Lamb Prices Beginning To Falter
Fat and feeder lambs showed some weakness in several markets this week, though volume was quite limited. Carcass prices have held stable for nearly two months and show little signs of any significant change. Slaughter ewes for the most part were on the lower side, fleshy offerings still holding up while fat and heavy kinds are suffering some sharp discounts.

Falling Futures, Costly Gain Strip Dollars Off Fed Cattle
It has been a discouraging several weeks for the feedlot industry. Time after time they thought they had the weight to inch the market higher and time after time they found the packers just a little heavier. This week it looked like a handful of underfed jockeys taking on a busload of sumo wrestlers.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Clay Wyatt Has More Than A Few Tales To Share With Grandkids
Clay Wyatt has led a colorful life. In his 86 years he’s done a little of everything and has the stories to prove it. Calling himself a cat skinner, brush hand, a squirrel turner — yes, a squirrel turner — Wyatt says, "I’ve done anything and everything to make an honest living."

Schneberger: Wolves Surrogates For Federal Control Of Range
One of New Mexico's most outspoken ranchers says it’s government, not wolves, that poses the greatest threat to the land ranchers use to make a living.

Kansas Vet Questions Impact Of Some Feedlot Processing
A Kansas veterinarian questions the impact a feedyard in-processing program has on the health of newly arrived calves.

S.A. Cape Mohair Sale Moves 83% Of Offering
South Africa’s Cape mohair sale offered 993,000 pounds Tuesday and sold 83 percent.

Editorial
Retail Beef Declines Seven% While Calf Price Tumbles 74%
Cattlemen will surely be pleased to find out that someone in the beef industry is making money. They probably won’t be surprised to discover it’s no one they know.

Ranchers Faced With Feeding Out Entire Baby Lamb Crop
Sheepmen in and around the Concho Valley who suffered substantial losses in the freak April 5th snowstorm have already set in motion steps to save their dogie lamb crop.

Paul’s Victory Over Laughlin May Have Had Roots In Message
Political pundits were first taken aback, then openly elated when 14th District U.S. Rep. Greg Laughlin lost to challenger Ron Paul in the recent Republican primary runoff. The message, they decided, was that Democrats shouldn’t switch to the Republican Party. They also considered it a rebuke to House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who brought Laughlin aboard.

Tightening Grain Supplies Attracting Much Attention
A wheat shortage continues to send prices on a rampage, but the drouth that has caused the grain crunch will leave most Texas growers unable to cash in.

NCBA Survey Outlines Producer Priorities For Cattle Industry
In an effort to determine what's on the minds of the nation's cattle producers, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association recently asked producers what they believe industry priorities should be.

Disease Threat Worries Cloud Equine Events During Olympics
Critics of the decision to allow infected horses into the United States for the Atlanta Olympics appear to be reluctantly accepting the verdict from federal and Georgia agriculture officials, but they aren't happy about it.

Houston Stock Show Defends Citizens-Only Scholarships
Despite expressions of outrage from minority leaders who promised to "play hardball," the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo said last Friday it will not change a policy restricting its scholarship program to U.S. citizens.

Schneberger: Wolves Surrogates For Federal Control Of Range
One of New Mexico's most outspoken ranchers says it’s government, not wolves, that poses the greatest threat to the land ranchers use to make a living.

If Help Wanted Ad Runs Monthly, There’s Bound To Be Good Reason
"Wanted ... Bright, young, self-starting couple to work on remote ranch in Southeastern New Mexico. NO CHILDREN OR PETS. Good wages, good living quarters, some benefits. NO CHILDREN OR PETS. Work will be general ranch work involving anything needing done from windmilling to fencing. NO CHILDREN OR PETS. Contact B.S. Thrower (505)555-2345 (early morning or late evening). Must have references."

Colorado Ag Department Gets Control Over Predator Rules
Colorado stockmen scored a victory late last week when Gov. Roy Romer signed a bill turning control of predators over to the state Department of Agriculture.

Inefficient Trains Holding Up Grain
Union Pacific railroad officials said they're doing their best to ship stockpiled Iowa grain, but Sen. Charles Grassley said delays are "unwarranted and intolerable."

Monfort Feedlot Hit With Pollution Charge
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says the Monfort Inc. Kuner Feedlot near Kersey is applying manure and wastewater "far and above" acceptable levels, and officials are concerned about groundwater nitrate levels. The company says the charges are based on "erroneous assumptions."

Farm Bill Briefing Via Satellite May 6
The Texas Farm Bureau will sponsor a special briefing via satellite to inform agricultural producers about the recently enacted 1996 farm bill.

EPA To Host Meeting On Worker Standards
As part of a nationwide series of public meetings, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will conduct a public meeting here to solicit feedback on the Worker Protection Standard.

Grain Giant ADM Cuts A Deal In Lysine Price-Fixing Case
Archer Daniels Midland Co. agreed Friday to pay $25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the "supermarket to the world" of fixing prices for an animal feed supplement.

Activists Call Press To Protest ADC M-44s
True to form, an animal rights activist group turned to the press to stir up opposition to predator control efforts in southwestern New Mexico, rather than take their alleged "concerns" to the officials conducting the program.

Record High Feed Grain Prices Depress Feeder Cattle Trading
Record high corn prices and feed costs played havoc with the feeder cattle market across the country last week. Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $3 lower, several places off $4-6.

Texas Fed Cattle Sharply Lower After Liberal Movement Tuesday
Slaughter steers and heifers closed $2 lower last week in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading, but only after the bulk of the week’s trading had occurred on Tuesday.

Strayed Wolf Killed By Mistake As Coyote
The rancher who shot a wolf near Meeteetse, Wyo., thought the animal was a coyote, according to a livestock industry official.

Angelo Feeder Lambs, Cattle Mostly Lower
Feeder lambs sold weak to $3 lower this week, slaughter lambs scarce, slaughter ewes uneven, mostly weak to $3 lower. Receipts totaled 10,150 head.

Junction Lambs, Hair Goats Mostly Steady
Feeder lambs sold steady, slaughter lambs untested, slaughter ewes $4-8 lower; stock Angora goats near steady, slaughter Angoras generally steady; Spanish kids $2-4 lower, others steady. Receipts totaled 6700 head.

U.S. Meat Production 2% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 815.1 million pounds, .2 percent less than the previous week and two percent more than the same week a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was three percent more than a year ago.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Prices Lower
Feeder steers moving direct in Kansas last week sold weak early, late sales $1-3 lower, feeder heifers weak to $1 lower early, late $1-2 lower. Sales were confirmed on 8504 head.

Most Goldthwaite Goat, Sheep Prices Higher
Feeder lambs sold $6-10 higher, slaughter lambs $6-8 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks $3-5 lower, stock ewes steady; Angora goats steady; Spanish goats $3-5 higher. Receipts totaled 5700 head.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers were generally steady last week, slaughter cows steady, bulls $2-3 lower, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 800 head.

Brownwood, San Saba, Mason Feeders Mixed
Feeder steer calves sold $1-3 lower in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, heifer calves steady, steer yearlings steady and heifer yearlings steady to higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 1101 head at the three sales.

Most Fredericksburg Cattle Prices Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold $2-3 lower, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 lower. Receipts totaled 1014 head.

Most Giddings Cattle Prices Sharply Lower
All classes of feeder cattle and slaughter cows and bulls sold $3-5 lower, some plainer kinds as much as $10 off. Receipts totaled 709 head.

Choice Cuero Feeders Active, Others Lower
Good and choice feeder calves sold well to an active market, but lower grades were hard to move. Receipts totaled 3075 head including more than 1000 replacement cows.

Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie Sales Closed
Trading on domestic wool remained slow last week, limited sales at steady prices. Demand was light with most buyers still on a wait-and-see basis.

Loose Ends

Letters To The Editor

Hindsight

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull.
"They say," said John, "there’s a bright side to everything, but nobody seems able to prove it. However, I think I’ve figured out a way to arrive at an optimistic conclusion any time you really want to."

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
Don said he heard of a feller who came home from the auction market this spring and told his wife, "I lost money today." "How's that?" she asked. "When I came out of the sale this afternoon," he said, "somebody'd left six Holstein bull calves in the back of my pickup."

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
In 1872, a list of rules for teachers was printed and posted in the faculty lounge for all to note. It basically said that teachers were expected to open up, sweep out, and clean up the building along with the kids' minds.

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
President Clinton signed the new farm bill recently. Sheep and goat herders' fates were already sealed three years ago by the mysterious crusade of a New England congressman who was dead bent on ending the wool and mohair incentive payments.

On Matters Of Equine
By Dr. Jim and Lynda McCall
The controversy that surrounds foal heat breeding has raged for many years. With both sides taking highly emotional positions, often the real issues are forgotten during the battle of opinions.

Wildlife By Design
By Dale Rollins, Ph.D
"Every man that I meet is in some way my superior, and if I will listen to him, I can learn from him." — Benjamin Franklin A toast to Ben Franklin, the Andy Rooney of the 18th century!