Southwestern cattlemen had plenty to talk about during the annual Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Convention held recently in Fort Worth.

Water, as usual, takes a top spot on any ag-related agenda. Border security and the cattle market also garnered plenty of attention at the three-day convention attended by 3,500 producers.

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Overall, Texas cattle producers continue to slowly rebuild herds as parts of the state continue to deal with drought conditions.

“I don’t think anybody is wholesale going out and buying bunches of cows and restocking,” said Dr. Joe Paschal, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service beef cattle specialist, Corpus Christi. Paschal gave a live demonstration on the function of a cow’s rumen during opening-day activities.

“What we’re seeing is when people normally in the past hold back 10 to 15 percent females as replacements, they are (now) holding back maybe 20 or 25 percent or they are going to buy some replacement females to fit that sort of bill,” Paschal said. “A guy that has 100 cows that is holding back 15 heifers… it doesn’t take long for that steady, slow incremental process to get us back (to larger inventory levels).”

For more on the annual convention, check out this report from Texas AgriLife.