, three cases of alleged starvation deaths involving a total of about 240 cattle have been reported in Nebraska — more than some officials can recall.

The latest case of alleged neglect surfaced earlier this month near Fairbury. Officials said they found many of the cows in a herd of about 80 near death at a defunct dairy farm.

“Neglect cases are on the rise, and what’s causing it, I’m not sure,’’ said Steven Stanec, executive director of the Nebraska Brand Committee, a state agency that helps police the cattle industry. “We’re having whole herds of hundreds of cattle being neglected.’’

Stanec and others say the cases from early this year don’t share a clear-cut cause. But, he said, “I would say the higher price of feed has something to do with it.’’

In recent months the per-ton cost of hay has risen by about 80 percent, adding to the already high costs of other feed caused by lofty corn prices, which have slipped recently.

High commodity and fuel prices have encouraged farmers to stop raising hay, which is mostly used to feed cattle in the winter and early spring, said Neil Tietz, editor of Hay & Forage magazine. Tietz said hay prices are “certainly the highest I’ve ever seen.’’

And even with the recent drops in oil and commodity prices, Tietz expects hay prices to creep higher this coming winter, which could cause even more cases of starvation.

Livestock experts and those who track animal abuse cases nationally, including the Humane Society of the United States, say they don’t know whether livestock neglect cases are on the rise across the country.

But they predict high hay prices will lead to more cattle herds slowly wasting away from starvation in remote pastures.

“We are going to have more cases of this,’’ said Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University. She said starvation that can often take months to cause death is the worst type of animal abuse.

“There’s no excuse for livestock starving to death,’’ Grandin said angrily when told of the Nebraska cases. “You can always sell them. They might not be at a good price, but you can always sell them.’’

The cattle industry is already nursing a black eye following widespread circulation of videos recorded by undercover investigators for the Humane Society of the United States. They showed alleged abuse of livestock in slaughterhouses and sale barns, including a video from early this year of crippled and sick cows at a California slaughterhouse being shoved with forklifts.

In the largest neglect case so far this year in Nebraska, a rancher let 111 cattle starve to death last winter. About 140 more were found emaciated.

An investigator who went to the ranch described a grim, surreal scene. Some of the carcasses were frozen in a pond. The cattle had broken through the ice trying to get water.

The owner had gone through a divorce, his tractor had broken down and “hay was too high and he couldn’t afford to buy it,’’ said David Horton, an inspector with the Nebraska Brand Committee.

“He just kinda gave up on life,’’ Horton said.

The man, who could not be reached to comment, wasn’t charged with any crimes.

Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood said doing so would have cost too much because the county would have had to take custody of the remaining live cattle during court proceedings.

“We were going to have to take care of 140 head of cattle — feed, water and get vet care for them for a long time,’’ Wood said. He estimated the cost at around $80,000.

“It was an unfortunate decision, but we made the best decision with the best interests of the live cattle,’’ which the man sold, Wood said.

Similar decisions aren’t uncommon in close-knit rural areas where it’s “harder to throw the book’’ at offenders, said Dale Bartlett of the Humane Society of the United States.

Prosecution is also bypassed because livestock abuse doesn’t cause the same level of public uproar as abuse to pets such as dogs, said Bartlett.

Merrick County Sheriff Tony McPhillips says the disparity was recently on display.

In August, bail for an Iowa woman accused of dumping 23 dead or dying dogs in a cornfield northeast of Grand Island was set at $50,000. Denise Withee of Mapleton, Iowa., faces five felony counts of cruel neglect of animals and possible jail time.

Prosecutors say the dogs dumped in Hall County died of dehydration, diseases and/or malnutrition.

“When it’s the same number of cattle starving to death … there’s not a big public concern’’ and no one is jailed, said McPhillips. He has personal experience with a case of alleged starvation.

In late April, Boy Scouts camping at a land preserve in Merrick County just outside of Grand Island complained of a bad smell. About 25 cattle carcasses were found in adjoining pasture. McPhillips said it was clear they had starved to death.

But neither the owner of the cattle, Ted Robb, nor the man he hired to take of them, Dustin Dugan, were jailed after the charges were filed.

And they won’t spend time behind bars following their convictions.

Felony animal neglect charges initially filed against them were later dropped by the Merrick County Attorney’s Office.

They were instead charged with, and pleaded guilty to, misdemeanor charges of improper disposal of carcasses. They now face fines instead of jail time.

“We didn’t have sufficient evidence to prosecute the case’’ of felony neglect, said Deputy Merrick County Attorney Stephen Twiss.

But the county attorney’s office gave McPhillips a different reason, according to the sheriff: A state law establishing animal neglect as a felony wasn’t in effect at the time the cattle were found. It went into effect in 2007.

Robb did not return phone messages seeking comment. Dugan could not be reached to comment.

John Meister, who helps manage the land preserve adjacent to the pasture where the carcasses were found, said he saw the cattle being fed only after he alerted authorities.

He recalled seeing some of the remaining live cattle taken away by officials.

“They looked like they were already dead but were standing up,’’ Meister said.