GREEN BUT SHORT, the grass in this picture a little east of San Angelo is typical of the western Edwards Plateau region, where — we’ll say it yet again — El Niño has been El No-show. Farther west, they’d be thankful just to get the green. Mid-range weather forecasts are calling for a wet May and June in West Texas, but we’re willing to bet the prognosticators would run backwards if you laid good folding money on the table and asked them to cover that bet.

Lamb Meat Prices At 3-Year Low
Lamb carcasses lost $5.50 last week and fell to the lowest price level since February 1995. Lightweight carcasses were at $147.50 on the East Coast, 55-65 pounds $146.50, 65-75 pounds $134.50, 75-85 pounds $124.50, and those over 85 pounds were valued at $101.50. Newcrop lamb was about $5 above the quoted price.

Plains Fed Cattle Sell Steady As Sides Exchange Mind Games
Plains fed cattle trade was somewhat sluggish through midweek at steady rates following last week’s surprise surge of up to $4. Both sides in the conflict played mind games, sellers asking $67 and angling for $68, buyers willingly giving $66 for a while before pulling bids back to $65 on Wednesday and scotching movement.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

In Feed, Researcher Discovers Not All Proteins Are The Same
Dr. Mark Peterson is interested in finding ways to trick an animal's system into doing a better job. The New Mexico State University professor has been studying bypass protein in cattle for about 10 years.

Ranchers Gather To Learn More About Recreational Tourism
Recreational tourism is a rapidly growing source for extra income for many landowners, particularly in the western U.S. Texas landowners have long used fee hunting and fishing to supplement their traditional source of income, but only recently are they realizing just how untapped their resources truly are.

Perry Praises Cattle Industry As Part And Parcel Of Texas
Cattle production is so intertwined with Texas history, values and economics, it's impossible to imagine the state without its ranches and feedlots. Raising beef cattle is a business and a way of life that helped mold the Lone Star State and bestow its identity.

Ag Groups Increasingly Worry About Losing Many Pesticides
Once lost, credibility is devilishly difficult to regain, a lesson the Clinton administration has had ample opportunity to learn. After wooing and then double-crossing virtually every constituency it has encountered, the administration is discovering to its dismay that no one believes anything it says any more.

Feds Release Mexican Wolves Despite Lawsuit To Stop Them
Despite a lawsuit filed in federal court here to prevent it, the federal government has released three groups of Mexican gray wolves in eastern Arizona.

Changes In Beef Industry Being Driven, In Part, By Retailers
Dr. Bill Mies, associate professor and beef specialist at Texas A&M University, told listeners at the recent Cattleman’s Gathering In The Southwest here that producers must think about where they want to be in the cattle business five years from now.

Healthy Calves Are First Step Toward A Healthier Bottom Line
Producers attending the recent "Cattleman’s Gathering in the Southwest" here heard from a variety of speakers who focused on health, proper vaccination and preconditioning programs, as well as from a panel of producers who shared their experiences on preconditioning and caring for sick calves.

Species Act Was A Good Idea Gone Wrong, Says Biologist
The Endangered Species Act is one of the classic examples of a very good idea which has gone very bad. So bad, in fact, that many biologists who are doing work in the field, rather than the laboratory or office, are now saying that the act needs to be repealed. It is too broken to fix. It is not working as it was intended. We need to start all over at square one.

Bear Backers Say Pepper Spray Good Way To Stop Charging Griz
State and federal grizzly bear specialists are ready to formally endorse pepper spray in bear attacks, saying the substance will help prevent injuries and death for both people and bears.

Quail Workshop Series Offers Adult Continuing Education
A new concept in adult continuing education will kick off starting in June. W.I.L.D., or "Wildlife Intensive Leadership Development" is a series of three, two-day intensive training sessions designed to give its graduates the ability to make informed decisions relative to wildlife management enterprises.

Planting Intentions For Corn Presage Possible Record Crop
USDA's initial U.S. planting intention report for 1998, released on March 31, indicates that farmers will plant 80.8 million acres of corn this year, up 504,000 acres from 80.3 million acres planted last year, and up 1.6 percent from 1996 when 79.5 million acres were planted. That would be 13.4 percent above 1995, when corn prices reached 25-year highs.

Lawmakers Want Forest Service Documents On Illegal Lobbying
Congressional Republicans critical of the Forest Service's logging policies have demanded that the Clinton administration turn over reams of documents to determine whether the agency is violating anti-lobbying laws.

Idaho Cattlemen, State Vet Want Elk Bangs Cleared Up
Idaho Cattle Association leaders and the state veterinarian urged the Idaho Fish and Game Commission last week to do whatever it can to prevent brucellosis in an eastern Idaho elk herd from spreading to livestock.

Belle Fource Lands Co-op Beef Plant
A rancher-owned meatpacking plant that's expected to process thousands of cattle a day will be located here, officials announced last week.

Cutworms Showing Up In Plains Fields
A severe infestation of army cutworms is causing problems for farmers in western Kansas and Nebraska as the pest threatens to wipe out fields of wheat and alfalfa.

Daschle, Burns Want Meat Industry Probe
The Senate Agriculture Committee should investigate market concentration in the meat packing industry in South Dakota and other states, said Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

Saddle Bronc Rider Takes Home First Big Win For 1998 Season
After earning more than $51,000 at the 1997 National Finals Rodeo and finishing runner-up in the saddle bronc riding competition, Ryan Mapston was due for a win.

Angelo Feeder Cattle Higher, Lambs Mixed
Feeder lambs weighing under 70 pounds sold $2-5 lower this week, weights over 70 pounds firm, slaughter lambs and ewes firm. Receipts totaled 8697 head.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Feeders Strong
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to strong in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, 675-750 pounders off wheat pastures $1-3 higher, slaughter cows steady, bulls steady to $2 higher, stock cows steady.

Abilene Feeder Cattle Trade Mostly Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 higher, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 1885 head.

Goldthwaite Lambs, Angora Nannies Up
Feeder lambs sold steady to $2 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks steady; stock Angora nannies $8 higher, muttons $4 lower, slaughter nannies and muttons $3-5 lower, kids $8 higher; stock Spanish nannies $6-8 higher, slaughter kids and yearlings $4-8 higher, other classes steady to $3 higher.

Most Graham Cattle Prices Trend Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $2 higher, slaughter cows steady to $1 higher, bulls steady.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifers Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $2 higher. Receipts totaled 483 head.

Most Colorado City Cattle Trade Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $1 higher, slaughter cows $1 higher, bulls $2-4 higher, bred cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 658 head.

Llano Feeder Steers, Heifers Steady To Up
Feeder steers sold fully steady with some steers $2-3 higher, heifers fully steady, 600-700 pounds higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 327 head.

Fredericksburg Feeder Steers, Heifers Rise
Feeder steers and heifers sold $2-5 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 889 head.

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
April 18 — Heart of Texas Special Replacement Female Sale, Groesbeck Livestock Commission, Groesbeck, Texas. April 18 — Special Replacement Cow Sale, Colorado City Livestock Market, Colorado City, Texas. April 18 — Heart of the Panhandle Classic Consignment Sale, Amarillo Livestock Auction, Amarillo, Texas. April 19 — Superior Livestock Auction’s Video Sale, Superior Offices and Studio, Fort Worth, Texas.