Loose Ends

For the month of September, the Texas Animal Health Commission reports 319,739 cattle entered Texas from other states while 138,447 were exported. Also, 6521 sheep entered Texas and 2789 sheep were exported.

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The Texas Sheep and Goat Commodity Board has a new name — the Sheep and Goat Predator Management Board. The name change was accomplished at the August board meeting and was effective September 1. The name change, the board says, should more clearly define the function of the board and eliminate confusion with any other entity.

The board’s January through September expense report shows that $216,101.38 total dollars were collected, and of that total $182,449.80, or 84 percent, was spent on predator control efforts. Refunds during the period amounted to $15,046.10.

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Pecos County is offering a pesticide training course for continuing education units for private applicator, and commercial and non-commercial applicator licensing. The one-day session is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 6 at the Pecos County Civic Center.

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Lampasas County is offering a rangeland carrying capacity workshop Friday, Oct. 31 from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the County Farm Bureau building at Lampasas.

Dr. Allan McGinty, Extension range specialist at San Angelo, will conduct the workshop. He will cover the right way to determine carrying capacity on different pasture situations and also teach participants ways to save money by knowing what, when and how much supplement to feed livestock.

Interested persons should respond by Oct. 26 to Mike Mallet, Lampasas County Extension agent, at (512)556-8271.

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A Permian Basin range tour is set for Wednesday, Oct. 22 beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the Parks Ranch headquarters, off Interstate 20 near Midland. Topics to be discussed include range plant identification, replacement heifer management, individual plant treatment methods and range plant insect identification. Three CEUs will be offered.

More information is available from Dr. Charles Hart at (915)336-8585.

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USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service says its E.coli sampling efforts for fiscal year 1997 found two positive traces for the entire year, bringing the total number of positive traces to nine out of about 16,500 meat samples collected since October 1994.

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Congressman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, recent won House Judiciary Committee approval for his Tucker Act Shuffle Relief Act, legislation that Smith says "provides a solution to an unfair judicial maze that often prevents private property owners from having their day in court" and receiving compensation for "takings" of property.

The 1887 Tucker Act, Smith explains, contains provisions that have allowed the government to "shuffle" property owners endlessly between federal courts with overlapping jurisdictions. His bill would allow both the Federal Claims Court and federal district courts to hear takings cases, "ending waits of a decade or longer" for some property owners.

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Effective Oct. 1, Red China lowered its import duties on beef offal from 45 percent to 23 percent and on chilled and frozen beef from 50 percent to 40 percent. So says the U.S. Meat Export Federation, which attributes the move to China’s efforts to win entry into the World Trade Organization.

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