Lamb Prices Firming Up Slightly
Fat and feeder lambs tended to firm up around the country this week. Continued limited slaughter numbers and reduced tonnage at wholesale are helping to maintain favorable price levels.

Fed Cattle Prices $1 Lower, Many Feedlots Hanging Tough
Psychology is more than a boring college course, it’s a market-driver in the cattle business. This week psychology drove the market down a dollar.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Texas Growers Crucial Vote For Proposed Checkoff Plan
The American Sheep Industry Assn. has completed phase one in their quest to establish a commodity checkoff program to replace the Wool Act, which will be phased out in January 1996. The Sheep Promotion, Research & Information Act of 1994 became law in early October, passing the Senate and House on unanimous consent.

Coyotes So Thick In Colorado That They’re Running In Packs
Efforts by animal rights and environmental activists to interfere with predator control activities have borne poisonous fruit — coyotes are so numerous in Colorado now that they’re running in packs like their wolf cousins. Some stockmen swear by guard dogs as a way to fight back, but even the best dogs are being overwhelmed.

U.S. Sheep Flock At Record Low Level, Texas Goats Mixed
Total numbers of sheep and lambs in the United States on January 1 declined nine percent from a year earlier decline to 8.9 million head. That was 18 percent below two years ago and a record low for the second consecutive year.

U.S. Meat Export Federation Responds To Peso Devaluation
The U.S. Meat Export Federation is advancing a six-point plan to address the dramatic effects of the devalued peso on U.S. meat exports to Mexico. Since the peso’s devaluation on December 20, USMEF estimates U.S. beef and pork exports to Mexico have declined 70-80 percent.

Influx Of Hands From Outside Ended Panhandle Cowboy Strike
One provision of the laws of Texas in the open range days in regard to the public domain was that if a lessee of a portion of the public domain put as much as $100 in improvements on a tract of land, he was safe from loss of the lease to another lessee or settler.

County Versus Federal Rights Seminar Slated
A seminar on county versus federal rights is scheduled for the San Angelo City Hall at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25.

Weak Mexican Peso Hits Texas Exports
The devalued Mexican peso had a disastrous affect on livestock exported through the six Texas export facilities during January. The total volume moved was down 59 percent from a year ago with all species suffering losses.

Angora Billy Test To Begin Feb. 24-27
The 1995 Angora Goat Performance Test conducted by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station here begins with delivery of test billies February 24-27. This year’s field day and sale is set for July 27.

Federals’ Wolf Kills Calf Within Days After Release
What could prove to be the most valuable calf in the West fell prey to a wolf near here last weekend.

Researchers Cited During SRM Meeting
Two San Angelo-based Texas A&M research scientists received national recognition here recently at the international meeting of the Society For Range Management.

Beef Consumption To Rise In The U.S.
Americans will be eating slightly more beef this year than last, the National Cattlemen's Association forecasts, but growing supplies will keep beef prices down.

Brush Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Firm
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady on weights less than 700 pounds, while heavier kinds firm to $1 higher on some lots. Slaughter and stocker cattle receipts were too few to establish a trend. Receipts totaled 3972 head, 90 percent over 600 pounds.

Feeder Cattle Prices Uneven Around The Country Last Week
Price trends for feeders were uneven around the country last week. Feeder steers and heifers averaged generally steady, instances $1-2 higher.

Texas A&M Test Sale Bulls Average $1320
A total of 71 bulls sold at the recent annual quality assurance tested bull sale at the Texas A&M Beef Science Center grossed $93,775 for an average of $1320.77 per head.

Superior Livestock Video Sale Offers 55,000 Head Of Cattle
Superior Livestock Auction offered nearly 55,000 feeder cattle in their Winter Classic video sale Friday and Saturday, January 27 and 28, in conjunction with the National Cattlemens Association convention. Consignments were from 26 states, Mexico and Canada. Trading was active and demand good, particularly on lightweight calves and weights over 700 pounds. Most cattle are for current through April delivery, several loads for May and early June.

Texas Slaughter Cattle Trade Mostly $1 Higher Last Week
Slaughter steers and heifers closed mostly $1 higher in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading last week.

Cattle On Feed Down 5 Percent January 1 In 13-States Report
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter Jan. 1 in the 13 states preparing quarterly reports totaled an estimated 10.6 million head, five percent fewer than at the same time last year and down three percent from Jan. 1, 1993.

Angelo Lambs Steady, Feeder Cattle Firm
Feeder lamb numbers were too limited to test prices here this week. Slaughter lambs sold steady, slaughter ewes weak to $2 lower early, but sharply higher at the close. Most fleshy lambs under 90 pounds were moving on slaughter accounts. Receipts totaled 8544 head.

U.S. Meat Production 1.3% Above A Year Ago
Red meat production under federal inspection last week was an estimated 810.5 million pounds, 1.2 percent below the previous week but 1.3 percent above the same week a year ago.

Most Fredericksburg Cattle Prices Higher
Feeder steers sold $1-2 higher, heifers under 500 pounds $2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $2 higher. Receipts totaled 1655 head.

Junction Angora Goat Prices Steady To Up
Feeder lambs sold steady, slaughter ewes and bucks $3-4 higher; stock Angora muttons and kids steady, slaughter nannies and muttons $3-5 higher, kids and yearlings steady; stock Spanish nannies $2-4 higher, others fully steady. Receipts totaled 5300 head.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold fully steady, slaughter cows steady to $1 higher, bulls $2 higher, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 1500 head.

Cuero Feeder Cattle Prices Mostly Steady
Trading was active and demand strong, feeder steers steady, packer offerings about steady. Receipts totaled 1284 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Firm To Up
Feeder steers weighing 700-850 pounds sold steady to $1 higher in Kansas direct trading last week, heifers 600-775 pounds firm. Sales were confirmed on 7094 head.

Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie Trade Mixed
Trade was slow on limited supplies of domestic wool last week. Shearing is underway in Arizona, the Pacific Northwest and upper Midwest. Approximately 40,000 pounds of whiteface 62-70s high yielding feedlot lamb wool, bellies out and untied, sold in Colorado at $1 grease, f.o.b. A couple of loads of graded 54s in the Midwest sold at $1.50 clean delivered, and one load of mostly 48s brought $1.40.

Goldthwaite Lambs Steady, Ewes Higher
Feeder lambs sold steady, slaughter lambs steady except newcrops $3-4 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks $2-4 higher; stock Angora kids and nannies fully steady, others not tested; all classes of Spanish goats $2-3 higher. Receipts totaled 2300 head.

Grass Cattle Wanted At San Saba, Mason
Demand was strong and trading active on choice lightweight and mediumweight steer calves suitable for grazing Thursday, Jan. 26 at San Saba and Monday, Jan. 30 at Mason. Heifers and heavyweight steers were steady, No. 2 steers $1-2 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady, choice pairs and bred cows in good demand. Receipts totaled 1787 at the two sales.

Hindsight

Letters To The Editor

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull. 
John was catching up on his worrying as well as his lobby loafing this week. "It’s this wool business that aggravates me," he said. "Course, I’m more of a cowperson than a sheepherder, an’ I’ve never really got around to figurin’ out much about the sheep business. The only reason I started runnin’ sheep was to keep from havin’ a round with my banker about 20 years ago.

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
I travel quite a bit. When people hear I’m from Colorado they invariably make some joke about our new airport, DIA. Denver Imaginary Airport. For those who do not follow worldwide catastrophes, DIA is many millions of dollars and a year and a half overdue. It is embroiled in scandal and questionable workmanship and is a national joke.

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
When I was a kid, we had the shingle roof beat off our house by a hail storm. The hail stones piled up so high that you couldn’t go barefoot without getting frostbite...and this was in July...dropped the temperature 30 degrees... all the way down to 100º. But the ice hadn’t started to melt before a roofer drove up, grinnin’ like he was the cause of the hail storm.

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
Shortwave radio fills in the gap of not having TV at the ranch. From nine to 10 o’clock at night, British Broadcasting Corporation, or Radio Netherlands, broadcasts a wide coverage of world news. In the daytime, a station south of the ranch covers the local scenes on AM. All the reports over the party line are in Spanish. Unless the señoras talk too fast to punctuate their conversation, I pick up a few pieces of gossip I’d miss on a private line.