Lambs, Ewes Search For Price Level
Confusion is the general rule in the sheep and lamb trading arenas this week. Feeder lamb prices are up and down, weightier lambs moving downward with the fat trade and lighter lambs finding a better position. Fat lambs are generally under price pressure except those lightweights that fit a narrow slot for the Eastern market.

Some Fed Cattle Sell At $73, Many Lots Still Asking More
Fed cattle in the Texas Panhandle brought up to $73.50 through Wednesday afternoon, but only barely. With the exception of a few heifers that earned that premium on the North Plains, the going price was a steady $73.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Spade Ranches Recognized By Peers For Stewardship
"Whether it's money or grass, green is the prettiest color"; "it’s the second calf that makes a cow"; "sustainability of the natural resource is the key to a successful operation."

Babbitt’s Grazing Fee Hike Shelved After Election Loss
An election year landslide and some persuasion on the parts of U.S. Senators Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, appear to have resulted in a more cooperative stance by the Clinton administration on grazing and rangeland "reform."

Glickman Picked For USDA Head To Follow Embattled Mike Espy
President Clinton has named Dan Glickman to be his new secretary of Agriculture, succeeding Mike Espy, who left office at the end of the year. Espy is only one of a slew of Clinton appointees and cronies to face ethics charges, and more heads are expected to roll in coming weeks as prosecutors home in on questionable financial and real estate dealings as well as evidence that administration insiders may have used their posts to interfere with investigations of the Clintons and their political inner circle.

Cattle Rustling Earned George A Five Year Stay In "College"
C.C. Broughton, my lifelong friend, was county attorney of Childress County, Texas, at the same time I was county clerk, in 1929 and 1930. He told me he believed that Ed Russell, the brand inspector mentioned in this story, knew more about trying a cow theft case than any lawyer in Texas. Ed had sat in with the district attorney and Broughton on a cow theft case and advised them as to what questions to ask the accused person.

High Court Will Rule On ESA Regarding Habitat Changes
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether destruction of a wildlife species' habitat is banned by the federal Endangered Species Act.

Texas Senator Clears The Air Over Vehicle Emissions Tests
On January 1, millions of Texas residents were made the victims of yet another unnecessary, inefficient, and ill-conceived bureaucratic nuisance: mandatory emissions testing for their automobiles.

Property Rights Meet Set For January 16
The first quarterly meeting for 1995 of the Riverside and Landowners Protection Coalition is set for Monday, January 16 at the Holiday Inn Y.O. Ranch Hotel here. The meeting begins at 1:30 p.m.

NCA Releases Video About Conservation
Keeping Nature in Balance, a 28-minute documentary videotape, was recently released by the National Cattlemen’s Assn.

Yellowstone Wolf Plan Okayed, But Opponents Still Fighting
Two groups that tried unsuccessfully to block the release of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho have announced they will try once again to halt the project.

Montana Cattlemen Face Bangs Sanctions Over Park Buffalo
The federal government said late last week it will revoke Montana's brucellosis-free certification unless action is taken against infected bison leaving Yellowstone National Park. Park officials appear unconcerned about the threat to their neighbors, but Montana’s U.S. senators are demanding action.

Senator Urges Packer Concentration Halt
A North Dakota senator hopes incoming Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman will push the Clinton administration to do something about the lack of competition in the nation's meatpacking industry.

Yule Gift To Trapper’s Wife Was "Perfume", Eau De Phew
Whenever the subject of skunks is brought up, it seems as though everybody has some type of story to tell about those little fumigators. Most of them involve the critters habitating under houses or spraying pets. But every once in a while, the story involves a target of the two-legged variety.

War On The West Not Over Yet, Despite New Crowd In Congress
P.J. O’Rourke is a very funny man. At the height of the Clinton health care debate, he declared, "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until it’s ‘free.’" Yet O’Rourke is not just a witty punster or frequent contributor of humorous political commentary to Rolling Stone and The American Spectator. He’s the author of numerous hilarious, often hard-hitting books, including Modern Manners, Holidays in Hell, Parliament of Whores, and Give War a Chance.

TS&GCB Swears In New Directors
Three new directors for the Texas Sheep & Goat Commodity Board were sworn in at the group’s recent meeting.

Bi-National Trade Focus Of Gathering
The first Bi-National Business Trade Show between Mexico and Texas is set for January 25-26 in the Pecos County Civic Center here.

Grazing Management Computer Meet Set
The use of personal computers by farmers and ranchers continues to grow as new software comes on the market. In the last decade, accounting and recordkeeping software have been the primary tools available, but researchers from the Rangeland Ecology and Management Department at Texas A&M University have now developed software to help ranchers make decisions in grazing management as well.

Vote Split On Beef Industry Plan, But Backers Forge On
Prospective member groups are split 50-50 so far on the beef industry’s proposed consolidation plan, but the project’s backers vow to forge ahead anyway.

Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Open New Year At Higher Level
Feeder cattle prices opened the new year on a higher level last week, steers and heifers steady to $1 higher, instances $2-5 higher. Buyers pushed aggressively for both calves and yearlings, while fed cattle prices jumped $2-3 higher to top out at $73 for the week.

Texas Fed Cattle $3 Higher, Movement Approaching Record
Slaughter steers and heifers closed $3 higher in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading last week. Trade was active Friday through Wednesday, resulting in a near-record movement of 124,600 head. That followed an extremely slow week, however, and includes a large number of Friday sales.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Up, Fats Sharply Off
Feeder lambs were uneven here this week, most sales $1-2 higher, slaughter lambs poorly tested, slaughter ewes $2-4 lower. Slaughter ewes made up fully 60 percent of the total receipts of 10,284 head.

Certified Angus Bulls Avg. $1875
A total of 69 bulls sold here Saturday at the Certified Angus Bull sale for an average of $1875 per head.

San Saba, Mason Feeder Cattle Up
Feeder steers weighing under 450 pounds sold $1-3 higher at recent San Saba and Mason auctions, weights over 450 pounds steady, heifers calves steady, yearlings $1-1.50 higher, slaughter cows steady to $1.50 higher, bulls steady, pairs $25-75 higher, and bred cows steady. Receipts at three sales totaled 4969 head including 3000 in a special female replacement sale.

Goldthwaite Feeder Lambs Rise Sharply
A limited supply of feeder lambs sold $8-10 higher here last week, slaughter lambs, ewes and bucks steady, stock ewes steady; stock Angora goats not tested, slaughter Angoras steady; Spanish kid goats $2-3 higher, nannies, muttons and billies steady. Receipts totaled 1800 head.

Fredericksburg Steer Prices Move Higher
Feeder steers sold $2-4 higher here last week, heifers strong, slaughter cows and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 1035 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
Feeder steers weighing 700-800 pounds sold steady to firm in Kansas direct trade last week, heifers 600-800 pounds steady. Kansas weather was wintry, temperatures in single digits and 2-5 inches of snow. Confirmed sales totaled 6759 head.

Most Lampasas Feeder Cattle Sell Steady
All classes of feeder steers and heifers sold generally steady here last week, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $1 lower, instances $2 off, stock cows steady. Receipts totaled 1000 head.

Junction Angora Goat Prices Mostly Steady
A limited supply of feeder lambs sold $5-10 higher here this week, slaughter ewes and bucks $4-6 lower; few stock Angora nannies and kids steady, slaughter nannies and muttons fully steady, fat kids and yearlings $3-4 higher; Spanish kid goats $2-3 higher, nannies, muttons and billies fully steady. Receipts totaled 3800 head.

U.S. Meat Production 6% Below A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was an estimated 736.3 million pounds, 1.5 percent above the previous holiday-shortened week but six percent below the same week a year ago.

Cuero Feeder Cattle Trading Much Higher
Trading was active here last week, feeder steers much higher, packer offerings about steady. Receipts totaled 1247 head.

Domestic Wool Demand Good, Trading Slow
Demand was good for the limited supply of available domestic wool last week, especially for medium grades and lamb wools. Most wool is held in strong hands and sales were too few to establish a trend.

Hindsight

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull. 
"I see," said John this week, "where everybody that has any connection with a newspaper or magazine is tryin’ to figure out who was the most important feller to the first half of this century."

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
When hog producers called their product THE OTHER WHITE MEAT, I don’t think they figgered that someday it would be the same price.

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
I was watching the O.J. trial news recently and they mostly were talking about Judge Ito. It suddenly occurred to me that most judges have first been lawyers. That’s probably necessary so that when they become judges, they can recognize all the sneaky tricks that they used to get away with.

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
At this writing, my address is 2136 C at the Milford Plaza on 45th and 8th Avenue in Manhattan. The "C" stands for cubicle. New York hotel rooms rent by the square inch. Closets come extra and inset doorknobs are a necessity. Rates are posted on the door to meet state laws. An amendment states roll-away beds cost $10.00 extra per night. Before leaving, I am going to put up 10 bucks just to see where an extra bed fits. We may be overlooking deck room on the trucks at shipping time.

Views From His Better
By Linda Posey
Well, well, here we are in another brand new year! Who would have thought we’d make it? There were times when even I wondered. My better half mentioned the other day that gathering for shearing was just a month off.