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| Vol. 48 - No. 40 | Thursday, October 3, 1996 | San Angelo, Texas |
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Fat, Feeder Lambs Hold, Meat
Varies
Lightweight lamb carcasses found new interest last week,
moving up $5. Heavies, on the other hand, lost another $4. Now all
weights are selling at the same $180 figure, $25 below July’s record
high $201.
Midweek Fed Cattle Trade
Active, $1 Higher At $73
Plains fed cattle trade finally took hold at a respectable
time this week, and it tacked on another dollar in the doing.
Cape Mohair Sale Near
Steady On 85%
The third South African Cape mohair sale of the season was
erratic, reports the Mohair Council of America.
Killings Began Town’s Slide, Lake
Later Finished It Off
Beneath the placid waters of this picturesque lake north of
Ruidoso bubbles a macabre tale of greed and murder.
Babb Sisters Have No Plans To Quit
Ranching Anytime Soon
Sisters Myrtle Malone and Dorothy Askins know what living
life to the fullest is all about. Both still ride and are integrally
involved in running a ranching operation. For 83 year-old Myrtle and
73 year-old Dorothy, that’s no small accomplishment.
Drouth Tour Rained Out On
Ranch Near Marathon
It would be hard to find a better reason for curtailing a
drouth field day than being rained out. That happened Tuesday to a
Boss Ranch program, its theme wildlife management during drouths. The
speaking program was interrupted by thunder, and a range tour had to
be canceled because of rain.
Dole Predicts Second Clinton
Term Would Reverse Ag Reform
Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole says President
Clinton will seek to revamp the new farm bill if voters give him a
second term in office.
House Ag Chairman Critical Of
Administration CRP Plan
The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee said Monday
he is "not a happy camper" about a Clinton administration
proposal that would put millions of acres of idled farmland back into
production.
Indians Claim All Of El
Paso, 15,000 Sections In West Texas
The Tigua Indians' modern-day homeland hardly resembles the
majestic wilderness of prairie and mountains it once was.
Lamb Breaker Diversifies With
Purchase of Oppenheimer Co.
After only three years in the breaking business, the new kid
on the block, Chicago Lamb, is in expansion mode. Last week 29
year-old Joe Musillami, owner of Chicago Lamb, purchased the failing
107 year-old Fred Oppenheimer Co. That acquisition has positioned the
new Chicago Lamb and Veal Company to be one of the largest lamb and
veal breakers in the country.
World Grain Output
Projection Shows A Rise, Some Rebuilding
Revised forecasts released late last week point to a bigger
recovery than previously expected in world grain production this
season and some rebuilding of stocks from their 20-year low.
Espy Case Points Out That
USDA Has Long Been A Money Magnet
When Sun-Diamond Growers of California was convicted last
week of making illegal gifts to former Agriculture Secretary Mike
Espy, the lead prosecutor warned of "merchants of
corruption."
New Mexico’s Vermejo Park
Ranch Joins Other Turner Acquisitions
Cable television magnate Ted Turner has bought a pristine
ranch in Northern New Mexico Monday, bringing his property holdings to
about 1.5 percent of all the land in the state.
Colorado Land Lease Fee
Hike Is Delayed
Grazing rates on state trust lands will not increase on Jan.
1 as scheduled, the state Land Board has announced.
Kansans Discover
Profitable Niche Market Feeding Buffalo
Buffalo hunters almost destroyed the American bison on the
plains of Western Kansas in the 1870s, but for the last two decades
those numbers have been growing, at least around here.
Out-Of-Whack Species Act
Sacrifices People To Bears
The way the federal Endangered Species Act is enforced, it
might be legally safer to shoot a looter making off with your stereo
than to shoot a grizzly bear making off with your leg.
MEF Forms Alliance To Export
Grass-Fed Beef In New Markets
The U.S. Meat Export Federation has organized a new alliance
of foreign buyers and U.S. packers and processors to develop new
marketing channels for "grass-fed" beef produced in the
United States. The group is called the U.S. Grass-Fed Beef Alliance.
Grass Creek Plan Opponents
Varied
At least a dozen interests ranging from environmental
activist groups and stockmen to a state board have filed protests
against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Grass Creek resource
management plan.
Attitudes On Contract
Livestock Sales Vary
Livestock producers in northeast Nebraska view contract
sales to meatpackers as either a needed security blanket or a
disruption of their marketing system.
TCFA Convention Set For
October 27-29
The Texas Cattle Feeders Association’s annual convention
is set for October 27-29 at the Westin Galleria in Houston. The theme
of this year’s convention is "Riding the Wave of Change."
ADM Settles Some Price-Fixing
Suits
Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. has settled
two multimillion dollar class action lawsuits, the company announced
late last week.
Oh Yeah? Well, Your Earring
Is Tarnished
Farmers may get dirt on them when they work, but that
doesn't give city slickers the right to insult them.
Theriot Maintains Substantial
Lead In PRCA All-Around Race
Calf roper Herbert Theriot, Poplarville, Miss., maintains a
substantial lead in the PRCA all-around competition with $106,241
earnings to date.
Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
To Lower Around The Country
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $2 lower around the
country last week.
Texas Fed Cattle Prices
Steady Last Week In Thursday Trading
Slaughter steers and heifers sold mostly steady last week in
Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlots. Trading was inactive
until Thursday night, when the bulk of movement occurred.
Superior Livestock Video
Sale Offering Totals 32,000 Cattle
Superior Livestock Auction offered 32,000 cattle at their
annual Fall Harvest classic video auction. Consignments were from 27
states and Mexico.
Angelo Feeder Lambs, Cattle
Trade Lower
Feeder lambs sold $2-5 lower this week, slaughter lambs
poorly tested, slaughter ewes uneven, mostly weak to $2 lower.
Receipts totaled 14,206 head.
Summit To Address Natural
Resources
A two-day summit aimed at Texas’ environmental and natural
resource policy issues is set for November 14-15 at the YO Holiday Inn
here.
Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie
Wools Lower
Trading on domestic wool was generally slow and demand light
as most mills were disappointed with limited new orders.
Hog Numbers Down, But
Increase Seen
USDA report released late last week showed that the nation's
hog farmers have been cutting back production in the face of high feed
costs, but experts say production should rebound as corn prices fall.
Cuero Cattle Trading Active,
Demand Stout
Trading was active and demand strong on receipts of 2569
head.
Goldthwaite Stocker Angoras
Sell Steady
Feeder lambs sold steady, slaughter ewes and bucks steady to
$2 higher, stock ewes steady; stock Angora nannies and muttons fully
steady, slaughter muttons and billies $2-3 lower, nannies $2 lower;
slaughter Spanish kids and yearlings steady, muttons and billies fully
steady, stock nannies $7-8 higher, billies $5-6 higher. Receipts
totaled 4500 head.
Most Lampasas Feeder Cattle
Prices Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $2 lower, slaughter
cows steady, bulls steady to $2 lower. Receipts totaled 979 head.
Sheep And Lamb Meat Output
Sets New Low
U.S. commercial red meat production for August was down four
percent from the previous year at 3.71 billion pounds. August 1996
contained one fewer weekday and one more Saturday than in 1995.
San Saba Stocker Cattle
Sell Steady
Trading was active on lightweight feeder steers and heifers
and thin kinds for grass fields, fleshy feeders $1-3 lower,
replacement heifers in good demand, packer cows and bulls steady.
Receipts totaled 748 head.
Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle
Weak To Lower
Feeder steers and heifers were weak to $2 lower. The weather
was cool and wet, putting a damper on milo and corn harvesting and on
wheat planting. Sales were confirmed on 9745 head.
Most Llano Feeder Cattle
Sell Lower
Feeder steers and heifers were $2-3 lower except five-weight
steers and replacement heifers steady, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3
lower. Receipts totaled 472 head.
Junction Off On Hair Goats,
Feeder Lambs
Feeder lambs sold $3-4 lower, slaughter lambs mostly steady,
slaughter ewes and bucks $2-3 lower; stock Angora nannies $2-3 lower,
muttons $2 lower, slaughter kids and yearlings $3-4 lower, muttons and
billies $7-8 lower, nannies $3-4 higher, thin nannies steady to $1
higher; slaughter Spanish kids and yearlings fully steady, nannies
steady, muttons and billies $3-4 lower, stock nannies fully steady.
Receipts totaled 6000 head.
Fredericksburg Feeder Steers,
Heifers Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 lower, slaughter cows
and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 1205 head.
U.S. Meat Production 9.3%
Below A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week
was estimated at 798.3 million pounds, .6 percent less than the
previous week and 9.3 percent less than a year ago. Cumulative meat
production for the year to date was down .4 percent at 31.67 billion
pounds.
Unregistered Bull
in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered
Bull.
It was John the Humanitarian who spoke forth from his chair in the
lobby this week.
"I been thinking," he said, "about the plight of a lot
of politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists and other so-called parasites
we all talk so mean about. It’s just occurred to me those boys have
their troubles, too.
On The Edge Of
Common Sense
By Baxter Black
I have known and worked with many women in the feedlot
business. Some as cowboys, some as vets, some as lay doctors, as
cattle processors, feed truck drivers, foremen (or forepersons) and
managers (or should that be womanagers?).
Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
Once in a while it’s good to read papers from all over the country
just to see what’s going on, or coming off. Such is the case in this
report.
Shortgrass
Country
By Monte Noelke
As long as two weeks after the August rains, reporters continued to
interview herders about the drouth. Until the road washed out going to
the ranch, I filed every article on the disaster, including all the
remedies and strategy. Plenty of drouth experts develop on the
shortgrass scene. Not only are the survivors of the Big One of the 1950s
still around, but some mighty deep-scarred younger men and women exist
who have been through dreadful dry spells.
Wildlife By Design
By Dale Rollins, Ph.D
How many bucks and does should I allow my hunters to harvest? Or
conversely, how many hunters will it take to harvest the number of
deer necessary to maintain the deer population where I want it to be?
It's The Pitts
By Lee Pitts
One brother had been on the dodge from prosperity all his life and the
other from the law. A snake would break its back following the winding
trail left behind by these two. Now they were hooked up in a cow
outfit where the calves didn't suck the right mommas and the horses
were "more legal" the farther east you went. The brother's
brand was a stain on the good name of cattlemen everywhere.
The Computer & The
Cowboy
By C.A. Rodenberger, PhD.
I keep looking for lower-cost E-mail services.
I found one that uses an 800 number, but it charges $7 a month for the
service after $30 for the software and a $5 setup fee.