CATCHING SOME RAYS after the regional deluge, these cattle in South Central Texas are among the lucky ones not stranded on high ground amidst flooding rivers or scattered to the four winds thanks to downed fences. Tens of thousands of head of livestock are thought to be dead or mixed throughout several counties, and the tallying has only recently begun in earnest. Meanwhile, many ranchers in West Texas haven't had the joy of fixing a watergap in years.

Lamb Price Statistics Look Way Off
Somewhere statistics got out of balance in the sheep market price structure. Comparing figures from this week with those of a year ago leaves one scratching his head. In spite of sheep and lamb slaughter running around eight percent less than last year, and at record low levels, practically every figure on the live end is sharply lower than a year ago while cutout values are showing black ink.

Plains Fed Cattle Prices Increase By Another Dollar
Plains fed cattle trading saw yet another week of modest but dogged price improvement as feedlots tacked a dollar onto last week's increase. That brought the going rate to $64, up from $57 as recently as three weeks ago. Feedlots entered the week halfheartedly bidding a steady $63, and some feeders were still holding out for $65 at presstime.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

Canadian Cattle Group’s Head Offers Views On Trade Issues
While there is increasing unrest along the U.S.-Canadian border concerning trade issues, the head of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association indicates he would rather spend resources on solving disputes than fighting them in court.

Beaverhead Ranch Recognized By NCBA For Stewardship Practices
It's a phenomenal beauty, a 250,000-acre contiguous ranch nestled in part in the Centennial Valley. For a West Texan visiting the area for the first time, the beauty perhaps isn't so much in the landscape itself but in the abundance of clear running streams and creeks. In West Texas, water is a precious commodity and windmills are common, a necessity in any ranch operation.

"Limit Grazing" Might Stretch Short Wheat Pasture This Year
With many wheat pasture operators facing short stands this year, a beef cattle specialist says limited grazing offers a chance for cattlemen to maintain weight gains on their pasture cattle and stretch the available forage.

Expected Arrival Of La Niña Sparks Talk Of More Drouth
Just when the 1998 drouth seems over for most of the state, a weather phenomenon that's right around the corner has agriculture watchers watching the weather.

Sudden Tightening Of Border Rules Squeeze Cattle Exports
New rules by Mexican border officials have made selling U.S. cattle at the El Paso-Juarez border crossing almost impossible. Recently, the state of Chihuahua began demanding that all Texas cattle passing into Juarez carry a brand and a sale invoice. Most animals don't have that identification.

Cow Killings Spark Two-County Effort To Corral Perpetrators
A range war of sorts has broken out in the arid Potholes area south of here, with ranchers trying to track down snipers who have killed at least 17 head of cattle since early July.

Multi-Million Dollar Deal Gets Warbler Plan Underway
One of the most important parcels in the breeding range of the federally protected golden-cheeked warbler will now be preserved as a sweeping plan to protect such endangered species gains momentum.

Espy Secretary Says Itinerary Edited To Hide Irregularities
Prosecutors in former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy's corruption trial tried to show Monday that he attempted to hide some details of an evening spent with Tyson Foods executives and his girlfriend at a Dallas Cowboys game.

Difference Between Accident And Wreck Related To Cause
Here just a few weeks ago, I had a flashback of thoughts concerning a certain situation. Yep, I can’t remember which one said it, but I do remember just what was said. It was either Jake or Wilbur (of Ace Reid fame), and he was sincere.

Ag Bankers Admit Nervousness, But Say No Crisis Is Imminent
Bankers are nervous about financial hardships facing many farmers and ranchers, but the situation cannot be called a crisis, says the Agricultural Credit Committee chairman of the South Dakota Bankers' Association.

"Green" Leader Won't Testify Before Congressional Hearing
One of the ringleaders in a "green" scheme to drive livestock and other productive enterprises off public lands in the Southwest is refusing to testify at a congressional hearing looking into the matter.

Texas Regulators Vote Against Sierra Blanca Nuke Waste Dump
Gloria Addington hardly noticed the chilly wind blowing through this West Texas hamlet, the site of a long-running battle over whether a low-level radioactive waste dump would be in the town's future.

Perry, TSCRA Seek Indemnity For Stock Lost To Flooding
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry and the Texas And Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association late last week both asked USDA to include livestock lost in the recent Texas floods within the federal Livestock Indemnity Program.

Kansas Grain Storage Problem Not As Severe As Anticipated
While huge piles of milo are a familiar sight throughout western Kansas, the grain storage shortage has been far less severe than feared, says the state's Agriculture Department.

Volunteers Up To Their Necks In Cattle Scattered By Flood
Swimming for their lives, tens of thousands of cattle have made it to high ground along four flooded Texas river valleys only to be stranded by mud, silt and debris from the record deluge.

Economists Say Reason For Ag Woes Not Simple As Some Think
It's Canada's fault. That is the simplistic answer. Supply is great, and demand is low. That is the simple answer. Thailand's currency collapsed last year. That is the beginning of the complex answer.

Beef Co-Op Project To Take New Shape
Plans for a rancher-owned beef processing plant in the upper Midwest are taking a new form. The Northern Plains Premium Beef cooperative board, which wanted to build a producer-owned processing plant in Belle Fourche, S.D., voted to dissolve last month after two failed equity drives.

Feds' Claim To Rio Grande Water Rankles Everyone Else
Neither New Mexico's water districts nor its irrigators will suffer if the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proves in court that it owns the water rights in the Rio Grande project, a reclamation commissioner says.

Montana Cowboy Takes Victory At Home, Besting 92 Others
Rod Lyman is back with a vengeance. Lyman, of Victor, Mont., placed in both rounds of the steer wrestling at the $106,057 NILE Stock Show and Rodeo in Billings, Mont., to best 92 other steer wrestlers and win the average title. He won a total of $4464 at the NILE to earn more last week than any other PRCA contestant.

Nation's Feeder Cattle Prices Continue Upward Price Spiral
Feeder cattle prices continued their upward price spiral last week with steers and heifers steady to $2 higher, instances $3 up. The promise of relatively cheap feed costs and hopes of higher prices for fed cattle proved enough for feeder buyers to push prices higher again.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Strong In Wednesday Trading Last Week
Slaughter steers and heifers sold steady to firm in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading last week. Trade was slow throughout the week, except on Wednesday when the bulk of trading took place.

September Red Meat Sets Record High
Commercial red meat production in the United States totaled 3.83 billion pounds in September, setting a new record high production for the month. It was the fourth consecutive month for record high meat production.

Angelo Feeder Lambs, Cattle Trade Upward
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-3 higher last week, slaughter cows $1-2 higher, slaughter bulls firm to $2 higher and stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 3107 head.

Llano Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $2-3 higher, steers under 600 pounds $4-5 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3 lower. Receipts totaled 1077 head.

Milano Feeder Steers, Heifers Trade Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-2 higher with weights under 500 pounds $3-5 higher, slaughter cows $1-3 lower, bulls steady. Receipts totaled 2617 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Trend Higher
Feeder steers sold steady to $1 higher in Kansas direct sales last week, heifers steady to firm on light receipts. The weather was mild, sales confirmed on 5155 head.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers weighing under 600 lbs. sold $2-5 higher, weights under 600 pounds $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $2 higher. Receipts totaled 525 head.

Lightweight Abilene Feeder Steers Higher
Feeder steers weighing under 400 pounds sold $4-6 higher, heavier steers and all heifers mostly steady, slaughter cows and bulls $2-3 lower, stock cows $30-40 higher, pairs steady to $20 higher. Receipts totaled 2563 head.

Junction Feeder Lambs Lower, Angoras Higher
Feeder lambs sold $1 lower, slaughter ewes and bucks steady; stock Angora nannies $8 higher, slaughter kids $6-10 higher, other slaughter Angoras steady; slaughter Spanish goats mostly steady, stock nannies steady. Receipts totaled 4500 head.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Feeders Higher
Feeder steers sold $2-4 higher in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week with weights over 600 pounds steady to strong, heifers $1-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $1 higher, pairs and stock cows active. Receipts totaled 3385 at the three sales.

Most Fredericksburg Cattle Called Higher
Feeder steers sold strong, heifers $1-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 672 head.

Goldthwaite Feeder Lambs Trade Steady
Feeder lambs sold mostly steady, slaughter lambs, ewes and bucks steady; stock Spanish nannies steady, slaughter kids steady to $3 higher, other slaughter goats fully steady. Receipts totaled 3400 head.

Producers Video Sale Offers 4500 Feeders
Producers Video Auction offered 4500 feeder cattle at its regular sale. Most offerings were from the southeastern and southcentral states. Delivery is current to December.

Shiner Female Sale Averages $710 Each
The Shiner Ranch and Partners female cattle sale averaged $710.96 per head on 1292 head.

Graham Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers sold $1-2 higher, heifers $1-3 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady, stock cows and pairs $20 higher. Receipts totaled 1894 head.

Powell Hereford Sale Topped By $5250 Bull
The high selling bull at Powell Hereford’s first production sale went to Wallace Hereford Ranch, Sonora, for $5250.

Giddings Lightweight Feeder Cattle Active
Lightweight feeder steers and heifers were active and in good demand, slaughter cows and bulls weak. Receipts totaled 1030 head.

Colorado City Feeder Cattle Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold firm to $2 higher, slaughter cows steady to $1 higher, bulls steady, bred cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 1110 head.

Milano Replacement Female Sale Strong
Good rains boosted interest and prices were strong at the annual fall female replacement cattle sale. Receipts totaled 1500 head.

Domestic Wool Trading Slow, Aussies Freeze Stockpile
Domestic wool trading remains slow, virtually at a standstill in most areas. Demand was light to narrow by most buyers as wool processors continue to report lackluster business and a reduction in processing hours.

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
October 29 — J. E. White Jr. & Sons Certified Horned Hereford Sale, at the ranch, Marfa, Texas. October 29 — The Sheep & Goat Predator Management Board’s 1998 Biennial Electionof Officers. October 31 — West Central Texas Angus Association’s 12th Annual Sale of Performance Angus Bulls, Producers Livestock Auction, San Angelo, Texas. October 31 — 7P’s 19th Gene Builder Simmental Bull Sale, at the ranch, Tyler, Texas.