BEHIND SCHEDULE across much of the country, spring shearing has been plagued by rain and even snow, along with the mud and damp fleeces that can’t seem to dry between one storm system and the next. That is not the case in West Texas, however, where these sheep haven’t had enough moisture on their backs lately to wet a postage stamp.

Feeder Lambs Continue To Drift Lower
Feeder lambs in Texas markets were on the lower side this week, mostly around $3-4 off. Slaughter lambs showed some strength in Midwest markets, but the direct trade was a couple of dollars off. Slaughter ewes were generally lower.

Fed Cattle Back In Groove; Trading Stymied At Midweek
Plains fed cattle trade was back in its familiar routine this week after one week of activity and another of semi-somnolence; as of midweek, virtually nothing had moved. Packers by late Wednesday afternoon were offering $64 and feedlots asking mostly $66.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

Global Warming Treaty Poses Sobering Costs, Speaker Says
Floy Lilley, who holds the Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise at the University of Texas, is no fan of Vice President Al Gore, and she doesn’t mind saying so. She recently did just that here in speaking to fellow lawyers, including a few who no doubt were liberal Democrats as well as government agency personnel, at a recent "regulatory takings" conference sponsored by CLE International, a leading provider of continuing legal education.

Bill Hext Looks For Qualities Of A Different Kind In Stock
Dynamite's dead. He died last year. "He was a nice little Shetland," says Bill Hext, bouncing across one of his pastures in his big Ford pickup looking for bulls.

Cattle Nutrition Simple Matter Of Getting Complex Mix Right
Producers attending the recent Cattleman’s Gathering In The Southwest here heard from a variety of speakers relating to nutrition and health. Amarillo-based Extension livestock specialist Dr. Ted McCollum focused on supplementation needs of cattle on native pasture.

Oprah Facing Another Trial In Texas Over Bashing Beef
Texas cattlemen have a beef with Oprah — again. Despite Oprah Winfrey's victory in federal court two months ago in nearby Amarillo, the television talk show hostess is being sued again by Texas cattle feeders.

Feds Want A Cut Of Water Sold To New Mexico By Producers
The federal government wants to dip into the millions of dollars the state pays farmers in southeastern New Mexico for water. The farmers sell billions of gallons of water each year to New Mexico — water that the state in turn sends to Texas.

Forest Chief Insults Timber Leaders On Way To Eco Award
U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, in essence, told timber industry leaders to kiss his behind last week, then went down the road to accept an award from environmental activists.

Colorado Senate Wants Balance In Environmental Instruction
The Colorado Senate agreed Tuesday that more balance is needed in teaching about the environment and approved a bill demanding school districts provide it.

Judge Won’t Okay Grazing Deal Without Considering Stockmen
A federal judge last week refused to sign a deal worked out between government bureaucrats and environmental activists that would bar cattle from the vicinity of many Arizona and New Mexico streams because the owners of those cattle had no voice in the arrangement.

Sierra Club Mulls Proposal To Back Immigration Limits
A major environmental activist group may take a stand against the migration patterns of humans. The 550,000 U.S. members of the Sierra Club are being asked to vote on a proposal that favors trying to slow the flow of immigrants to the country.

Idaho State Land Rules Hazy About Recreation On Range
The leader of a motorized off-road vehicle group wants the Idaho Land Board to make it clear state land leased to ranchers and farmers is open to all forms of recreation, not just hunting and fishing.

USDA Announces Buy Of $2M In Roast Beef
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced on Monday that the agency has purchased $2,065,000 worth of beef roasts to help improve prices to cattle producers. The buy was part of a $30 million bonus beef purchase announced March 24.

People To Suffer Most Want Wilderness Least
The Continental Divide apparently is the dividing line for Coloradans either for or against a Bureau of Land Management recommendation of wilderness designation for six roadless areas in western Colorado.

Scientists Devise Cheap, Easy Test For Sheep Disease Scrapie
Washington State University scientists recently announced that they have developed an inexpensive test to easily diagnose a fatal brain disease that strikes sheep and goats.

Ag Interests Nervous About Research Funds They Expect
When the federal government decided to stop using its money to prop up crop prices, farmers were told Washington would help provide a new kind of safety net: markets eager for their products.

NM Mine Owner Suing State For Years Of Permit Delays
A Catron County gold and silver mine owner is suing the state for years of delays in approving permits that he says have cost him the entire value of his property.

"Humane" Worker Goes On Cow-Killing Spree
Just as it doesn’t do the law enforcement profession any good when a narcotics cop is caught peddling dope, it can’t be good news to the animal rights movement that one of its own went on a critter-killing rampage. And it’s probably best not to speculate on what his companion’s arrest says about his own profession.

Both Sides Gathering Ammo For Upcoming Ethanol Fight
Floyd Schultz, who grows corn and soybeans in Plainfield, Ill., has ripped the tags off half a dozen bags of corn seed in the past week and scribbled notes on them to members of Congress.

Agronomist Says Perennial Cool Season Grasses Have Potential
When producers think of winter forage, generally the first to come to mind is wheat, or perhaps rye or oats. All are proven success stories.

Senate Hopeful Denounces Eco Leaders For Socialist Agenda
U.S. Rep. John Ensign is pulling no punches in his bid for the Senate seat held by a Democrat. Over the weekend he took aim at environmental activist leaders, describing them as socialists who use the federal government to undermine property rights.

Feds, Rail Company Huddling On Plan For Train Shortages
Federal officials and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. are working to avoid repeats of last year’s harvest-time train shortages that left grain sitting on the ground for weeks on end.

OSU Finds Multiple Benefits In Beef Cattle Feed Additive
Since 1921, it has been known as 6-Ethoxy-1,2,2,4-trimethylquinolone. However, as the major ingredient in Agrado, a new beef cattle feed additive, it appears to be nothing short of amazing

Feds Oppose Land Sales To Aid Endangered Species Protection
The Clinton administration invokes the mantra of "endangered species" protection to justify an array of regulations and property rights restrictions, but it is balking at a proposal by Sen. Pete Domenici to use money from the sale of surplus public land for that purpose.

Longshoremen Boycott Aussie Beef, Produce
A boycott of Australian products has begun in the United States, with America's second largest waterfront union on Saturday urging all union members across America to stop buying Australian beef and produce.

Amarillo To Host Beef Conference On May 12
The Panhandle Beef Conference, set for May 12 at the Amarillo Civic Center, will highlight forage management, performance evaluation of cattle, and outlooks for weather and markets.

New Federal Grazing Rules To Hit Wyoming
New federal grazing and rangeland management standards that sparked a political controversy when they were approved in 1995 will be put into place on 20 grazing allotments in four Wyoming counties.

Bull Rider Tuff Hedeman Out For Season With Neck Injury
Tuff Hedeman, a three-time PRCA world champion bull rider and ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee, is out for the remainder of the 1998 rodeo season after suffering a neck injury at a bull riding event April 3 in Odessa, Texas.

Superior Livestock Video Sale Offering Totals 40,000 Cattle
Superior Livestock Auction offered more than 40,000 feeder cattle and breeding stock at their regular video auction. Consignments were from 20 states and Mexico.

Cattle On Feed Down 3 Percent In Seven Main Feeding States
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter April 1 in the seven leading feeding states totaled 8.61 million head, three percent fewer than on the same date last year, but four percent above the figure for April 1, 1996.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Lower, Cattle Weak
Feeder lambs sold weak to $3 lower this week, slaughter lambs weak, slaughter ewes mostly steady, few utility weak to $2 lower. Receipts totaled 13,604 head.

Most Mason, Brownwood, San Saba Cattle Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-4 higher in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, slaughter cows $1-3 higher, bulls steady, stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 1801 at the three sales.

Abilene Feeder Cattle Prices Mostly Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady to $1 lower, except 700-900 pound heifers $2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls mostly steady, stock cows $40-50 higher, pairs steady.

Fredericksburg Steers Firm, Heifers Higher
Feeder steers sold strong, heifers $2-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 1385 head.

Llano Cattle Prices Termed Fully Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold fully steady and cows steady. Receipts totaled 525 head.

Most Colorado City Cattle Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $1 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $1 higher, stock cows and pairs steady to $50 higher. Receipts totaled 1716 head.

Graham Feeder Cattle Prices Termed Mixed
Feeder steers and heifers weighing under 450 pounds sold $1-2 lower, over 450 pounds fully steady to $1 higher, slaughter cows fully $1 higher, stock cows and pairs $20 higher.

Williams Angus Sale Averages $1827 Each
The Williams Family and Friends Alliance Angus sale here averaged $1828 per head on 93 lots.

Goldthwaite Lambs, Angora Goats Lower
Feeder lambs sold $2-4 lower, slaughter ewes and bucks $2 lower; stock Angora muttons $4 lower, slaughter classes $1-2 lower; stock Spanish nannies $3 lower, slaughter classes $2-3 higher. Receipts totaled 6500 head.

Roswell Wool Sale Tops Out At $1.20
The two wool warehouses in Roswell and Artesia will handle around 1.5 million pounds of wool this week.

Junction Lambs Lower, Stock Angoras Steady
Feeder lambs sold $2-4 lower, slaughter ewes and bucks $2 lower; stock Angora nannies and muttons steady, slaughter $1-3 lower; stock Spanish nannies $3-5 higher, slaughter kids and yearlings $3-6 higher, other slaughter classes steady.

Most Cuero Cattle Steady To Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold about steady to higher, slaughter cows and bulls higher. Receipts totaled 1608 head.

Letters To The Editor

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
April 24 — 22nd Annual Heifer Sale, Miller Livestock Markets Inc., DeQuincy, Louisiana. April 24 — Davidson Auctioneer’s Construction Equipment Auction, Davidson Auctioneer’s Sale Facility, Fairfield, Texas. April 24-25 — 8th Annual Big Country Ranch Horse Show and Sale, 4-H Arena, Vernon, Texas. April 24-26 — 4th Annual National Championship Futurity, Derby, Maturity and Stockdog Clinic, Palo Pinto County Livestock Association Arena, Mineral Wells, Texas.