Lamb Imports Hit Record High Volume
Lamb and mutton imports the week ending March 16 were a record high volume at 2608 metric tons, or around 5.7 million pounds, the equivalent of 24 percent more than domestic production that week.

Fed Cattle Prices Continue To Tumble, Losing Another $3
Plains feedlots are awash in red ink as fed cattle prices continue to slide. Trading began this week on Tuesday and continued through Wednesday at $64, $3 off last week's already-depressed rate.

Texas Slaughter Goat Prices Tumbled Around $5 This Week
Most slaughter goat markets around the state lost about $5 this week, the first decline in about four weeks.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

NCBA And McDonald’s Officials Create Beef Export Task Force
Officers of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and McDonald's officials have announced the formation of a task force designed to find ways of improving the value of U.S. beef products by increasing exports of U.S. fed beef trimmings.

Conferees May Be Approaching Agreement On Farm Bill Issues
House and Senate farm bill negotiators may have worked out differences over packer ownership of cattle and country of origin labeling. Closed door meetings of the House-Senate farm bill conference committee last week failed to produce any agreement until Thursday morning, April 18, when House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest, R-Texas, and ranking member Charlie Stenholm, D-Texas, introduced a compromise proposal developed by the House conferees covering all titles of the bill.

Sheep May Be Part Of Program To Fight Noxious Leafy Spurge
A rancher wants to release 1600 sheep on a plot of public land surrounded by private property in Anaconda's East Valley as part of a three-pronged effort to wipe out grass-choking noxious weeds.

New Texas Regulation Intended To Protect Horses From Coggins
Horse enthusiasts with a limited area in which to keep their animals can now be assured that nearby horses have tested negative for equine infectious anemia.

CFTC Reports No Early Evidence Of Cattle Futures Manipulation
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission reports no evidence of manipulation in its preliminary look at the precipitous cattle futures market drop surrounding the March 13 rumor of foot and mouth disease in Kansas.

UK Woman In Florida Could Have Mad Cow
The Florida Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control are investigating a likely case of new variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (vCJD) in a 22 year-old citizen of the United Kingdom now living in Florida.

Oregon Trail Cattlemen Set To Launch Branded Beef Line
Cattle ranchers in Eastern Oregon and other states along the Oregon Trail are preparing for a cattle drive of sorts to move high-quality beef from the ranch to consumers' plates.

USDA Plans To Continue Testing Imported Sheep Taken Last Year
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that tests conducted on a flock of sheep confiscated last year from a farm in Vermont confirm that two of the 125 sheep tested positive for an atypical undifferentiated transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of foreign origin.

Wyoming May Consider Paying Elk Damages
Two committees plan to study whether the state should compensate landowners whose grass is eaten by elk and other wildlife.

Farmland Says No Plan To File For Chapter 11
Farmland Industries has no plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the head of the nation's largest agricultural cooperative said Monday.

Numerous Factors Contributed To Collapse Of Cattle Futures
Cattle futures prices have dropped to new life-of-contract lows during the past three weeks. With the Jan. 1 U.S. all-cattle and calf inventory the lowest since 1960, ranchers are wandering why the cattle market collapsed.

Burk Heads Off Trevor Brazile To Lead Calf Roping Standings
Blair Burk of Durant, Oklahoma, continued his assault on the Jack Daniel’s World Standings leader board last weekend, claiming the calf roping title at the Buc Days ProRodeo in Corpus Christi.

Nation’s Feeder Cattle Trade Mostly Higher, Outlook Bleak
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $3 higher around the country last week, auction barns in the Southeast unevenly steady and prices $1-2 lower in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Cattle On Feed Up One Percent In Seven Main Feeding States
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter April 1 in the seven leading feeding states totaled 9.93 million head, up one percent from the same date in 2001 and four percent from April 1, 2000.

Superior Livestock Video Sale Offering Totals 27,500 Cattle
Superior Livestock Auction offered more than 27,500 feeder cattle in their regularly scheduled video sale. Consignments were from 18 states.

Fed Cattle Prices Off, Spread Between Select, Choice Widens
Slaughter cattle traded $1-2 lower last week, dressed sales $4 lower.

Domestic Wool Trading Active, Australian Prices See Decline
Wool trading was moderate to fairly active in most areas except slow in Texas and New Mexico, where warehouses are receiving wool for sales in May. Demand was moderate to good for the smaller than normal supplies. Wools are held in strong hands this year, prices, both grease and clean, steady to firm. Most activity was noted in Colorado and Wyoming as shearing is in full swing.

Angelo Lambs Steady, Feeder Cattle Higher
Feeder and slaughter lambs sold steady this week, slaughter ewes firm to $2 higher; nanny goats were steady, kids weak to $5 lower. Receipts totaled 12,340 head, around 50 percent slaughter ewes, 10 percent slaughter lambs, five percent feeder lambs and 35 percent goats.

Red Meat, Beef, Pork Stocks Above Year Ago
Total red meat supplies in freezers on March 31, at 960.6 million pounds, were one percent below February 2002 but 22 percent above March 2001.

Fredericksburg Fat Lamb Prices Mixed
Feeder lambs sold $3-5 higher, lightweight slaughter lambs $3-5 lower, heavyweights $2-3 higher; goats were 3-5 lower. Receipts totaled 3472 head.

Milano Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Lower
Feeder steers sold $1-3 lower, heifers $2-4 lower, slaughter cows $1-2 lower, bulls steady. Receipts totaled 574 head.

Producers Internet Offers 7600 Feeders
Producers Internet Auction offered 7600 feeder cattle, mostly from Florida and few from Mississippi and Texas. Trade and demand were good, delivery current to October.

Abilene Lightweight Feeder Cattle Steady
Feeder steers and heifers under 500 pounds sold steady, heavier weights $1-2 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $1 higher, stock cows and pairs $10-20 lower. Receipts totaled 1213 head.

U.S. March Red Meat Production Down 2%
Commercial red meat production for the United States in March totaled 3.68 billion pounds, down two percent from the 3.76 billion pounds produced in March 2001. March 2002 contained one fewer weekday than a year ago.

Llano Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Better
Feeder steers and heifers sold $2-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 240 head.

Most Hamilton Cattle Prices Called Steady
All classes of cattle sold steady on receipts of 488 head. Sheep classes were steady Wednesday, April 22; nanny goats were higher, kids steady. Receipts totaled 1448 head.

Most Lampasas Cattle Prices Called Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $2 lower, slaughter cows $2-4 lower, bulls $1-2.50 lower. Receipts totaled 622 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Steers Move Higher
Feeder steers opened steady last week, but, late sales were firm to $1 higher. Heifers were too few for a market test. The weather was mild and dry. Sales were confirmed on 3396 head.

Junction Sheep Sold Steady, Kids Lower
Most sheep sold steady, kid goats $5-8 lower, young Spanish nannies 50-65 lbs. $7-12 higher. Receipts totaled 3376 head.

U.S. Meat Production 10.1% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 896.5 million pounds, 2.6 percent more than a week earlier and 10.1 percent more than a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was up two percent at 13.7 billion pounds.

Colorado City Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady, slaughter cows steady to $2 lower, bulls steady, bred cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 445 head.

Goldthwaite Lambs Higher, Goats Steady
Lightweight slaughter lambs sold $2-3 higher, heavyweights steady; goat prices were generally steady. Receipts totaled 2187 head.

Graham Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $1 lower, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 768 head.

Coleman Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Decline
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $1 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $1 lower, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 912 head.

Cuero Cattle Market Termed Active
Trading was active, slaughter cows $1-1.50 higher. Receipts totaled 712 head.

Fredericksburg Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder seers and heifers sold $1-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3 lower. Receipts totaled 924 head.

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
April 27 — The Open Range Commercial Replacement Female Sale, Dees Ranch, Elgin, Oklahoma. April 27 — Windy Hills Beefmaster 12th Annual Production Sale. April 27 — Catalog Horse Sale, Lometa Commission Company, Lometa, Texas.