Thanksgiving Puts Damper On Sheep Trading
The Thanksgiving holiday period put a real damper on sheep trading around the country this week. Practically all the Texas markets closed for the period, and movement elsewhere was equally limited.

Fed Cattle Decline Another $2 In Holiday-Constrained Trade
Plains fed cattle trade gave up another $2 this week to trade at $68, pressured by a variety of factors.

Plains Feedlot Sales

Range Sales

Cattle Producers Hear Update On Food Safety Regulations
Food safety was brought to the forefront in 1993 when three children died from eating undercooked beef. Since then, some consumers have lost confidence in the beef industry’s ability to produce safe beef and the ability of the government to regulate the production of safe beef.

Fisher Ranch Made Up Of Old Fragments From Creek Nation
Standing on a hilltop, Roy Fisher Jr. looks out to the east, over elm and oak trees beginning to don their red and gold fall attire, over hay meadows dotted with large round bales from a second cutting and cattle and horses grazing the thick grasses. On the horizon is Lake Eufaula, the second largest man-made reservoir in the country.

Edwards Aquifer Historic Use Filings Deadline December 30
The Edwards Aquifer Authority, which now regulates the underground water districts in Bexar, Medina and Uvalde counties, has ruled that persons using at least 25,000 gallons of water a day from the Edwards Aquifer must file a "historic use" designation by December 30. Wells using less than the 25,000 gallons a day must also be registered with the authority.

Beef Cooperative Now Plans To Build Two Packing Plants
A beef cooperative plans to build two smaller packing plants instead of one larger one, its organizers disclosed late last week, saying the idea makes cattle hauling easier for the venture's far-flung membership.

High Court To Hear Argument Over Who Can Use Species Act
During a drouth in 1992, the government cut off irrigation water to farms and ranches near Oregon's Lost River to help preserve an endangered species of sucker fish.

OSU Horse Judges Are AQHA Champions
They competed against the best intercollegiate teams in the nation at the American Quarter Horse World Championships Nov. 20; when the competition was finished, Oklahoma State University's horse judging team was crowned the best of the best.

Uneven Trends Marked Feeder Cattle Trade Across Country
No clear-cut nationwide trend for feeder calf or yearling prices emerged last week; from area to area, prices bounced on either side of steady money but generally averaged steady to $1 higher.

Fiscal Year Figures On Imports Of Livestock Both Up And Down
Fiscal year livestock import figures for 1996 show a total of 4.9 million cattle, hogs and sheep entered the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, as tabulated by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The 1996 fiscal year ended October 31.

Cattle On Feed Up One Percent In Seven Main Feeding States
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter Nov. 1 in the seven leading feeding states totaled 8.54 million head, one percent above the same date last year and seven percent above Nov. 1, 1994.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Off Last Week, Feedlots Current
Slaughter steers and heifers were $2-3 lower last week in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading. Trade was slow to inactive early, becoming active on Wednesday and finishing the week slow.

Most Steers, Heifers Steady In Angelo Special Feeder Sale
Most steers and heifers were steady Monday in the season’s ninth special feeder sale at Producers Livestock Auction. Heifers weighing 500-600 pounds were termed weak to $1 lower.

Judge Blocks Babbitt Wilderness Inventory
A federal judge late Friday granted a preliminary injunction to stop the U.S. Department of Interior's re-inventory of potential wilderness in southern Utah until a lawsuit can be resolved.

Angelo Feeder Steers, Heifers Off Last Week
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 lower last week, slaughter cows and bulls steady and stock cows and pairs also steady in a light test. Receipts totaled 6132 head.

Goldthwaite Lambs Up, Stock Angoras Steady
Feeder lambs sold $8-10 higher, slaughter lambs steady to $2 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks $5-6 higher, stock ewes mostly steady; stock Angora goats steady, slaughter classes steady to $1 higher; stock Spanish goats steady, slaughter nannies, muttons and billies steady, kids and yearlings $6-7 higher. Receipts totaled 3500 head.

Highland Hereford Bulls Average $1646
Sixty-five and a half bulls sold at the 42nd annual Highland Hereford Association sale here for an average of $1646.18, and 52 heifers averaged $540.86.

U.S. Meat Production 7.9% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 825.3 million pounds, 2.2 percent more than a week ago and 7.9 percent above a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was .8 percent less than the previous year at 38.25 billion pounds.

Fredericksburg Feeder Cattle Steady, Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady except for weights of 400-550 pounds, which were $2-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $2 higher. Receipts totaled 2152 head.

Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie Wools Mixed
Trading on domestic wool was slow last week with only occasional buyer inquiry. No sales were confirmed as remaining supplies are held in strong hands.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Feeders Higher
Choice feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $4 higher in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week with weights of 400-600 pounds in best demand, slaughter cows steady to $4 higher, bulls steady. Receipts totaled 4378 head at the three sales.

Cuero Feeder Cattle Sell In Mixed Demand
Good and choice feeder calves and yearlings sold under active demand, lower grades a little lower, slaughter cows steady. Receipts totaled 2509 head.

Lampasas Steers Off, Heifers Trend Higher
Feeder steers sold steady to weak with weights over 600 pounds $1-2 lower, heifers steady to $1 higher, the advance on 600 pounds and up, slaughter cows and bulls $2 higher. Receipts totaled 1814 head.

U.S. Meat Supplies Down 11% From 1995
Total U.S. red meat supplies in freezers on October 31 decreased four percent from September and were down 11 percent from October 1995.

U.S. Meat Production Sets October Record
October commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 3.83 billion pounds, a new record high for the month. Production was up one percent from the previous high set in October 1995. October 1996 contained one more work day than in 1995. January through October red meat production was 36.3 billion pounds, up slightly from the comparable period a year earlier.

Kansas Direct Heifers Higher, Steers Steady
Feeder steers sold unevenly steady in Kansas direct trading last week, heifers steady to $1 higher. Weather was warm early, turning cold with freezing drizzle late. Sales were confirmed on 9414 head.

Hindsight

Unregistered Bull in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of Unregistered Bull. 
"Well," said John, "here it is Thanksgiving again, and of course we should be thankful for our blessings. Let’s see, now what are they? Oh, yeah. They’re the same things we had to be thankful for last year, or 50 years ago: fitness, friends and faith.

On The Edge Of Common Sense
By Baxter Black
How do you explain Thanksgiving to a three year-old?
"A long time ago..."
"Yesterday?"
"No, more than yesterday. A bunch of people came in a big boat..."
"Pirates?"

Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
A friend of mine said he was studying the Bible, looking for Exodus in the New Testament and wasn't having much success. He was about to put in a long distance call to Charlton Heston for information when the phone rang as he held it in his hand. Obviously, this could be a sign from God. With trembling hands, he took the receiver off the hook and calmly missed his ear, caught part of the phone between his knees and the rest under one armpit.

Shortgrass Country
By Monte Noelke
Two ranches in Irion County, maybe three, stocked a small amount of whitetail deer in 1940s. Much earlier, Grandfather Noelke kept a few does and a buck penned in a high fenced trap behind his barn. No such thing existed as hunting leases. The first deer killed on the old ranch had metal tags in their ears designating Cherry Springs as their point of origin.

It's The Pitts
By Lee Pitts
In order to graduate from high school, every kid in America should have to pass the following multiple choice test:

On Matters... Equine
By Dr. Jim and Lynda McCall
We just got back from a trip to another horse farm in search of an elusive stallion prospect. After corresponding for several weeks, we finally decided these folks had a stud colt with the right breeding and color good enough to warrant venturing up into the north country.