FEEDER CATTLE prices continue to slip across the country as the market for their finished brothers and sisters suffers unremitting pressure. Even grain prices so low they have farmers beseeching Washington for help can’t overcome the effects of the depressed fat trade.

Lamb Prices Suffer Some Sharp Losses
Lamb prices both up and down the pipe were jolted again this week with losses mostly over $5 and frequently off as much as $10. This the second week in a row prices have dropped sharply. A little strength was noted late on fat lambs, and slaughter ewes held steady to a little higher.

Plains Fed Cattle Stalemated Through Midweek One More Time
Plains fat cattle trading once again was stalled at midweek as packers sought to hold their ground and feedlots tried to claw their way back out of the hole.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

Nance Ranch And Feedlot Part Of College, Extension Combo
It may look like a ranch, but it's a laboratory. For almost three decades now, the Nance Ranch has been owned by West Texas A&M University and run for the benefit of the students, not the cattle.

Ranchers, Others Sue To Stop Air Force Low-Level Flights
The same day an F-16C went down over eastern New Mexico ranching country, ranchers sued the Air Force to halt plans to expand low-level training flights over southern New Mexico and West Texas.

Paul Hitch Shares Personal Outlook On Industry’s Woes
Paul Hitch has been the chairman of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Live Cattle Marketing Committee for the past three years. He describes the three years as interesting but frustrating at times, given the fact that the cattle market has been in the tank during his entire reign.

Vet Pathologist Wants Program To Screen For Mad Cow Disease
Don Montgomery is one pen rider feedyard owners listen to. From his early years in the Eastern Texas Panhandle, Montgomery moved to Amarillo where he graduated from Amarillo High School. He worked as a pen rider in a feedlot before going on to earn his veterinary medical degree, then a Ph.D. in veterinary pathology.

Appeals Court Overturns Ruling Against Babbitt Range "Reform"
A federal court's invalidation of three key Clinton administration grazing regulations has been reversed by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Landowner Sets Record Straight In Controversy Over Dam Permit
It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the referenced parcel of property.

Ruling May Make A Moot Point Of Feds’ "Safe Harbor" Pacts
Ever since it was introduced, Clinton administration Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s "safe harbor," or "no surprises" program has stirred controversy. Now a recent court ruling may have made all that controversy moot.

Oh Well, Blame It On Some Human ...
Bummer. What is a self-respecting eco-type to do when one of the government’s protected species kills another of the government’s protected species?

USDA Proposes To Realign Beef Board, Amend Collection Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing to reapportion membership on the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board.

"Peanut-Free" Flights Latest Sign Of Excess
Skeptics who believe federal bureaucrats long ago ran out of anything worthwhile to do and are now reaching into the silly putty jar to justify their jobs may feel vindicated by this story.

Roundup For Rehab Sales Soon To Begin
A special cattle sale Sept. 17 at Producers Livestock Auction Co. here is the first in a series of six regional Cattlemen’s Round-Up for Rehab auctions to benefit West Texas Rehabilitation Center.

Activists Seek Choice Grazing Parcel Leases
An environmental activist group is again trying to get two grazing leases on New Mexico state school trust lands.

Federals Put Prairie Dog Protection On Back Burner
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether the black-tailed prairie dog is an endangered species, but not as quickly as a national wildlife group wants.

Texas Calf Roper Wins Big In Two Northwestern Rodeos
While Hurricane Bonnie was wreaking havoc in the South, Texas calf roper Trent Walls was roping havoc in the North.

Superior Livestock Video Sale Offering Totals 170,000 Cattle
Superior Livestock Auction offered more than 170,000 feeder cattle and breeding stock here at the 19th annual Labor Day weekend video auction.

Texas Fed Cattle Trade Lower Last Week In One-Day Trading
Slaughter steers and heifers sold mostly $1 lower last week in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading. Trade and movement was slow until Thursday, when the bulk of the week's trading occurred.

Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Lower Again Across Country
Feeder steers and heifers sold weak to $3 lower across the country last week, both calves and yearlings sharing in the price decline.

Angelo Feeder Lambs, Cattle Trend Lower
Feeder lambs sold $3-8 lower this week, slaughter ewes firm to $2 higher. Receipts totaled 9999 head, including about 40 percent goats.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Feeders Lower
Feeder steers sold steady to $3 lower in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, heifers $1-4 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady, bred cows steady to strong, stock heifers steady.

Llano Feeder Cattle Prices Termed Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows and bulls $2 lower. Receipts totaled 555 head.

Goldthwaite Lambs Off, Stock Angoras Steady
Feeder lambs sold $5 lower, slaughter lambs $2-3 lower, slaughter ewes and bucks steady; stock Angora nannies mostly steady; stock Spanish nannies steady, slaughter kids and yearlings $5-7 lower, other classes $3-4 lower.

Most Abilene Cattle Prices Termed Lower
Feeder steers sold mostly $2 lower, heifers $1-2 lower, except 400-600 pounds fully steady, slaughter cows $1-2 lower, bulls steady, stock cows and pairs slightly lower. Receipts totaled 1673 head.

Milano Feeder Steers, Heifers Trade Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows firm to $1.50 higher, bulls steady. Receipts totaled 805 head.

Most Lampasas Cattle Prices Termed Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-3 lower, slaughter cows and bulls $2 lower. Receipts totaled 650 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Prices Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 lower in Kansas direct trade last week. Sales were confirmed on 4365 head. Corn and milo harvest is in full swing, but little room remains at the local elevators to store it.

U.S. Meat Production 18.3% Anove A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 882.3 million pounds, .5 percent less than a week earlier and 18.3 percent more than the holiday-shortened period a year ago.

Cuero Feeder Steers, Heifers Sell Mixed
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady, some 450-500 pound steers, 2-3 higher, slaughter cows steady. Receipts totaled 999 head.

Fredericksburg Steers, Heifers Mostly Lower
Lightweight feeder steers sold steady, heavyweights $1-2 lower, heifers $1-2 lower, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 lower. Receipts totaled 1070 head.

Most Graham Feeder Cattle Trade Lower
Feeder steers sold $1-2 lower, heifers steady to $1 lower, slaughter cows $1-1.50 lower, stock cows steady, pairs $10 lower. Receipts totaled 944 head.

Coming Up...
September 11 — Rambouillet Sheep and Goat Slae, Texas A&M University Research Station, Sonora, Texas. September 11 — Special High Dollar Calf and Yearling Sale, Junction Stockyards, Junction, Texas. September 12 — Annual Special Feeder and Stocker Sale, Colorado City Livestock Market, Colorado City, Texas. September 12 — "September Special" Cow and Heifer Replacement Sale, Llano Livestock Auction, Llano, Texas.