Feeder Lambs Higher, Fat Prices Lower
Feeder lambs were in short supply around the country this week, and prices moved up. Rates were as much as $10 higher in some Texas markets, while Midwest lambs were a couple of dollars higher.

Fed Cattle Prices Higher As Supplies Remain Scarce
Tight supplies again set the tone for Plains fed cattle trading.
The Texas Cattle Feeders Association counted a showlist of 56,707 head for the week, just 2900 head more than last week’s offering, and that one was the lightest in almost four years.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Engler Says Grades Must Stay, Group Marketing Wave of Future
Proposals to eliminate the federal beef grading system must be headed off, insists Cactus Feeders CEO Paul Engler.

Fred Whitfield Has Big Day At San Angelo Roping Fiesta
Saturday was a big day for Fred Whitfield. The Hockley, Texas, calf roper clinched wins in both the matched and jackpot calf ropings, something that doesn’t happen very often at San Angelo’s annual Roping Fiesta.

Critics Contend Eco-Education Aims To Make Kids Activists
Third graders at Mason Elementary School in Texas thought selling T-shirts to help save the rain forest was a neat extracurricular project, but it irked a parent, Bruce Lehmberg.

EPA Cracks Down On Employee Who Dared Criticize Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection agency has mobilized an "ethics" charge to punish an employee who dared criticize its heavy-handed regulatory tactics. The attack may have backfired, however, by attracting the wrath of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who holds the agency’s purse-strings.

USDA Considering Regulations On Horses Bound For Slaughter
A lot of hope goes into buying or breeding a horse, but little thought into how a would-be Derby winner or family pet could wind up as dinner in Belgium, France, Mexico or Japan.

Clinton’s USDA Aided Campaign With Happy Talk And Handouts
Even quiet government research in Peoria can become politically useful in campaign season.

Economist Sees Flaw In USDA Plan To Change CRP Program
An agricultural economist believes some land that merits protection through the Conservation Reserve Program will be left to deteriorate if a proposed CRP rule change is adopted.

Despite Promising Beginning, Property Rights Fight Fizzled
As the nation sorts through the results of the 1996 elections — both presidential and congressional — one question merits consideration: whatever happened to property rights?

NCBA Joins Initiative With Jimmy Dean Foods
Jimmy Dean Foods has joined with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in a new partnership to test marketing concepts which will include beef. This project represents a major initiative in new product development for NCBA as the industry looks for innovative ways to add value to beef.

IRS Rule Will Limit Ag Tax Deferments
An Internal Revenue Service ruling will limit the ability of farmers to defer income taxes by taking delayed payments for the crops they sell, experts say.

Grand Jury Believes Feds Destroyed Spring
Woolverton Spring in North Ruby Valley was deliberately destroyed at about the same time the U.S. Forest Service had heavy equipment in the area, the Elko County grand jury has concluded.

Aquifer Gained Little From Recent Big Rains
Heavy rain over the Texas hill country last week apparently did little to replenish the Edwards Aquifer, which is hovering well below its normal water level as a drouth drags on.

Packerland Buys Sun Land Beef Co.
Packerland Packing Company has acquired Sun Land Beef Company in a shareholder buyout. Sun Land, of Tolleson, Arizona, will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Packerland.

Sierra Club Backs EU Ban On U.S. Beef
As if there were ever any question about its attitude toward ranching and the cattle business, the Sierra Club has joined with overseas trade protectionists in supporting the European Union’s thinly disguised ban on U.S. beef.

Texas 1996 Livestock Export Figure Larger
Livestock exports moving through the six Texas ports the first 10 months of this year are 88 percent above the same period of last year at 439,777 head compared to 234,155. Most of the exports are slaughter animals going into Mexico.

1996 U.S. Livestock Imports Highly Mixed
Cattle and hog imports the first 10 months of the year from Canada are substantially above the same period a year ago. Conversely, feeder cattle imports from Mexico are down sharply from a year ago.

Comic Book Explains Range To Youngsters
Range of Wonders is a new educational booklet for middle school students about grazing land, published by the Soil and Water Conservation Society. The booklet, a first of its kind, was reviewed by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

KLA Convention Set Dec. 4-5 In Wichita
The Kansas Livestock Association’s 84th annual convention is set for December 4-5 at the Century II Convention Center in Wichita.

Mexico To Cancel Ban On Beef From Uruguay
Mexico is expected to lift its ban on Uruguayan beef next year, the president of the Uruguayan Rural Association said late last week.

Billy Etbauer Sidelined Now, Plans To Compete At Finals
Billy Etbauer, who leads the world saddle bronc riding standings with $123,953, pulled a muscle in his lower back and has been advised not to compete for the remainder of the season. The 1992 PRCA world champion, however, says he plans to compete at the $3.2 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Feeder Cattle Prices Higher Around The Country Last Week
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $1 higher across the country last week, instances $2-3 up.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Higher Last Week On Tuesday Trading
Slaughter steers and heifers sold $1 higher in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma direct trade last week.

Steers, Heifers Firm To Higher In Angelo Special Sale Monday
Steers and heifers were firm to $1 higher here Monday in the season’s eighth special feeder sale at Producers Livestock Auction.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Rise, Cattle Steady
Feeder lambs sold $3-5 higher, instances as much as $10 higher, slaughter lambs not well tested, slaughter ewes firm to $1 higher. Receipts totaled 8918 head.

Giddings Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $3-5 higher, slaughter cows steady to $2 higher. Receipts totaled 505 head.

Most Goldthwaite Lambs Steady, Angoras Higher
Feeder and slaughter lambs sold steady, slaughter ewes and bucks steady to $1 higher; stock Angora nannies $2-3 higher, muttons $3-4 higher, slaughter muttons and billies $3-4 higher; slaughter Spanish nannies $4-5 lower, muttons $2-3 higher, kids and yearlings $8-9 higher, stock nannies $4-5 lower, billies $3-4 higher.

Junction High-Dollar Special Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady in the special High Dollar calf and yearling sale at Junction Stockyards, choice heavyweight steers strong, heifers $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 807 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Mostly Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady in Kansas direct trading. Weather was dry, turning cold late. Sales were confirmed on a light run of 3714 head.

Fredericksburg Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows and bulls $1 lower. Receipts totaled 1072 head.

Vinson Brangus Bulls Avg. $2079 Per Head
A total of 68 Brangus bulls sold at the Vinson Ranches’ Next Generation sale for an average of $2079, and 25 Gelbvieh bulls averaged $1057.

Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie Wools Steady
Trading on domestic wool was slow last week under light demand. No new sales were confirmed.

U.S. Meat Production 5.7% Below A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 825.1 million pounds, .6 percent more than a week earlier and 5.7 percent less than a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was down .8 percent at 35.76 billion pounds.

Milano Feeder Steers, Heifers Trade Higher
Feeder steers under 500 pounds sold steady to $1 higher, over 500 pounds $2-4 higher, heifers $1-2 higher, slaughter cows steady, bulls steady to weak. Receipts totaled 1320 head.

Choice Cuero Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
Choice feeder steer and heifer calves and yearlings sold higher in active trading, slaughter cows $3-4 lower. Receipts totaled 1750 head.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows and bulls steady to weak. Receipts totaled 964 head.

Llano Feeder Cattle Move To Higher Level
Feeder steers sold $2-3 higher, heifers $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3 lower. Receipts totaled 525 head.

Hindsight

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull. 
"Do you remember," said John, "when it was common and sometimes highly amusing practice for cowpunchers to accompany cattle to market? Nowadays, people send a trainload of stock to Kansas City or anywhere they want to and let the railroad and their commission agents on the other end take care of the whole deal.

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
So what if President Clinton waded into Massachusetts, stood at the sight of the Boston Tea Party and announced he was signing a measure to set aside a 2656 square miles within the state to establish a National Monument?

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
By the time you read this the dust will probably have settled along with the dreams of a lot of hopeful or incumbent politicians, but not to worry — like squirrels and nuts we shall see voters and candidates on a seasonal schedule. For instance:

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
Maybe the September trip to Costa Rica should be called old times. The reading and talking and sitting up late remembering all those funny guys we knew in college revived the past.