Fat Lambs Down, Feeders Higher, Carcasses Firm
Fat lambs lost some of the strength gained late last week, but prices are still considerably higher than early last week. There are so few fats trading on the open market now that prices can jump by dollars without any meaning. The direct trade was steady.

Huge Movement, Higher Price Mark Slaughter Cattle Trade
After a fortnight of sluggish movement, the bulk of fed cattle trading this week came so early that it wasn’t even this week yet. And the numbers were staggering.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Eye-Opening Sheep Dog Contest Alters Cowman’s Way Of Working
Gary Ericsson had dogs when he was growing up working cattle in the Dakotas and Wyoming, but it wasn't until a about a decade ago that he began to take them seriously.

Good Rains Raise Ranchers’ Spirits At Annual Field Day
Bountiful rains that blanketed a large portion of West Texas within the last few weeks have greatly brightened producers’ spirits. That was evident during the San Angelo Research and Extension Center’s annual sheep and goat field day here last week.

Bangs Panel Members At Odds On Vaccinating Buffalo, Elk
Some members of a multiagency committee studying the problems posed by brucellosis among elk and buffalo in the Greater Yellowstone area say vaccinating animals is a logical way to deal with the disease.

Super Sucker Scarfs Prairie Dogs From Burrows At 300 MPH
Like a doctor feeling for a pulse, Dave Honaker lays his hands on the wide, plastic hose. It begins to vibrate as pebbles and dirt rush through. It shudders a bit, then is still.

Unfriendly Federal Court Pans Nevada’s "Sagebrush" Statutes
A legislative effort by Nevada officials to wrest control of public lands away from the federal government 17 years ago has been declared unconstitutional by a judge in Las Vegas.

Clinton’s Yellowstone Mine Deal Timed To Beat Report
In August, President Clinton and his family completed another vacation in Jackson, Wyoming. Clinton's decision to come to Wyoming for a second year and what he did while he was here demonstrate his views about the West: "It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want people to work there."

Clinton’s Deal On Yellowstone Mine Now Appearing Half-Baked
President Clinton seemed to hit election-year pay dirt last month when he trumpeted a plan to block a gold mine on the edge of Yellowstone National Park.

Grizzlies Claims Latest Scheme To Control Colorado Stockmen
Bruce Baizel, head of Round River Conservation Studies, believes this may be the year his tireless collection of bear droppings proves worthwhile, revealing the presence of grizzlies in Colorado.

Activists Threaten Buffalo Bangs Plan
A national conservation group has threatened to take legal action against a buffalo management plan that it says would result in "senseless slaughter" of Yellowstone National Park buffalo.

Beef Consumption Up At Restaurants
Americans who ate out last year ordered 6.87 billion servings of beef, about three percent more than the previous year, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said.

Plains States To Host Series Of CRP Meets
A series of seven meetings in the Plains states have been scheduled to provide information about managing land coming out of the Conservation Reserve Program.

Theriot Remains Strong In PRCA All-Around Cowboy Competition
PRCA all-around leader Herbert Theriot, Poplarville, Miss., continues to outdistance his competitors with total earnings of $103,907 to date. He is followed by Chad Klein, Jackson, La., with $78,195; Tee Woolman, Llano, Texas, $75,596; Brent Lewis, Elroy, Ariz., $71,691; and Roy Cooper, Childress, Texas, $69,412.

Heavy Feeders In Good Demand, Lighter Cattle Mixed Last Week
Feeder cattle and calf prices during last week’s holiday-shortened period saw little change from the previous week. Demand was good for big yearlings headed for feedyards, while demand for calves was less reliable and varied from area to area.

Texas Fed Cattle Trade Steady In Lackluster Action Last Week
Slaughter steers and heifers sold steady in a light test last week in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading.

Angelo Feeder Steers, Heifers, Lambs Higher
Feeder lambs weighing under 60 pounds sold $5-6 higher this week, over 60 pounds $2-3 higher, slaughter ewes mostly weak to $2 lower. Receipts totaled 13,820 head, around 20 percent feeders.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Mostly Steady
Feeder steers were mostly steady in Kansas direct trading last week, heifers steady to firm. Receipts totaled 8097 head.

Most Junction Sheep, Goats Trade Higher
Feeder lambs sold $7-8 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks fully steady; stock Angora nannies $2-3 higher, muttons $7-8 higher, slaughter muttons and billies $5-6 higher, nannies $8-10 higher, thin $3-4 higher; slaughter Spanish kids and yearlings $10-12 higher, muttons and billies $3-4 higher, stock nannies $4-5 higher. Receipts totaled 9750 head.

Cuero Light Calves Sell Sharply Higher
Feeder cattle sold much higher, 350-500 pound calves $12-15 higher, 550 pounds and up strong to $5 higher, packer cows strong. Receipts totaled 1793 head.

Most Fredericksburg Cattle Trade Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 1289 head.

Goldthwaite Feeder Lamb Prices Higher
Feeder lambs sold $7-8 higher, slaughter ewes steady, bucks $6-7 higher, stock ewes fully steady; stock Angora nanny goats mostly steady, muttons steady to $2 higher, slaughter muttons and billies mostly steady, nannies steady; Spanish slaughter kids and yearlings $10 higher, muttons and billies $7-8 higher, stock nannies and billies $7-8 higher. Receipts totaled 5800 head.

U.S. Meat Production 6.7% Below A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection during last week’s holiday-shortened period was estimated at 710.5 million pounds, down 14.9 percent from a week earlier and 6.7 percent less than a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was up .3 percent at 29.2 billion pounds.

Brownwood, San Saba, Mason Feeders Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, choice calves steady to $1 higher. Rain-reduced receipts at the three sales totaled 1054 head.

Llano Replacement Cows Sell Strong
Prices were strong at the 37th annual September special. Receipts totaled 1100 head.

Most Giddings Cattle Prices Fully Steady
All classes of cattle and calves sold fully steady, instances $1-2 higher on choice steer calves. Receipts totaled 439 head.

Canadian Livestock Exports Still High
Canadian livestock exports continue to cross into the United States in fairly liberal numbers, says USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers sold $1-2 higher, instances $4-6 up, heifers $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 694 head.

Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie Prices Lower
Trading on domestic wool was slow and under light demand last week.

Hindsight

Letter To The Editor

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull. 
"Do you remember," said John, "when people used to follow Ben Franklin’s advice about early to bed and early to rise? I think ranch people believed in this more than anybody else, and some of them still do, although sometimes when I get an early start on a trip I notice some of these modern ranch houses still dark as late as five a.m.

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
It struck in late October like a plague of mustard gas.
It started with a trickle but then soon began to mass
In pens and cattle alleys on the new receiving side.
The fall run was beginning and there was no place to hide.

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
I had almost forgotten about the CB radio. In the old days it seems that nearly everybody had them. The truckers still do, but most of us don't get to listen to it because we have gone on to CD's in the car stereo, cellular phones and pagers. However, I was recently on a mini-bus going to a hotel near Nashville when traffic came to a complete stop on the freeway. 

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
First the sounds: Gentle drops falling off the roof and bubbling on the window panes to break into mercury-colored rivulets. Thunder rumbling a promise of rain, versus windborne thunder, the herald of heartbreak. Horses running in the mud, sliding and celebrating the change. What about riding one of those horses in the mud, hearing his feet squishing in the sod and feeling him clamber and strain going up a muddy bank, or thrashing across a draw, splashing the rider in cold water?

It's the Pitts     
By Lee Pitts
No ranch pickup is complete without a first aid kit and my very own guide to common cowboy ailments. For handy reference, stuff this document in your glove box.

The Computer & The Cowboy
By C.A. Rodenberger, PhD.
I have hopes of returning to the Internet toll-free in October, when my telephone that comes out of Cross Plains is supposed to receive toll-free connection to Brownwood, in addition to other towns in the local area. We aren't being connected to Abilene, but DirectNet has a local Brownwood number. The legislature mandated that small towns have access to other larger towns in their area, so all of us have hopes of being connected to Internet providers without paying long distance charges.

Wildlife By Design
By Dale Rollins, Ph.D
Perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity. Or maybe a young male's obsession with one-upmanship. Regardless, it was a classic case of one biting off more than he could chew. In the world of predators, as with ranching, school's in session every day. Some lessons are painful; others are fatal.

On Matters... Equine
By Dr. Jim and Lynda McCall
It was the early 1950's and there was a dilemma at the ranch. "Old John", a teenage bay gelding, was turning into a poor-doer.