POTENTIAL COMPETITION for the American beef consumer's dollar can be seen here in these quality replacement heifers grazing highly productive introduced grasses in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina's broad Pampas. Local demand is said to be more than a match for Argentina's current production, but the potential for increased output is attracting a lot of attention.

Fat, Feeder Lamb Prices Bounce Up
Feeder lamb prices turned higher around the country this week, some prices as much as $5 higher than the week before Thanksgiving. Lightweight carcasses heading for the holiday table took away some of the better lambs, and feedlots had to compete against that demand.

Flurry Of Trading Captures Many Fed Cattle At Midweek
Plains fed cattle trade broke its recent pattern this week, producing a flurry of activity on Wednesday.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

Nunn, Once Homesick In London, Now At Home On Oklahoma Range
He may want to go to Amarillo and Abilene, but he lives on a ranch in Oklahoma with his wife, his son, a herd of mama cows and a cowdog named Tramp.

1998 Proving To Be Tough Year For Merrills, Like Many Others
This year has been a tough one for ranchers all over Texas, and fourth and fifth-generation ranchers John Merrill and son John Jr. are no exception.

Horse And Human Trainer Finds Best Viewpoint That Of Trainee
Preaching, teaching and cowboying are not jobs. They are callings. Those who follow those professions generally say that anyone doing it without a call will quickly become miserable.

EU Votes To Lift "Mad Cow" Ban On British Beef Exports
The European Union voted last week to lift a worldwide export ban on most British beef, a milestone in the "mad cow" dispute that has pitted Britain against its European allies for nearly three years.

Starvation Prices For Hogs May Be End For Many Farmers
A pork glut brought on by record production has left prices at a fraction of what they were just 15 months ago and hog farmers wondering how they'll make ends meet.

Ecos File Yet Another Suit To Force Livestock Off Land
Like tag-team wrestlers taking turns pummeling a single, exhausted opponent, eco-activist groups are parceling out a flurry of anti-grazing lawsuits amongst themselves, each one hitting livestock producers from a different angle.

Much Closer Management Needed For Market-Based Agriculture
The Freedom to Farm concept put in place by Farm Bill '96 appears to be unraveling as a result of the serious economic problems in the agricultural sector this year.

Officials Confirm Screwworm Larva In West Texas Angora
The Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed late last week that a suspicious larva found in a West Texas Angora goat was a screwworm maggot. The agency is urging all stockmen and hunters to be on the lookout for other maggots in animal sores or wounds.

Analyst Says The More Consumer Changes, More She Is The Same
Consumers, says Harry Balzar, are a study in contrasts. While changes in individual consumer behavior affect the beef business in many ways, consumers really change very little overall, he told cattle feeders at the recent 1998 TCFA Annual Convention in Fort Worth.

Farm Bureau Critical Of Current Insurance
Two years after farmers were forced to rely on crop insurance policies from private companies, many Texas Farm Bureau members say they paid high premiums only to find that when their plants were withering this summer, insurance companies always found loopholes to avoid paying.

Feds Finish Wyoming Bangs Test Review
A team from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ended a week-long review of Wyoming's brucellosis monitoring program with promising words for state officials

Magagna Named Wyoming Stock Growers Leader
Former Wyoming state lands director Jim Magagna was appointed to head the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, the group announced Tuesday.

Espy Case Testimony Wraps Up, On To Jury For Deliberation
Former Clinton administration Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy took illegal favors from companies he regulated and knew it was wrong, the independent counsel who investigated Espy for four years told a jury.

Another Government Wolf Bites Dust In Reintroduction Scheme
Scratch one more wolf. Less than a year after 11 Mexican wolves were released in a highly touted reintroduction effort, at least five are known dead, another is assumed dead, and the remainder have been recaptured to save them from the rigors of the wild.

Activists File Suit Seeking ADC Records
A New Mexico environmental activist group has filed suit to force USDA's Animal Damage Control program to release all information about the killing of coyotes, mountain lions, black bears and other wildlife in federally designated wilderness areas in numerous western states.

Cargill-Continental Grain Pact Drawing Attention In Congress
The new chairman of the House Agriculture Committee says he wants to know how a proposed merger of the nation's two biggest grain exporters and other agribusiness acquisitions are affecting farmers and ranchers.

Speaker Tells Ranchers Government Is Lawless
The author who wrote ``War on the West'' says ranchers and farmers have reason to distrust what their government tells them.

German Pilots Claim Immunity In Lawsuit
The German air force says its Luftwaffe pilots have "diplomatic immunity" in a lawsuit filed by ranchers wanting to restrict low-level training missions in West Texas.

Rancher To Pay Fine For Protecting Feed
A Meeteetse rancher claims he was just trying to protect his livelihood when he killed nine elk near his ranch almost two years ago. State officials admit he was right, but he will pay a stiff penalty anyway.

Farm Bureau Brief Supports Right Of Capture For Water
The Texas Farm Bureau, the state's largest agriculture organization, has filed a "friend of the court" brief in support of the state's 94 year-old "right of capture" water law. The action came in a landmark case now before the Texas Supreme Court.

Top PRCA Contractors Selected For 1998 National Finals Rodeo
While 118 contestants will vie for world championships and bragging rights at the $4.2 million 1998 National Finals Rodeo Dec. 4-13 in Las Vegas, the top contract personnel have earned their own bragging rights by being selected to work the prestigious rodeo.

Nation’s Feeder Cattle Prices Little Changed At Thanksgiving
Feeder steers and heifers were generally steady on limited offerings during last week’s holiday-shortened period. Calves sometimes found a firmer undertone as buyers were stocking winter pastures.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Inch Higher, Most Trade Wednesday
Slaughter steers and heifers closed steady to mostly $1 higher in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading last week. Trade was slow throughout most of the week with Wednesday's active movement of 44,300 head the largest day.

Angelo Feeder Lambs Move Sharply Higher
Feeder lambs sold $1-5 higher, the greatest advance on weights under 60 pounds and over 90 pounds. Slaughter lambs were untested, slaughter ewes $3-5 higher. Receipts totaled 8780 head.

Graham Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers sold $1-3 higher, heifers $2-4 higher, slaughter cows and bulls 50 cents to $1 higher, stock cows steady. Receipts totaled 1384 head.

Milano Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers sold steady to $2 higher, heifers steady to $2 higher, the advance on weights under 400 pounds, slaughter cows steady to $1 higher, bulls $1-2 higher. Receipts totaled 1538 head.

Giddings Heifers, Steers Sell Higher
Feeder steers sold strong to $2 higher, heifers as much as $4 higher. Receipts totaled 762 head.

Junction Sheep, Goat Prices Mostly Higher
Feeder lambs sold $2 higher, slaughter lambs $3 higher, slaughter ewes and bucks $2 higher; Angora goats $3-5 higher; slaughter Spanish goats steady to $2 higher, stock nannies $4 higher. Receipts totaled 5600 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Trade Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady on a limited test in Kansas direct trade last week. Inquiry and demand were light due to the holiday period. Sales were confirmed on 3612 head.

U.S. Meat Production 6% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 810 million pounds, 11.7 percent less than a week earlier and six percent more than the same week a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was up 3.2 percent at 40.26 billion pounds.

Abilene Feeder Cattle Trade Sharply Higher
Feeder steers weighing under 400 pounds sold $6-7 higher, heavier weights $3-4 higher, heifers under 300 pounds $7 higher, heavier weights $2 higher, slaughter cows $1-2 higher, bulls steady, stock cows steady. Receipts totaled 1451 head.

Most Llano Cattle Prices Said Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady, yearlings $1-2 higher, slaughter cows and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 819 head.

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
December 4-5 — Steiner Ranch and Mound Creek Ranch’s Texas Extravaganza Bull and Female Sale, Steiner Ranch, Bastrop, Texas. December 5 — Lone Star Beefmaster Breeders Association Annual Bull Sale, Hopkins County Civic Center, Sulphur Springs, Texas. December 5 — Special Cow and Heifer Replacement Sale, Jordan Cattle Auction, San Saba, Texas.