Texas Agri Life Extension Service at Texas A&M is hosting the largest beef cattle short course in the nation this week.
Click to hear WTAW’s Chris Clift talk with Agri Life Extension spokesperson Blair Fannin:
This is the 55th annual beef cattle short course at Texas A&M, with more than 1,400 farmers and ranchers in attendance from around the world.
Fannin says the two big topics on the minds of cattle producers are water and money.
In other words the drought across Texas, as well as other parts of the nation, is posing a big problem for those in the cattle business.
Fannin says many south Texas operations with less than 50 head of cattle have just decided to liquidate their herd and leave the business.
A tough national economy also means consumers are gravitating more to less expensive cuts like ground beef.
According to Fannin drought conditions combined with a slow economy could be enough to bring down the price of beef over the short term.
For more information visit beef.tamu.edu