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| Vol. 49 - No. 8 | Thursday, February 27, 1997 | $25 Per Year |
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Feeder Lambs
Hold Steady, Fats Strong
Feeder lamb prices held fairly steady this week,
although the volume moved was small. Wet pelts in Texas
did not deter buyers in the least. Slaughter lamb prices
were a little higher in the Midwest, mostly steady in
Texas. Slaughter ewes were higher across the country.
Fed Cattle
Knocking On Door To $70 Level In Brisk Trade
After heating up well the last two weeks, Plains
fed cattle trade really caught fire this week, closing $3
higher Wednesday than it had been just a week earlier.
Team Roping Has
Become Family Addiction, Enthusiast Explains
Team roping aficionados don’t need to be told
that their sport’s Texas state championship is
scheduled for early March in San Antonio. Non-believers
might wonder what all the fuss is about.
Jordan
Family’s Markets Grew From Lifetime Of Auctioneering
Willard Jordan has been an auctioneer for the past
43 years. For 17 of those years he worked different sales
throughout West Central Texas and the hill country. In
1973 he bought the Junction stockyards and began working
for himself.
Researchers
Encourage Early Treatment of Cedar Problem
Ranchers interested in management of juniper, both
redberry and ashe, must get away from the philosophy of
letting juniper get big and mature before anything is
done about it.
Cowboy Hall
Of Fame Inductees To Be Recognized On March 15
Actor Richard Farnsworth will be inducted into the
National Cowboy Hall of Fame’s "Hall of Great
Western Performers" at the 36th Annual Western
Heritage Awards here March 15 in the museum’s Sam
Noble Special Events Center.
Study Shows
Chaining Of Cedar Is Economical In Most Cases
Most forms of brush control, particularly mechanical
control and herbicides, have become increasingly
expensive, so much so that many ranchers and researchers
question whether or not brush control practices are
cost-effective.
Lamb Is First
Successful Clone From Adult Mammal
In a revelation that has ethicists wringing their
hands, a Scottish research firm announced over the
weekend that it had successfully cloned a lamb using DNA
from a grown ewe, the first such cloning of an adult
mammal.
Montana
Governor Seeks Summit With Feds Over Buffalo Issue
Gov. Marc Racicot said Friday he wants a meeting
with federal officials here by the end of February to
discuss the ongoing problem of Yellowstone National Park
buffalo.
Feds, Ecos
Feud Over Killing Coyotes To Protect Rare Deer
An animal rights group wants to shoot down a U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to trap and kill
coyotes on the white-tailed deer refuge here.
"Rewrite"
Of Rules Giving BLM Police Powers Rankles In West
Westerners are up in arms (ATTENTION BATF: Do
not send in assault teams; this is only figurative
language) over the federal Bureau of Land
Management’s efforts to expand its law enforcement
powers via a "rewriting" of regulations. By
states and even locally, they are taking their concerns
to Washington.
NCBA Testifies
Before Congress Favoring Repeal Of "Death Tax"
A reduction of the estate tax, more commonly known as the
"death tax," would provide jobs, economic
growth and environmental benefits to many small and
medium-sized communities across the United States.
Vitamin E Study
Shows Promise For Improving Beef Shelf Life
Supermarket beef sales could increase by eliminating an
estimated $1 billion a year lost to discoloring and
spoilage if cattle rations are supplemented with vitamin
E, says a recent study.
Media
Overlooking Own Sins In Focus On Those Of Others
Recently, while driving through a forested
community in the Colorado foothills west of Denver, I saw
a car festooned with two bumper stickers. One read,
"Save An Elk, Hit A Land Developer." The other
declared, "Mean People Suck."
Cattlemen’s
Association Backs Changes To Futures Contracts
The live cattle futures contract at the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange should be improved to become a better
risk management tool for beef producers.
Aussie Worry
Anthrax Case Will Hurt Sales
Health authorities are struggling to contain
Australia's worst anthrax outbreak in history and
reassure foreign buyers that they have nothing to fear
from the cattle disease.
ADM Turning
Vicious In Suit Against Price-Fix Informant
Archer Daniels Midland Co. is turning up the heat
on turncoat executive Mark Whitacre, pulling his friends,
former colleagues, and even his wife and mother into a
multimillion-dollar fraud lawsuit.
Marketing
Association To Await Court Case On Checkoff Issues
The board of directors of the Livestock Marketing
Association, which has criticized the direction of the
beef checkoff, has voted to await a Supreme Court
decision in a California case before considering further
action on the checkoff.
Fiasco Of Concho
Water Snake Instructive About Species Law
The Concho water snake. This unremarkable and abundant
little reptile may someday stand as a monument to
everything that is wrong with the federal Endangered
Species Act: an open-ended law with no practical limits;
arrogant and obtuse bureaucrats who ignore their own
scientists because they depend on the law’s excesses
to justify their jobs; and a legacy of use to thwart
projects rather than protect plants and animals.
Stockmen Want
Lions Killed, Not Just Studied Some More
Complaining that cougars are killing too many
livestock, dozens of southeastern Idaho ranchers are
attacking the state Fish and Game Department's proposed
study of the big cats.
January
Retail Beef Prices Remain Steady
Heavy seasonal production helped national retail
beef prices remain relatively low in January, the
National Cattlemen's Beef Association reported late last
week.
Angelo Feeder
Lambs Weak, Cattle Higher
Feeder lambs were weak in a light test this week,
slaughter lambs steady, slaughter ewes $3-5 higher. A
cold two-day drizzle held receipts to 4192 head.
On The Edge Of
Common Sense
By Baxter Black
CALVING QUIZ
This is a quiz to determine your calving sanity (or help
you kill time in the calving barn). Match the columns:
Unregistered Bull
in a Hotel Lobby
Choice gleanings from 45-plus years of
Unregistered Bull.
"One thing about a drouth," said John,
"it sure proves the benefits of soil conservation.
If I hadn’t been such a believer in soil
conservation, my banker and I wouldn’t be such bosom
friends.
Pokin' Fun
By Doc Blakely
In the Texas Panhandle, I was the guest of a
large corporation. The company keeps a suite of rooms on
the entire top floor of a high-rise hotel. It was so
swank that the TV wasn’t even chained to the floor.
I was afraid to call room service for fear they would
send up another room.
Shortgrass
Country
By Monte Noelke
For a long time after federal law ended working
unpapered aliens, we continued to watch for the Border
Patrol. The slightest glimmer of green on the horizon,
the color of the patrol cars, or the sound of a small
plane, the signal of spotters, set off the alert.
