A LITTLE RARER every year, sheep were once more plentiful than mesquites in Central and West Texas, but their numbers dwindle daily. It has reached the point where lamb supplies are so small and the market consequently so volatile that double-digit changes in prices can occur one week to the next.

Lamb Prices Continue To Move Higher
Lamb prices cautiously moved to higher levels again this week as carcass prices held their recent sharp advances and breakers showed less dislike for those heavy horses which are still quoted in some areas.

Plains Fed Cattle Movement Liberal On $1 Lower Market
Under pressure from a soft futures board, Plains feedlots this week gave up the dollar they had gained in last week’s small victory. By doing so, they moved a lot of cattle and inched closer to the day when numbers can no longer hammer the market.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

HEB Teams Up With Beef Council To Educate Employees About Beef
Small family-owned butcher shops are few and far between. In its place are the modern one-stop supermarkets designed to service the lifestyle of today’s fast-paced, convenience-minded consumer.

Chuckwagon Of Year Honors Go To Husband And Wife Team
Les and Lyda Darsey will be in Fort Worth next month to celebrate, not to cook. The Academy of Western Artists named the Gray County rancher and his wife as having the 1998 Chuckwagon of the Year.

Beef Checkoff Recall Petition Seeing Mixed Response At Sales
Millions of dollars are collected each year from American cattlemen to be spent promoting beef, but now there is a petition drive underway to stop it.

Wyoming Cattle All Show Clean; Ranchers Want Bangs Tests Over
Several Wyoming cattle producers are calling for the end of a brucellosis testing program mandated by the Wyoming Livestock Board last fall.

Rancher Wants Wolf Removal Order Executed Immediately
It’s been more than six months since a federal judge ordered the government to remove the wolves it imported into the Yellowstone area, and nothing has been done. Now a Wyoming rancher has filed suit against the Interior Department in an effort to have it comply with that order.

Brit Cowmen Urge End To Mad Cow Beef Ban
Thousands of farmers and rural workers staged a demonstration Sunday to urge Prime Minister Tony Blair and his European Union colleagues to lift the ban on British beef exports immediately.

Nebraska Cattlemen’s Group Receives Update On E. Coli
A bacteria with a funny sounding name is no laughing matter to the beef industry.

GOP Wants Agriculture IRA’s; USDA Seeks Renewed Subsidies
New IRA-type savings accounts would allow agriculture producers to sock away their income in good years to help them through rocky times and dramatic price swings, under a bill proposed by farm-state lawmakers.

Steer And Heifer Prices Steady In Angelo Special Sale Monday
Steer and heifer prices were steady here Monday in the season’s second special feeder sale at Producers Livestock Auction.

Feeder Cattle Prices Firm Up After Weeks In Downward Trend
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $1 higher around the country last week, occasionally $2 up after several weeks of lower price trends.

Superior Livestock Video Sale Offering Totals 16,000 Cattle
Superior Livestock Auction offered more than 16,000 feeder cattle in their regularly scheduled video auction.

Cody Ohl Shines Yet Again At Recent Beef Empire Days
Defending world champion calf roper Cody Ohl, of Orchard Texas, outshined the best again this year at the recent Beef Empire Days PRCA Rodeo in Garden City, Kan.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Trend Higher; Most Movement Thursday
Slaughter steers and heifers sold 50 cents to $1 higher in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading last week.

Mohair Council Looking Beyond Traditional Outlets For Fiber
The Mohair Council of America is striving to put mohair fiber where it has never been before.

U.S. Meat Production 3.5% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 838.2 million pounds, .3 percent less than a week earlier and 3.5 percent more than a year ago.

Kansas Direct Feeder Steer Prices Steady
Feeder steers sold steady to firm on Kansas direct trading, heifers untested. Sales were confirmed on 3353 head.

Angelo Lambs Higher, Steers Move Lower
Feeder lambs sold $2-3 higher this week, slaughter lambs steady to $2 higher, slaughter ewes $2-4 higher. Trade was active and demand good. The supply included 50 percent slaughter ewes, 15 percent feeder lambs, five percent slaughter lambs and 30 percent goats.

Domestic Wool Quiet, Foreign Trade Higher
Domestic wool trading was nearly at a standstill last week, demand and seller interest both light at lower prices levels, whether on a grease or clean basis.

Livestock Exports To Mexico Increase
U.S. livestock exports to Mexico continue at a fairly rapid pace with sheep leading the way. Total livestock exports at 314,034 head are up 25 percent from the same period a year ago.

Most Abilene Cattle Prices Trend Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-3 higher, slaughter cows $2-3 higher, bulls steady. Receipts totaled 1387 head.

Llano Feeder Cattle Prices A Mixed Deal
Feeder steer and heifer yearlings sold $1-2 higher, steer calves steady, heifer calves $1-2 lower, slaughter cows $2-4 higher, bulls steady. Receipts totaled 559 head.

Graham Feeder Cattle Prices Termed Mixed
Feeder steers weighing under 500 pounds sold steady, over 500 pounds $1-2 lower, heifers steady to 50 cents higher, slaughter cows and bulls 50 cents to $1 higher, stock cows and pairs $20-25 lower.

Goldthwaite Feeder Lambs Still Trend Up
Feeder lambs sold $3-6 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks $2 lower; stock Spanish nanny goats $8-10 higher, slaughter nannies steady; slaughter Angora goats steady to $2 higher.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Cattle Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, slaughter cows and bulls steady, pairs and bred stock cows steady. Receipts totaled 1908 head at the three sales.

Milano Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 1581 head.

Most Junction Lambs, Angora Goats Higher
Feeder lambs sold $2-4 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks $2 higher; stock Angora nannies $1-2 higher, slaughter Angoras steady; all classes of Spanish goats mostly steady.

Colorado City Feeder Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers sold steady, heifers $1-2 higher, slaughter cows $2 higher, bulls $2 higher, stock cows higher in a light test, pairs $50 higher.

Cuero Cattle Prices Trend Mostly Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold higher, some sales $2-4 up, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3 higher. Receipts totaled 1588 head.

Coming Up...
June 15 — Special Feeder Sale, Producers Livestock Auction, San Angelo, Texas. June 15 — Producers Video Auction, Fort Worth, Texas. June 17 — Special Consignment Sale, Coleman Livestock Auction Commission Co., Coleman, Texas.