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| Vol. 48 - No. 8 | Thursday, February 22, 1996 | $25 Per Year |
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Lamb Prices
Skyrocket To Record Highs
Short numbers and a constant demand pushed feeder
lamb prices around the country to record high levels this
week. Fat lamb and carcass prices are also moving upward,
but lagging behind the feeders. Breakeven fat prices are
moving above the $90 figure, which makes carcasses $180
and cutout values near $210.
Feedlot Trade
At Standstill Again Through Middle Of Week
The golf courses must have been crowded Wednesday.
In addition to the day’s usual complement of
doctors, there were packer buyers and feedlot managers to
contend with.
Lamb Packer
Representative Says Merchandising Critical
Keeping lamb in the meat case is no simple task,
and packers and breakers are being called upon
increasingly to become more than just processors. Today
they must also be good merchandisers. That was the
message presented by Teddi Crippen, director of marketing
for Superior Farms, at the recent National Lamb Feeders
Association annual meeting here.
TCFA Head Takes
Clear-Eyed Look At State Of Beef Biz
All the other elements aside, the number one problem for
the cattle feeding industry in 1995 was beef production,
concedes one of its leaders.
Colorado Bill
Shifts Power Over Predators
A bill giving the Colorado Department of
Agriculture the power to set predator control policies
was approved by the state Senate and sent to the House
late last week.
Arch-Foe
Daschle "Reluctantly" Giving Blessing To Farm
Bill
Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle says he might ask President
Clinton to endorse the Republican Freedom to Farm bill
even though he still has reservations about it.
Wolf Scheme
Challenge Cases Consolidated
A federal judge has consolidated a fourth
challenge to wolf reintroduction in the Intermountain
West with three other lawsuits already under review in
Wyoming.
Women Driving
Force In Agriculture Today
Women have taken a primary role on family ranches
and farms and are the driving force in many commodity
groups, says a rural farm specialist.
Idaho Panel
Seeking To Tell Range Story
Members of a year-old Idaho Rangeland Resources
Commission are trying to get money this year so they can
launch a media and education blitz to educate the public
about the grazing industry.
Grain Industry
Giant Faces Scores Of Suits
Archer Daniels Midland Co. faces more than 85
lawsuits in state and federal courts nationwide following
revelations of a government antitrust investigation into
the food-additives industry.
Bangs Panel
Agrees To Yellowstone EIS
State and federal agencies have agreed to an
environmental impact statement on management of
brucellosis in the greater Yellowstone area.
Babbitt Vows
That BLM Councils Will Survive
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt says that even
though Congress may make his public lands grazing
"reforms" obsolete, one main goal is very much
alive: western "resource advisory councils."
Packer
Concentration Study Inconclusive, As Expected
As most industry observers had anticipated, the
long-awaited USDA report on meat packer consolidation
released last week held no real surprises.
Producers Video
Auction Sale Offering Totals 4000 Cattle
Producers Video Auction offered approximately 4000
head of cattle in its regular video sale here last week.
Consignments were from Texas, Montana, Florida, Alabama
and Arkansas.
Angelo Newcrop
Feeder Lambs Reach $111.50
Newcrop feeder lambs sold $3-8 higher this week
and oldcrops firm to $2 higher, slaughter lambs $3-4
higher and slaughter ewes $3-5 higher. Receipts totaled
8284 head.
Brownwood, San
Saba, Mason Feeders Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady last week in
Mason, Brownwood and San Saba, slaughter cows and bulls
steady, stock cows fair to good. Receipts at the three
sales totaled 2925 head.
Goldthwaite Lamb
Prices In Uptrend
Feeder lambs sold $6-8 higher, slaughter lambs
$1-2 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks $2-3 higher; stock
Angoras not tested, slaughter Angoras steady; Spanish
kids $2-4 lower, nannies $6-10 higher, muttons and
billies $2-5 lower.
On The Edge Of
Common Sense
By Baxter Black
"Just count me out," said Wilford as
he lay there in the dirt, A shoein' rasp behind his ear,
a hoof print on his shirt. "I’ll handle
this," said Freddie, "You jus' git outta the
way. This sorry bag of buzzard bait has met his match
today."
Unregistered Bull
in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of
Unregistered Bull.
John showed up in the lobby with a copy of West
Texas Livestock Weekly — dated February 23,
1950. "This lesson for today is agricultural
economics," he said. "Here’s a textbook we
can use in lieu of a better one. The teacher,
unfortunately, will not be present. Experience is the
best teacher, and practically the only one that’s
any good in a course on the economy of agronomy.
Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
I never thought of it this way, but a tire
salesman told me he could tell what kind of personality
people have by looking at their tires.
Shortgrass
Country
By Monte Noelke
At the ranch the names lack meaning - Peru,
Iquitos, Amazon, Cusco and Lima. But leaving a 747 to
enter a rusty tin roofed, open air terminal housing
customs for a major South American power sets the stage
for new ground.
The Computer
& The Cowboy
By C.A. Rodenberger, PhD.
"CHESS MASTER BEATS IBM'S BIG BLUE." Those are
the headlines we like to see! It makes me feel good to
see that man isn't going to be replaced by computers
anytime soon. IBM researchers thought that they had the
power to win at chess because they had programmed their
computer to search millions of moves, but they can't make
their computer think. Man can think. Computers are fast,
but stupid.
Feral Hogs
Plentiful In Texas, As Are Varied Opinions Of Them
By Dale Rollins
Cue the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western whistlin'
music; there's a stranger in town. And, depending on
where you sit, he may be good, bad or just ugly.
It’s
Not Always Easy Getting A Horse To "Eat Like A
Horse"
By Dr. Jim and Lynda McCall
Will future generations look back at the 1990s and
dub them the age of diet consciousness? Diets are the
"IN" thing. There are diets to prevent cancer,
diets to reduce the chance of heart disease, diets for
the fat, diets for the skinny. Every time we turn around
it seems there is another diet which proclaims itself as
a cure-all for the ills of modern man.