Can the military save America's livestock growers?

(CNN) -- As the nation's ranches and farms endure one of the most severe droughts in decades, the Obama administration has ordered the Pentagon to look into purchasing a "second helping" of all things meat. Economists and political analysts who spoke to CNN's Security Clearance, however, aren't optimistic that the administration's plan will bring much relief to the livestock industry, though it may help Obama politically. The Defense Department is reviewing its purchases of beef, pork and lamb to see if room can be made to buy more now and freeze them for later. The military already buys approximately 94 million pounds of beef, 64 million pounds of pork, and 500,000 pounds of lamb each year. That food gets eaten by troops around the world, even in combat zones like Afghanistan. As part of the same directive, the Department of Agriculture will be buying up to $170 million worth of meat and poultry. "Farmers and ranchers will have an opportunity to sell more of their products at this critical time, and taxpayers will get a better price on food that would have been purchased later," White House spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters earlier this week. This can be seen as an "opportunity" for the Defense Department to purchase meat it will need in the future at a lower price today, according to defense budget analyst Todd Harrison with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, but economists say the purchase isn't much more than a drop in the bucket for the livestock industry