Feeder Lambs Stumble, Fat Lambs Higher
Feeder lambs met a mixed demand this week as recent price increases have taken the margins out of feeding operations and a major portion of this year’s lamb crop has been contracted. Midwest markets found feeders a little higher, while Texas markets softened somewhat.

Fed Cattle Trade Back On Track, But It Cost Market $2 To Do It
Fed cattle returned to a more normal trading schedule this week and finally broke out of the $63 rut in which they have been trapped for weeks. There won’t be many cheers from the feedlot sector, however, because the breakout cost them $2.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

New Lamb Packing Plant Granted Federal Approval To Sell Stock
The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission has given its blessing to a proposed lamb slaughter plant here. This gives the producer-owned Ranchers’ Lamb of Texas approval to begin selling shares to interested investors.

Aussie Beef Producers Facing Issues With A Familiar Ring
The industry is segmented. Domestic beef consumption is declining. Beef is being threatened by pork and poultry.

Reform Of Federal Estate Tax Law Is Backed By Republicans
With the number of retiring farmers and ranchers expected to rise sharply in the next few years, some lawmakers and agricultural groups believe it's time to change inheritance tax laws and make it less costly to pass on the family operation.

Former Clinton Ag Secretary’s Bribery Probe Still Widening
A Great Falls-based crop insurance company and two of its top officials have been subpoenaed in a federal investigation into former Clinton administration Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy.

Judge Rules Beef Checkoff Legal In Kansas Challenge
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is hailing a court ruling that found the beef checkoff constitutional.

Wyoming Senate Committee OKs Bill To Test Buffalo For
A state Senate committee last week decided the state should test for brucellosis any buffalo that wander into Wyoming from national park land.

Glickman Says Future Of Ag Lies In Trade, Not Subsidies
Despite uncertainty over the farm bill, the outlook for American agricultural producers remains strong as long as trade continues to expand in places like Asia and Latin America.

Challenge Of ADM Directors Barred
A state court has dismissed a challenge to the election of directors last year at Archer Daniels Midland Co., the huge agribusiness conglomerate whose conduct in the selling of food and feed additives is under federal investigation.

House Okays Farm Bill Version; Conflicts With Senate Remain
Congress is putting final touches on a farm bill that would end market-based subsidies and production controls for major crops in favor of guaranteed, but declining, payments to farmers.

Producers Seek "Safety Valve" Of Immigrants As Ag Employees
Ranchers and growers of fruits, vegetables or other crops that must be harvested by hand want to make it easier to bring in workers from Mexico and elsewhere for short-term jobs.

Grant To Fund Study Of Sheep Diseases
Research scientists Drs. Dan Waldron and Andres de la Concha, with the Texas A&M Research and Extension Center here, recently received a $37,700 grant from the Research Enhancement Program of Texas A&M University at College Station. The grant is to be used to study the mechanism of genetic resistance to disease in sheep.

Co-Op Beef Packing Plant Draws Support
Promoters of the Northern Plains Premium Beef Cooperative say they've had tremendous response from producers, but no decision has been made yet on when or where construction might begin.

Steer Stabbing Upsets Community
The 4-H farm here is normally a serene place, but that idyllic image was shattered when someone broke into a barn, stole some tools and stabbed an 800-pound steer that a young member of the club was raising.

GOP, Clinton Regime At Odds On ESA Reform
Agriculture leaders joined Washington State Republicans last week in urging a rewrite of the Endangered Species Act.

Honesty Always Best Policy, Except When Pranks Involved
For those who remember what I’m fixing to tell about, I want to say I deeply regret the hard feelings and the in-depth emotions that this little stunt created. (Not really, but it sounds good.)

Like Fine Bourbon, Saloon Smasher Was Kentucky Product
Carry Moore was born in Garrard County, Kentucky, on November 23, 1846. Kentucky is a state noted for its fast horses, beautiful women and stout whiskey. The fast horses and beautiful women are not a part of this story, which concerns Carry Moore — later Carry Nation — and her direct attack against bars, barrooms and dispensers of all forms of alcoholic beverages.

Religious Protection Granted To Site Named For The Devil
Never let it be said that Bruce Babbitt's minions are not creative when closing off the nation's federal lands to public access. Yet for pure, unadulterated chutzpa, it is hard to beat the decision of the National Park Service to close Devils Tower as a religious site, off limits to recreational visitors.

Sheep Producers Approve Checkoff
Sheep producers, by a 54.1 to 45.9 percent vote, have approved a checkoff for lamb and wool promotion.

Eco-Activist Takes Life Following Probe
An environmentalist who had been questioned about the killing of 10 cattle apparently shot himself in the head, and his body was found in his greenhouse east of Deming, authorities said.

Lettuce Said Culprit In E. Coli Outbreak
Mention E. coli food poisoning and the odds are most everyone’s thoughts turn to hamburger patties; anti-meat stories in the media have conditioned the public to link the two.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Steady, Trade Moderate, Some Carryover
Slaughter steers and heifers sold steady in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading last week.

Feeder Cattle Prices Higher Across The Country Last Week
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $1 higher around the country last week, some $2 higher.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Lower, Cattle Weak
Feeder lambs sold weak to $2 lower this week, slaughter lambs steady to $2 higher, slaughter ewes steady. Receipts totaled 8773 head.

Most Junction Sheep, Goat Prices Steady
Slaughter lambs, ewes and bucks sold steady; stock Angora goats steady, slaughter nannies and muttons steady to $1 lower, others steady; Spanish goats fully steady. Receipts totaled 5500 head.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Feeders Steady
Trading was active and demand good in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, stocker calves selling steady, feeder steers steady and feeder heifers $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts at the three sales totaled 2670 head.

Goldthwaite Feeder Lamb Prices Lower
Feeder lambs sold steady to $2 lower, a few oldcrops steady, slaughter lambs steady, slaughter ewes and buck steady; Angora goats steady; Spanish goats $5-10 higher. Receipts totaled 3000 head.

Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie Finewool Up
Trading on domestic wool was slow last week under light demand. Shearing was interrupted by cold wet weather in virtually all areas.

Fredericksburg Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows and bulls $1 higher. Receipts totaled 1563 head.

U.S. Meat Production 6.9% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 837.6 million pounds, down 1.1 percent from a week earlier and 6.9 percent more than the same week a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was 3.9 percent more than a year ago.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Steady To Off
Feeder steers sold steady in Kansas direct trade last week, heifers weak to $1 lower on a light offering. Weather was dry and cool, with no measurable moisture. Sales were confirmed on 9074 head.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Lower
Feeder steers sold $1-2 lower, heifers generally steady, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3 higher, stock cows and pairs fully steady. Receipts totaled 900 head.

HINDSIGHT

Wildlife Considerations Arise As CRP Land Contracts Expire
Will Rogers once said that, "where you find poor soil, you'll find politics." As evidence that Will is as much on target for the 1990s as he was for the 1930s, witness the Conservation Reserve Program.

Pinpointing Mare’s Foaling Date Is Elusive Enterprise
While you may not think that this is earth-shaking news, consider these facts: Even though the "average" broodmare is reported to carry 340 days, the range of gestation lengths capable of producing a live, normal foal starts around 305 days and can extend to over 390 days. That is roughly an 85-day spread, which translates into pregnancies ranging between 10 and 13 months!

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
I received one of those calls that leaves you feeling depressed. It was from a farmer's wife in Oklahoma. She and her family were engaged in the hog business but a large hog confinement operation had begun in their market area.

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull.
John looked for a minute like he didn’t have anything to talk about this week, but it soon developed that he wasn’t really out of conversation. He was only studying the people passing thru the lobby on their way in or out of the coffee shop.

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
I just ran across an old book called Total Woman . Twenty years ago it was supposed to analyze a woman's assets and teach her how to maximize her body chemistry. It failed to define exactly what was meant by chemistry, so I decided to publish my own research to clear up this lack of insight on the part of the publishers.

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
By midweek on the January Amazon trip, the roster dropped to four of us, a private charter, so to speak. As mentioned, "The Discoverer" was equipped to serve 16 passengers. So our luck ran high on sharing the bathrooms and receiving extra attention on the excursions out in the jungle under the privilege of a small group. Single supplement charges of a trip are as much as 50 percent higher than the per person double rate. I was delighted to be traveling in a private cabin and paying the price agreed for sharing a berth.