A TALL DRINK of fresh water appears almost out of reach for these babies near Cuero. Just out of sight are their mothers, who objected to the photographer interrupting their early morning watering ritual.

Easter Not Helping 1998 Lamb Prices
The last full week of slaughter for the Easter market didn’t have any positive effect on this year’s lamb market. For almost two months the dressed trade has stayed at the same price level with at least a $23 spread between the quoted light and heavy carcasses.

Plains Fed Cattle Price $61, Sellers Reluctant To Take It
Plains feedlots were forced to give ground again this week, but not nearly as much as the packers tried to take. The typical standstill of Monday and Tuesday finally broke on Wednesday when packers came off their $59-60 bids and paid $61.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

At 83, Trader Buster Wheat Says He’s Calling It Quits
Eighty-three year-old Oatis "Buster" Wheat doesn’t like what he sees in the cattle business today. Though reluctant to do so, he says he may retire while he can still get out with black ink in the ledger.

Expanding Elk Numbers, Range Prompts Search For More Data
Ranchers and outfitters across New Mexico report increasing numbers of elk, but it has fallen to a wildlife biologist here to put numbers to those reports.

Range Improvement Task Force Founder Just Seeks The Truth
There are no bullet holes in the walls of Jerry Schickedanz' office, but there have been times, he grins, when he's wondered if there would be.

Glickman "Dismayed" At UP’s Embargo On Mexico Shipments
Bridling at Union Pacific Railroad's decision to temporarily suspend rail shipments to Mexico through its Laredo, Texas gateway, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman is urging federal regulators to step in and block the action.

Traceback Of Meat And Poultry Next Frontier For Food Safety
Using bar codes on packages and DNA tests on microbes, health officials are increasingly adept at precisely tracing outbreaks of food-borne illness to stores, restaurants and food processing plants.

Farm Bureau Defends Voluntary Habitat Plan Underway At TP&WD
The president of Texas' largest farm organization said Friday that an effort by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to develop a voluntary, landownerbased approach to habitat conservation is being unfairly criticized and distorted.

Eco Groups File Suit To Force Endangered Listing For Shiner
A federal lawsuit filed by two environmental activist groups to force the U.S. government to list a two-inch minnow as an "endangered" species has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Joe H. Galvan here.

EPA Quietly Setting Out To Do What It Promised It Wouldn’t
Vacant lots. Unpaved roads and dirt parking lots. Plumes of dust. Breathing problems. Combine them and you get a measure of the magnitude of Maricopa County's clean-air problem and what federal regulators say must be done to reduce it.

Blister Beetles Pose Deadly Problem For Horses In Hay
It sounds like a plot from a dubious direct-to-video movie: Insect poisoning in animals results in sickness and possible death, leading to emotional and monetary duress on the part of animal owners.

Agency Used Tax Dollars To Pay For "Proper" Answers On Survey
Someone at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used taxpayer money to reward respondents for answering a "survey" the way the Corps wanted it answered, but officials are playing dumb.

Engler Appeals Oprah Case, Disputing Judge’s Rulings
Texas cattle feeder Paul Engler is appealing a federal court's ruling against him in his lawsuit against television talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Beef Imports Forecast To Rise This Year, Exports To Decline
Imports of beef into the United States are projected to increase this year, while export numbers are likely to decrease, despite a growing Mexican market for U.S. beef.

Texas Rancher Freed From Jail In Mexico
Mexican authorities have released a Lubbock rancher who had been imprisoned since Feb. 10 for unwittingly taking a rifle across the border, his attorneys say.

Bangs Tests On Idaho Elk Turn Up Reactors
Eleven of 33 elk at the Rainey Creek winter feeding site in Swan Valley have tested positive for brucellosis, raising fears that infected elk could pass on the disease to nearby cattle herds.

New Mexico Ranchers Sue To Stop Wolves
New Mexico ranchers are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to block the release of wolves into the mountains of the Southwest.

Asia Bailout Said Necessary To Protect Ag Export Market
American farmers and ranchers need International Monetary Fund rescue packages to restore financial stability in Asia so they do not lose markets for their products, contends the Clinton administration.

When A Wild Cow Is Determined To Kill Or Leave, Let Her Go
By Curt Brummett
I was in Kingsville, Texas, this past weekend enjoying the company of several cowboys from the South Texas area and visiting as well as remembering a few wild cow hunts, and a few roundups that didn't go all that smooth.

Bacteria Fighting Bacteria New Approach To Food Safety
In a breakthrough for improved food safety, researchers have unveiled a method for preventing salmonella bacteria in chickens by growing benign microbes inside newly hatched chicks.

Beef Checkoff Export Efforts Generate Triple-Digit Sales
The Texas Beef Council says the state’s beef industry has seen triple-digit increases in sales to some Mexican markets thanks to an initiative co-funded by TBC through the $1 per head beef checkoff program and three participating Texas exporting companies.

House Tax Committee Snubs Ethanol Breaks
The tax break for ethanol, a corn-based fuel additive, was dealt a setback Thursday as the House tax panel refused to extend the credit beyond 2000.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Lower, Cattle Mixed
Feeder lambs sold weak to $5 lower this week, slaughter lambs steady, slaughter ewes weak to $3 lower. Receipts totaled 16,852 head.

Graham Feeder Steers, Heifers Mostly Steady
Feeder steers and heifers under 600 pounds sold fully steady, weights 650-800 pounds $1 lower, newcrop calves $1 higher, slaughter cows 50 cents to $1 lower, good bred cows $20 higher, pairs $20-30 higher.

Most Mason, Brownwood, San Saba Cattle Higher
Feeder steers sold $1-4 higher in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, heifers steady to $1 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $2 higher, stock cows steady.

G13 Angus Sale Avg. $2030 On 106 Head
The Greg Smith G13 Angus Ranch offered 106 head at auction, and averaged $2030 per head. Twenty-five two year-old bulls averaged $2366, five 18 month-old bulls averaged $2510, and 56 yearlings made $1889.

Olney Feeder Steers, Heifers Sell Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-3 higher, slaughter cows $2-4 lower. Receipts totaled 580 head.

Graham Special Cow Sale Tops At $1000
Cows with calves sold active in special trading, several bringing $700-1000 per pair. Bred cows and heifers brought $600-850 per head. Receipts included 780 cows with 405 calves and 38 bulls.

Hales Angus Bulls Average $2275 Each
Hales Angus Farms sold 74 bulls for an average of $2275 and 32 heifers for an average of $1510 each.

Letters To The Editor

Coming Up...
April 4 — San Antonio Special, Union Stock Yards, San Antonio, Texas. April 4 — Four Corners 49th Annual High Altitude Video Bull Sale, San Juan Basin Research Center, Hesperus, Colorado. April 4 — Special Replacement Cow and Heifer Sale, Union Stock Yards, San Antonio, Texas. April 4 — Special Cow and Heifer Replacement Sale, Jordan Cattle Auction, Mason, Texas.