Billionaire Bill Gates has been accused of killing thousands of cattle in Kansas, according to unsubstantiated claims by people on Twitter in a bizarre new conspiracy theory.

As I was saying… Bill Gates’ fake meat to the rescue 😒 pic.twitter.com/I36j7HOEkw

— Five Times August (@FiveTimesAugust) June 16, 2022

A viral video of dead cows in northwest Kansas circulated widely on the platform today, inspiring a variety of reactions as it spread to other sites around the web.

According to local and national news sources reporting on the cattle deaths, the cause was high humidity, no wind and a sudden spike in temperatures over the past few days that saw highs of 108 degrees Fahrenheit (or 42 Celsius) in Kansas.

Has heat killed thousands of cattle all at once before? Seems like this is a new thing…

— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) June 16, 2022

Many scientists attribute the unpredictable and extreme weather to climate change, which has accelerated desertification in the Great Plains. As seen during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, the southern stretch of the Great Plains is a fragile ecosystem where highly intensive agriculture and ranching can have catastrophic consequences.

A number of people online, however, insisted that they would not be friends with people who believe that kind of thing.

If you believe 3,000 cows in SW Kansas all died at the same time because of climate change-- you’re not smart enough to be my friend

— 🇺🇸Carson Krow 🇺🇸 (@carsonkrow) June 15, 2022

I really don't believe that heat killed thousands of cattle

There's much bigger heatwaves all over the world

It's between 110 and 125 degrees in the Middle East

Just remember that they want you to stop eating meat (climate change)

I just don't buy it!

— Joel Fischer 🇺🇸 (@realJoelFischer) June 16, 2022

Responding to the video, a number of posters speculated about who would benefit from a massive die-off of cattle. They cited Bill Gates, who is invested in synthetic meat and a central character in many pre-existing conspiracy theories as a possible culprit. This also comes not long after the Peach Tree Dish meme where Marjorie Taylor Greene shared similar conspiracies.

🔥🔥🔥

🤔People who will profit from fake meat and other fake food products must be thrilled. pic.twitter.com/WZseaE0B1e

— 🔴♦️ ULTRA-MAGA Lori 🇺🇸 Patriot♦️🔴 (@LiberatedCit) June 16, 2022

Who would benefit from thousands of cows simultaneously dropping dead? Maybe someone invested in synthetic meat?

— Cari Kelemen 2.0 (@CariKelemen) June 16, 2022

They also cited the fact that Gates is now the largest private individual owner of farmland in the U.S. — the billionaire owns almost 300,000 out of the estimated 911 million acres of farmland in the country, and rents it out for profit. According to the USDA about 60 percent of American farmland is operated by its owners, while about 30 percent is owned by non-operator landlords like Gates who rent it out to farmers.

Bill Gates has stated in the past that he thinks the type of emissions-heavy and water-use-heavy cattle ranching practiced in the U.S. is unsustainable, and he would prefer developed countries switch to 100 percent synthetic beef.

Bill Gates has quietly become the largest farmland owner in America. At the same time, he’s become a leading voice in the push for “synthetic meat.”

Here’s the story of how Bill Gates is waging a war on meat to make millions – and hiding behind “climate change” to do it.

— Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) June 14, 2022

Other posters pushed back against the accusations as the story continued generating discussions throughout the day.

Roughly 3000 cattle died from the heat in Kansas yesterday. The Q nutters are claiming that it's something Bill Gates did to force people to be vegan. The cuts to education funding that Reagan started in the 80's are showing results. I say it's time for one hell of a barbeque.

— Rev. Snort 🏳️‍⚧️ The GOP is a death cult 🇺🇸 (@DonkeySnort) June 16, 2022

Gates seems to have a sense of humor about these topics, joking about conspiracy theories connecting him to vaccines as social control.

I guess we finally ran out of microchips. https://t.co/dptfYIGl4k

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) June 15, 2022

Many seem to feel that meat is threatened in America. According to online chatter ongoing since April, there have been a large amount of fires at food processing plants in the U.S., which some view as evidence of conspiracy. Prices for meat have also risen, along with prices for other commodities, due to inflation.

If I wanted to destroy masculinity I'd:

* Tell boys that aggression is bad
* Remove meat from diets
* Increase soy consumption
* Push dad bods
* Flood people with plastic / xenoestrogens
* Make kids sit down and shut up in school

Narrator: Looks like they already beat you to it

— Carnivore Aurelius ©🥩 ☀️🦙 (@AlpacaAurelius) June 16, 2022

In order to address meat-pricing issues, Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger has proposed a bill to reform the industry and hopefully drive down prices.

The four largest meatpacking companies control more than 80% of the beef processing market.

Today, the House will vote on my bipartisan Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act to enforce our antitrust laws, lower meat prices, and level the playing field for our producers.

— Rep. Abigail Spanberger (@RepSpanberger) June 16, 2022