CHEAP TO KEEP and handy to have around, meat goats have been a fixture, albeit a minor one, on the West Texas ranching scene for generations. They continue to gain more adherents as demand for goat meat grows, and in some areas are filling a niche left by the shrinking hair goat industry.

Feeder Lambs Steady, Fats Little Softer
Feeder lambs held fairly steady around the country this week though there was a little weakness in some spots, mostly adjustments. Slaughter lambs in the Midwest were about $3 lower on Monday, but regained about $2 on Wednesday. Slaughter ewes found higher trading in most areas.

Fed Cattle Trading On Plains Loses More Ground This Week
Fed cattle prices on the Plains continue to give ground in a wholesale retreat that began in late January. Set up by heavy front-end supplies and slow beef movement, the market slide was apparently sparked by the temporary closing of several Monfort plants and the shuffling of several thousand of their cattle to another packer.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

Engler First To Take Stand In Fourth Week Of Oprah Trial
Lead plaintiff Paul Engler was the first witness to take the stand in the fourth week of the case he and other cattlemen are pursuing against talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Faltering Lamb Market Leaves Feeders With Sense Of Urgency
A sense of urgency is perhaps the best way to define the mood here at the recent annual meeting of the National Lamb Feeders Association. More than one feeder commented that he would likely run out of money before the industry runs out of overfat lambs.

NM Ranchers Get Wolf Advice From One Who Has Been There
Dr. Jim Knight, a wildlife biologist at Montana State University, is familiar with wolf reintroduction programs. He's had a close-up view of such programs in Big Sky country.

Cow-Calf Man Finally Regains Driver’s Seat, Says Cattle-Fax
Cattle-Fax analysts had a bag of mixed news for Outlook Seminar participants at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association winter convention here. They predicted bright news for some and less for others, but overall, they said, 1998 is expected to be the start of the upswing in the beef market cycle.

Excel Beef Plant At Plainview Idled Over Alleged HACCP Flaw
Within two weeks of implementation of a new federally mandated meat safety program, a USDA inspector claims the system has failed.

Feds Lose Appeal In Wetlands Case That Could Reduce Power
Stung by a December ruling that could jeopardize the federal government’s power to regulate millions of acres of questionable "wetlands," the U.S. Justice Department intervened last month, asking a three-judge panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider.

Superior Livestock Video Sale Offering Totals 72,000 Cattle
Superior Livestock Auction offered more than 72,000 feeder cattle and breeding stock in their annual Cattleman’s Winter Classic video auction here. Consignments were from 28 states and Mexico.

Aussie Wool Industry Eyeing Asian Worries
Primary Industries Minister John Anderson on Friday talked down chances of a wool industry collapse, saying the Asian currency crisis was serious but not catastrophic.

Surprise, Surprise: Texas Sheep Numbers Climb 7% Over Year Ago
The Texas inventory of all sheep and lambs January 1 was up seven percent from a year ago at 1.17 million head. Nationwide, however, the inventory is down four percent at 7.62 million head, 10 percent fewer than two years ago.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Steady, Cattle Weak
Flambs sold steady this week, eeder and slaughter slaughter ewes firm to totaled 9591 head. $2 higher. Receipts

Graham Feeder Cattle Trade Active, Higher
Feeder steers sold steady to $3 higher, heifers steady to $2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Feeders Higher
Feeder steers weighing less than 475 pounds sold steady to $2 higher in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, choice heifers steady to strong, slaughter cows and bulls steady, stock cows in good demand.

Llano Feeder Steers, Heifers Fully Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold firm to fully steady, heavyweights $2 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $2 higher. Receipts totaled 244 head.

Letters To The Editor

Coming Up...
February 14 — Five Star Auctioneer’s Auction, Cross Plains, Texas. February 14 — Greater Hill Country Hereford Association’s Bull/Heifer Sale, Fredericksburg, Texas. February 14 — Gray Land & Cattle Co.’s Big Polled Sale V, Edmond, Oklahoma. February 14 — Creighton Ranch’s 2nd Annual Performance Tested Black and White Bull Sale, Sulphur Springs Livestock Commission, Sulphur Springs, Texas. February 14 — Mid-Texas Angus Association’s Bull Salve IV, Somervell County Expo Center, Glen Rose, Texas. February 14 — Bradley 3 Ranch’s 1998 "First Offering Angus Bulls", at the ranch, Memphis, Texas.