Lamb Prices Hold, Weather Trims Trading
Fat and feeder lamb prices held about steady in limited trading this week, although there was some up and down movement dictated by the weather.

Fed And Feeder Cattle Prices Steady As A Whole This Week
Both fed and feeder cattle prices held about steady through midweek, though fats felt the floor sag a bit after the paper trade retreated Wednesday morning.

Cape Sale Opens Hair Season With Big Bang
South Africa’s first mohair sale of the summer season Tuesday cleared 99 percent of the 837,000 pounds offered.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Some View ESA As Biggest Fox The Hen House Has Ever Seen
The controversial federal Endangered Species Act was once again the topic of conversation at a recent landowner rights panel during the annual Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society meeting here.

GAO Claims CRP Much Too Big; Could Be Done With Less Land
A popular conservation program may be idling six times as much cropland as necessary to protect water and wetlands from agricultural runoff.

Border Governors Ink Agreement To Cooperate In Cattle Trade
Only the brim of the cowboy hat worn by the Mexican governor of the state of Tamaulipas interfered with a total "Mexican abrazo" hug that Texas governor George Bush gingerly exchanged with his counterpart as the two participated in the signing of an international agreement to cooperate in cattle and beef marketing. They were joined by two other state officials from below the Rio Grande.

Sam Maverick’s Slick-Eared Cattle Made His Name Famous
Samuel A. Maverick (1803-1870) was born in Pendelton, South Carolina. His father was a wealthy merchant and saw to it that Samuel got a good education, including a B.A. degree from Yale in 1825. He studied law in Virginia, was admitted to the bar in South Carolina and practiced law there for a short time. Then he took "Texas Fever" and arrived in Texas in 1835, joining the Texas Volunteer Army. He was a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico.

EPA Caught Illegally Lobbying; Head Vows To Continue Doing It
Accused by a Republican congressman of illegal lobbying, EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner lashed back Saturday, saying she will not be intimidated or silenced.

Backers See Writing On Wall: Species Act On Borrowed Time
Little more than a couple of years ago, promoters of the federal Endangered Species Act were licking their chops over prospects of extending its reach. With a liberal Democrat in the White House for the first time in more than a decade and other liberals still in command of Congress, eco-activists confidently assumed they could parlay ESA’s scheduled reauthorization into a massive expansion of their power. A slew of reauthorization bills sought to dramatically inflate the program’s budget and to weaken property rights nationwide.

Rural Texans, Livestock Find Army Helicopters Unsettling
The thunder of $15 million Army helicopters over rural East Texas has residents here rattled.

Cheating And Bribery Claims Against ConAgra Nearer Court
ConAgra faces a class-action lawsuit and possible federal action for allegedly bribing inspectors and cheating farmers at its four Indiana grain elevators.

Idaho Senate Approves Bill Upholding Grazing Rights
Legislation precluding challenges to state livestock grazing leases by environmental activists has won approval from the Idaho Senate.

House Bill Would Compensate Landowners For Loss Of Value
The deregulation-minded U.S. House wants to compensate people when environmental restrictions devalue their property, but the sentiment is not as clear in the Senate.

Bones Of Pioneers Fascinate Students
She was about 20 years old, and appears to have died of tuberculosis. The boy was about four, and the cause of his death has not been determined.

NM Senate Approves Buying Chama Ranch
The State of New Mexico would make an offer to buy a 32,000-acre ranch near the Colorado border under legislation the Senate approved Saturday.

Foundation Sells W. Nebraska Ranch
The Pawnee Springs Ranch, consisting of more than 80,000 acres in a four-county area around North Platte, has been sold by the Peter Kiewit Foundation.

Eco-Activist Admits To Arson, Vandalism
A man accused of using fire and vandalism to promote his animal rights agenda in several states pleaded guilty Friday to arson and theft of government property charges.

Good Just Isn’t Good Enough; McMullan Wants World Title
Few rodeo cowboys have been more successful over the past two years than calf roper Shawn McMullan.

Most Feeder Cattle Prices Off, Movement Remains Substantial
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-3 lower around the country last week except that in many places calves were steady.

Direct Fed Cattle In Texas Higher, But Under Pressure
Slaughter steers and heifers sold $1 higher last week in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading, but prices were under pressure and not fully tested late.

Angelo Feeder Lambs, Cattle Trade Steady
Feeder lambs sold steady here in a light test, slaughter lambs $1-4 higher, slaughter ewes uneven, good and choice weak to $5 lower, cull and utility firm to $2 higher. Receipts totaled 4804 head.

Junction Angora Goat Prices Mostly Higher
Feeder lambs sold steady, slaughter lambs untested, slaughter ewes and bucks $3-4 lower; stock Angora nannies and muttons $2-4 higher, kids steady, slaughter nannies and muttons $2-4 higher, fat kids and yearlings $6-10 higher; Spanish goats fully steady. Receipts totaled 4400 head.

Bad Weather Reduces Goldthwaite Receipts
Icing conditions reduced sheep receipts to about 500 head here, too few of any class to establish price trends.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady in a limited test, slaughter cows $2-3 lower, bulls steady, stock cows steady. Receipts totaled 450 head.

Cuero Cattle Market Termed Active, Good
Trading was termed active and demand good on receipts totaling 568 head.

Oklahoma Test Bulls Avg. $1766 Per Head
The all breeds bull sale following the 43rd annual Beef Bull Performance Test at Oklahoma Panhandle State University included 65 bulls that sold for a total of $114,775 and averaged $1766 per head.

Fredericksburg Feeder Cattle Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 higher, slaughter cows $1-2 lower. Receipts totaled 921 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Prices Lower
Feeder steers weighing 700-900 pounds sold weak to $1 lower in early direct trading in Kansas, instances $2 off late, heifers 650-875 pounds weak. Confirmed sales totaled 14,285 head.

San Saba And Mason Feeder Prices Mixed
Lightweight stocker steers sold mostly steady to strong at San Saba Thursday, March 2, and Mason Monday, March 6, feeder steers steady to $2 higher on moderate fleshed offerings but $2-4 lower on fleshy kinds, lightweight and mediumweight heifer calves fully steady to strong, feeder heifers steady to $3 lower, slaughter cows and bulls mostly steady, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 1193 head.

U.S. Meat Production 1.1% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was an estimated 783 million pounds, 1.6 percent below the previous week and 1.1 percent above the same week a year ago. Cumulative production year-to-date was 3.99 billion pounds, up 1.8 percent from a year ago.

Hindsight

Letters To The Editor

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull. 
"Well," John began, "I see the coal miners have started back to work, so everybody can start living again."

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
This is the poem of the hunter’s son as he tracks the woods alone
And the beaver’s revenge when he seeks to avenge the hunter’s gauntlet thrown
By choosing to pair with a grizzly bear, big, nasty and fully grown.

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
I had a call from an old friend that I went to school with and couldn’t for the life of me remember what he looked like. So I got out the old albums to refresh my memory. When I saw his face I remembered. When I saw him in person he looked like his grandfather. Albums should be made to disintegrate before the people do to destroy the evidence. O. J.’s attorneys would have no difficulty discounting any eyewitnesses at a high school reunion.

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
After a drouth decimates a herd, listening to the market news is like a baseball fan sitting on a cold car fender out in a parking lot, listening to the crowds cheering a world series playoff. Noontime reports on six-weight steers in Oklahoma City and oldcrop muttons in Angelo mean little to a man who can gather and load his whole outfit by nightfall.