WAY UP NORTH, these Montana cows and their babies will soon feel the cold winds of winter, but last week they baked under temperatures in the 80s and 90s. The grass is dry but strong.

Lamb Prices Somewhat Stabilized
Little price differential was noted on fat and feeder lambs around the country this week. Slaughter lambs had a touch of weakness in some areas, and they are still suffering from the lack of a pelt market. The Russian crisis is weighing heavily on the international leather and pelt trade.

Plains Fed Cattle Yield $1 After Two Weeks Of Increase
Plains cattle feeders blinked this week. Following a long, virtually unbroken string of price declines, they managed to put about $3 on the market over the past two weeks. This week they gave one of those dollars up.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

Cattle Numbers, Feed Sources Among Challenges For Feeders
Dr. Kenneth Eng sees a number of problems facing the cattle industry as it prepares to enter the 21st century. The biggest problem for some in the industry, however, will be lasting long enough to get there.

ADM Executives Found Guilty Of Price-Fixing Conspiracy
Last fall, Michael Andreas took what he had hoped would be a short leave of absence as the executive vice president of the Archer Daniels Midland Co. to deal with federal price-fixing charges.

Urban Sprawl Affecting Ag Use In More Ways Than One
Though a decade or two behind Texas, urban sprawl is slowly but surely engulfing parts of Oklahoma, and this university town is right in the middle.

GOP Ag Aid Package Announced; Panned By Those Who Want More
A Republican-backed $3.9 billion emergency agriculture relief plan unveiled last week is drawing praise from some quarters but criticism from others, particularly among farmers used to the type of government subsidy programs ended by the 1996 Freedom to Farm bill.

Aussie Feeder Cattle In Mexico Not Coming
USDA says 5000 Australian feeder cattle awaiting importation into this country from Mexico will not be coming after all.

AGs From 20 States Urge Price Reports
Montana Attorney General Joe Mazurek has joined attorneys general from 19 other states in urging Congress to require meatpackers to make public information about the prices they are paying for livestock.

Montana Joins With Dakotas In Canadian Truck Scrutiny
Frustrated with trade policies that he says hurt U.S. farmers and ranchers, Montana Gov. Marc Racicot last Friday announced Montana will increase its inspection of southbound Canadian trucks at border crossings.

Captive Trade Boycott Extended, Information Forum Set This Week
Cattle feeders who launched the so-called "captive boycott," originally set to run for two weeks, have extended it indefinitely and will conduct an educational forum here late this week to discuss the impact of captive cattle trading.

NM Farm, Livestock Bureau Provides Political Forum
The New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau had 11 high-profile political candidates to grill, but the man who took a beating wasn't even running for office — and it wasn’t the farmers or stockmen criticizing him, but a gubernatorial hopeful who used the absent state employee as a surrogate for his own opponent.

"Global Warming" Still Ticket For Globe-Trotting Negotiators
Countries preparing for an upcoming "global warming" conference ended talks last Friday with a vow to iron out differences over the participation of developing nations and trading pollution credits.

Conservancy, State Of Arizona Plan Partnership To Buy Ranch
A picturesque and historic cattle ranch covering 22,000 acres of shortgrass prairie along the Border will be preserved with state help if its owners accept an offer from the Nature Conservancy.

Grain Storage Serious Concern In Midwest As Harvest Comes In
With much of last year's grain harvest still in storage, Midwest farmers are in a near panic about where to keep their expected bumper crops.

New Mexico Republicans Balk At Water Conservation Plans
A proposal that would require farmers to submit water conservation plans may face revision, considering the icy reception it received during a legislative committee meeting.

BLM Agrees To Remove Cattle From Another Streamside Area
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has agreed to bar cattle from another 40 miles of streams in northern New Mexico, settling a 1996 lawsuit by the Santa Fe-based environmental activist group Forest Guardians.

EPA, USDA Release Draft Plan To Federalize Feedlot Rules
USDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week released a draft version of a scheme to impose nationwide regulation on livestock feeding operations.

Lawsuit Against IBP Dismissed By Judge
A federal judge in Alabama has dismissed a class action lawsuit against meatpacking giant IBP Inc., but those filing the suit plan to pursue the case.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Higher Once Again; Showlists Cleared
Slaughter steers and heifers closed mostly $2 higher last week in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading. Trade turned active under good demand on Wednesday, when most of the movement took place.

Feeder Cattle And Calf Prices Reverse Course; Trend Higher
Feeder cattle prices did an about-face around the country last week to close sharply higher. Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-4 higher with many sales up $2-3.

Murray Still Holds Big Lead In PRCA All-Around Earnings
With less than two months left in the race for the National Finals, every rodeo counts. Saddle bronc rider Todd Hipsag took full advantage of the opportunities given him last week.

Cattle On Feed Down 1 Percent In Seven Main Feeding States
Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter Sept. 1 in the seven leading feeding states totaled 7.75 million head, down one percent from a year ago but 17 percent above Sept. 1, 1996.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Lower, Cattle Steady
Feeder lambs sold weak to $1 lower, slaughter lambs too few to test, slaughter ewes uneven, utility and good firm to $1 higher, others weak to $1 lower. Receipts about 40 percent slaughter ewes and 45 percent goats.

Graham Feeder Steers, Heifers Trade Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 higher, slaughter cows 50 cents to $1 lower, bred stock cows and pairs $10 lower. Receipts totaled 2265 head.

R.R. Ranch Angus Sale Top Is $3775 Per Head
A total of 107 lots sold at the R.R. Ranch Angus female drouth sale for a gross of $147,875.

Brownwood Special Female Sale Strong
Choice young long bred cows and heifers were in good demand and sold steady to strong at the special replacement female sale, older cows were less active, and open heifers and short breds sold slightly above feeder prices.

Llano Feeder Steers Lower, Heifers Steady
eeder steers sold $2-3 lower, heifers steady, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3 lower. Receipts totaled 522 head.

Junction Feeder Lambs, Stock Angora Goats Off
Feeder lambs sold $2-3 lower, slaughter ewes mostly steady; stock Angora nannies and muttons steady to $2 lower, slaughter muttons $2 higher, other slaughter Angoras mostly steady; stock Spanish nannies $7 lower, slaughter billies steady, other slaughter goats $3-5 lower.

Abilene Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady, heifers weighing 300-400 pounds $2-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady, stock cows steady to weak.

Goldthwaite Feeder Lamb Prices Lower
Feeder lambs sold $3-5 lower, slaughter lambs steady, slaughter ewes and bucks steady; slaughter Spanish billies $2-4 higher, other slaughter classes $2-4 lower, stock nannies steady. Receipts totaled 3900 head.

Giddings Feeder Cattle Prices Mostly Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold more or less steady with fleshy kids a little weaker, slaughter cows and bulls a little weaker, pairs and young stock cows strong.

Milano Feeder Steers, Heifers Trade Higher
Feeder steers weighing under 500 pounds sold $1-3 higher, over 500 pounds firm to $1 higher, heifers steady to $2 higher, the advance on weights over 500 pounds, slaughter cows steady to $1 lower, bulls steady.

Fredericksburg Feeder Steers, Heifers Rise
Feeder steers and heifers sold $2-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $1 lower. Receipts totaled 969 head.

San Saba, Brownwood Mason Feeders Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, slaughter cows and bulls steady, bred stock cows and pairs steady.

U.S. Meat Production 6% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 898 million pounds, up 14 percent from a week earlier and six percent more than a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was up 2.8 percent at 31.4 billion pounds.

Colorado City Feeder Steers, Heifers Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows $1-2 lower, bulls steady, bred stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 1548 head.

Cuero Feeder Steers, Heifers Sell Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold about steady, a few bull yearlings higher. Receipts totaled 654 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Trade Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold firm to $2 higher in Kansas direct trade last week. The weather was hot and dry, not enough ground moisture for drilling wheat. Corn and milo harvest is proceeding at a fast pace.

Red Meat In Storage Similar To Year Ago
Total red meat supplies in freezers on August 31 were down two percent from July 31 and down slightly from August 1997. Beef stocks were down five percent from a year ago, pork up six percent and lamb and mutton down 25 percent.

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
September 25-26 — Fall Horse Sale, Roswell Livestock Auction, Roswell, New Mexico. September 26 — Special Horse Sale Including Complete Dispersal of Sykes Ranch Brood Mares and Weanlings, San Angelo Indoor Arena, San Angelo, Texas. September 26 — Texas Section, Society For Range Management Texas Chapter, The Wildlife Society’s Range Management 101, Menard, Texas.