Lamb Prices Bouncing Up And Down
Feeder and fat lamb prices bounced around a good bit this week as the outlook on lamb meat was a little clouded. Record high lamb carcass prices, now at $201 on the East Coast for three consecutive weeks, along with limited supplies, are tending to push some consumers off to search for other meats.

Fed Cattle Lose Ground Again, Plains Trade Active Tuesday
Fed cattle prices gave up another dollar this week, and no one seems to know exactly why. "We’re like a bunch of sheep following a goat to slaughter," grumbled one feeder, and others tended to agree.

Texas Mohair Prices Firmer
Texas mohair is moving ever so slowly, but with prices in an upward mode.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Kansas Feeder Shuns Hedging, Wants Grading System Junked
Jim Meetz had just gotten out of Kansas State University and stumbled into a job at Lane County Feeders here when the big wreck of the 1970s was just beginning in the cattle industry. He observed and witnessed the wreck firsthand, but he didn’t feel the pain. Some 20 years later the cycle has come full circle and Meetz is still in the ballgame. Today, however, he knows what that pain feels like.

Gingrich Doubts ESA Reform Measure Will Pass This Year
Republicans don't have enough votes to rewrite the Endangered Species Act, partly because environmental activists have successfully painted critics of the law as extremists, House Speaker Newt Gingrich says.

Animal Rights Extremists, AIDS Activists Facing Off
The liberal fringe of the political spectrum has declared war, as usual. What’s not so usual about this war is that the left is attacking itself.

Wyoming Stock Growers Tired Of Playing Defense So Long
The president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association says it's time for his group to go on the offensive.

Sierra Club Reaches Too Far On Aquifer
The Sierra Club lost most of what it asked for in the latest round of lawsuits seeking to take control of the Edwards Aquifer, but the activist group is still claiming a "partial victory."

Britain, EU Reach Compromise On Easing "Mad Cow" Beef Ban
Late last week the European Union and Britain agreed to a plan that would gradually ease the ban on British beef imposed because of so-called "mad cow" disease.

Gramm Takes Ag Panel Slot Vacated By Dole
Spurred by the lingering drouth in Texas, which has shaped up as one of the state's worst natural disasters, Sen. Phil Gramm is taking advantage of an opportunity to join the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Comptroller Sharp Weighs In On Ills Plaguing Cattlemen
Drouth has cost the Texas cattle industry nearly $794 million since March 1995, further exacerbating what already would have been a bad year for beef, a report from Texas Comptroller John Sharp says.

South Texas Counties Vote To Seed Clouds
The Alamo Area Council of Governments has voted unanimously to seek bids to seed the clouds in 12 South Texas counties, including Bexar County.

Both Sides Say Goals Of NM BLM Plan Vague
Neither side of the public lands grazing issue seems to like a draft of proposed goals for 13 million acres of U.S. Bureau of Land Management rangeland in New Mexico.

Broken Wrist Sidelines Leader In PRCA All-Around Standings
A big break for calf roper Herbert Theriot, Poplarville, Miss., second in command in the PRCA all-around standings, came when Joe Beaver, the 1995 world champion all-around cowboy and the leading contender for the 1996 world title broke his left wrist at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show and Rodeo in Union, Ore.

Cattle On Feed Down 11 Percent June 1 In Seven Leading States
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter June 1 in the seven leading feeding states totaled 7.25 million head, down 11 percent from June 1 of last year and three percent below the same date in 1994.

Canadian Cattle Imports Rise 53% Above Last Year’s Levels
Livestock imports from Canada have increased substantially from last year, according to the by-weekly report from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Nation’s Feeder Cattle Trend Up Again On Lower Corn Prices
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $2 higher across the country last week.

Slaughter Steers And Heifers Lower Across Country Last Week
Slaughter steers and heifers closed the week $2 lower last in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading, most sales recorded Wednesday. Confirmed movement totaled 56,500 head including 17,700 formulated, 500 contracted and 2400 CME delivered cattle.

Domestic Wool Slow, Softer, Aussie Finewools Much Higher
Trading on domestic wool was generally slow last week and demand light, limited sales steady to weak.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Steady, Cattle Up
Feeder lambs sold steady this week, slaughter lambs $2 higher, slaughter ewes steady to $4 higher. Two day receipts totaled 22,865 head.

Most Junction Sheep And Goat Prices Up
Feeder lambs sold steady, slaughter ewes $1-3 higher; stock Angora goats $1-3 higher, thin kinds steady, slaughter classes $2-4 higher; Spanish kids $1-2 higher, nannies, billies and muttons steady. Receipts totaled 7544 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Mostly Steady
Feeder steers sold mostly steady to $1 higher in Kansas direct trade last week, heifers mostly steady on light offerings. Wheat harvesting has begun and some yields are better than expected. Temperatures are up into the century mark. Sales were confirmed on 6510 head.

El Reno Feeder Lamb Prices Steady To Off
Feeder lambs sold steady to $1 lower, slaughter ewes $3-4 higher. Blackface lambs continue to receive moderate to heavy discounts because of health concerns related to hot weather. Receipts totaled 1000 head.

Most Lampasas Feeder Cattle Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-3 higher, instances $4 higher, slaughter cows $1 higher, bulls $3-4 higher. Receipts totaled 852 head.

Most Cuero Cattle Prices Termed Steady
All classes of cattle sold about steady on receipts of 3030 head.

Most Fredericksburg Cattle Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 1803 head.

U.S. Meat Production 4.7% Below A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 802.3 million pounds, 4.9 percent less than a week earlier and 4.7 percent less than the same week a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was 1.5 percent more than a year ago at 20.621 billion pounds.

Most Mason, Brownwood, San Saba Cattle Steady
Feeder steer and heifer calves and yearlings sold steady in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, slaughter cows steady to $1 higher, bulls steady, stock cows steady. Receipts at the three sales totaled 2128 head.

Hindsight

Loose Ends

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull.
"Now that the big debate over price ceilings is going on in Washington, all we’ve got to do is sweat it out," said John. "Which is about all we’d be doing here at this time of year if the OPS never had been born."

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
This year the movie "Babe" was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was very popular and made a lot of money. It stars a pig named Babe. A gilt, to be more specific — a feeder pig maybe weighin' 80-100 lbs. But it was a cute pig. It talked, of course, was kind and brave. And to top it off it did heroic deeds and yet maintained a sensitivity that would make Phil Donahue blush.

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana, is located, appropriately enough, on St. Peter Street just off Bourbon. Maybe that's because the music that pours forth is somewhere between spirits of the devil and Heaven. The character and charm of this relic of the past is destined to live on forever like the star attraction, Sweet Emma and her Preservation Hall Band.

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
Hotels filled fast in Philadelphia once the news of the Cezanne exhibit spread. My hotel charged three different rates for four nights in the same room. Starting at an impressive package charge, including V.I.P. tickets to the exhibit, and ending up with a more moderate weekend rate by no means related to my vocation or my purse.

Wildlife By Design
Dr. Dale Rollins, Ph.D.
I tend to be a trivia nut, and always enjoy those trivia tests that determine what you know about everything from driving regulations to historical facts. Predators, especially coyotes, are perhaps the most controversial group of wildlife. Argue on whichever side you prefer, but let's agree on the critter's biology. Answers are found at the end of the article. My source for some of the following items is Coyotes: Biology, Behavior and Management, edited by Marc Bekoff.