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Lamb Carcass Prices Take Major Jump
Carcass lamb prices on the East Coast ranged from steady to $17 higher last week to wipe out a large share of the disparity between weight brackets. Weights under 55 pounds held steady while the next two weight brackets were $10-14 higher and all were $166.50-167. Weights 75-85 pounds were $14 higher at $161.50-162, and 85 pounds and up gained $17 to $156.50-157.

Brief Flurry Of Plains Fed Cattle Trading Takes $1 Off
Plains feedlots sold cattle on Wednesday for the first time in a while, but they weren't proud of it.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

Real Estate Values One Bright Spot In Agricultural Outlook
It was no surprise to hear an economist here last week outline a none too rosy picture for many agricultural commodities. The only real bright spot he could identify was land value.

ASI Lobbies Congress Against Bill To Cripple Wool Tariff
Representatives of the American Sheep Industry Association traveled to Washington, D.C. recently to lobby against the Wool Tariff Reduction Act, S.128, which would reduce or eliminate U.S. tariffs on certain imported wool products.

Cattle Growers Hear Pep Talk, Insights From Beef End
In announcing the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association's "beef information hotline" during the group's recent annual convention here, former TSCRA president Frates Seeligson offered marketing committee members a few quick facts about their product.

Stenholm Meets With Texas Ag Officials, Offers His Outlook
One of the changes Rep. Charles Stenholm expects to see in the U.S. House Agriculture Committee this year is relevance — relevance on the part of the committee itself.

Blair Burk Moves Into Second With California Earnings
Calf roper Blair Burk, Durant, Okla., won more money — $4954 — than any other PRCA cowboy last weekend. He won $3995 and the calf roping average title at the $113,570 Clovis Rodeo in Clovis, Calif., and $999 the night before at the Auburn Wild West Stampede in Auburn, Calif.

Nature To Blame, It Now Seems, For Frog Deaths Blamed On Man
Dadgummit! There goes another eco-scare, shot down by facts. For 20 years, environmental activists have been sounding an alarm about deformities and population declines among some frogs. The party line was that pollution, the "ozone hole", "global warming" or some other dastardly human-related cause — real or imagined — was to blame.

Ranchers Suing BLM Over Grazing Policy
Ranchers in Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah are suing the federal government over an environmental policy they say will put them out of the livestock business.

Nolan Ryan A Hit As TDA Pitch Man
Legendary major league baseball pitcher and Texas rancher Nolan Ryan is not only one of the new spokesmen for Texas agriculture, but according to the state's agriculture commissioner, he's also a secret weapon.

Farm Bureau Joins Lawsuit Telling EPA To Butt Out
The American Farm Bureau Federation is joining a California family in a lawsuit claiming the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has overstepped its bounds.

ASI Lobbies Congress Against Bill To Cripple Wool Tariff
Representatives of the American Sheep Industry Association traveled to Washington, D.C. recently to lobby against the Wool Tariff Reduction Act, S.128, which would reduce or eliminate U.S. tariffs on certain imported wool products.

"Biosphere" Project So Shady Denials Inspire No Confidence
Sometimes eco-activists and their bureaucratic allies can be too crafty for their own good. When they get caught trying to sneak a controversial project in under the public radar it can inspire more suspicion than they can ever dispel.

Wool Production Continues Decline In U.S., Worldwide
The U.S. sheep and wool industry has continued to decline for nine consecutive years. On Jan. 1 of this year, it totaled 7.24 million head, down 7.5 percent from an inventory of 7.825 million head on January 1, 1998, and 36.3 percent below the level for 1990. Sheep and lambs shorn during 1998 declined to 6.43 million head, down eight percent from seven million head shorn during 1997.

Editorial
Bad Acting By Other Fellow May Have Roots In The Mirror
What’s Wrong With Us? With so many things going awry in this country, there has to be some underlying reason, some subsconcious element that causes us to go beyond our normal, reasonable actions.

Senseless Acts Can Be Traced To Philosophy Behind "Greens"
Throughout America, people are wondering how the killers at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, could do it. Days before their rampage, they had gone to the prom with their classmates, hours before they had gone bowling with some of them, and minutes before they saw one of them: "I like you man," said one killer. "Get out of here!"

Packer Price Disclosure Moves Forward In Nebraska And Iowa
Nebraska must put the federal government's feet to the fire by becoming the first state in the nation to enact livestock and hog price reporting requirements, one state senator argued late last week.

Bill To Reform Species Act Facing Administration's Axe
Congressional Republicans are renewing their effort to cushion the impact of the federal Endangered Species Act on private landowners, this time by requiring the government to pay landowners who are forced to keep their land dormant because of the act.

Beef Ban Positions Hardening; EU Says It Will Defy Deadline
As the deadline to halt another transatlantic trade dispute grows ever nearer, the United States, Canada and the European Union set out their positions on hormone-treated beef last week. Meanwhile, European officials threatened to ban U.S. imports.

Price Disclosure At Federal Level Said To Be Under Steam
A patchwork of state legislation requiring packers to reveal the prices they pay, coupled with a directive from Congress, has brought together the rarest of allies — the processing industry and livestock producers.

IBP Lawsuit Granted Class-Action Status
A lawsuit accusing the nation's largest meatpacker of using unfair practices to control the price of beef has been cleared to proceed by a federal judge.

More Winter Wheat Grazeout Seen As Grain Prices Sink
With prices faltering, more Kansas farmers are letting their livestock graze out winter wheat fields rather than harvest what might have been an otherwise bountiful crop.

Nation’s Feeder Cattle Prices Lower Despite Better Factors
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $2 lower around the country last week.

Texas Fed Cattle Higher Last Week In Thursday-Only Trade
Slaughter steers and heifers sold $1 higher in Texas Panhandle and Western Oklahoma feedlot trading last week.

Angelo Lambs Higher, Feeder Cattle Steady
Feeder lambs sold firm to $2 higher this week, slaughter lambs $8-9 higher, slaughter ewes $2-4 lower. Receipts totaled 15,231 at the regular auction and 7500 lambs at a Wednesday teleconference sale. Slaughter ewes made up about 70 percent of the regular auction.

Most Giddings Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold dollars higher, slaughter cows and bulls mixed. Receipts totaled 497 head.

Domestic Wool Slow, Aussie Wools Softer
Wool trading remained slow last week, though an increase in volume was reported from warehouses to processors. Demand was light to moderate. Both grease wool and clean basis sales were steady. Producers remain reluctant to sell at current price levels.

U.S. Meat Production 3.4% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 879.5 million pounds, 1.5 percent less than a week ago and 3.4 percent more than a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was two percent above a year ago at 15 billion pounds.

Mexico And Canada Livestock Imports
Canadian livestock coming into the U.S. in the four-week period ending April 10 totaled 376,209 head. Market animals totaled 359,693 head, including 77,603 cattle, 239,868 hogs and 42,222 sheep.

Lampasas Heavyweight Feeder Cattle Higher
Feeder steers and heifers weighing more than 600 pounds sold $1-3 higher, lighter weights mostly steady, slaughter cows and bulls fully steady. Receipts totaled 680 head.

Kansas Direct Feeder Steers Steady To Firm
Feeder steers sold steady to firm in Kansas direct trade last week, heifers scarce. Weather was mild, with traces to one inch of rain in western Kansas and 2-4 inches in the east.

Milano Feeder Steers Steady, Heifers Mixed
Feeder steers sold steady, heifers steady, weights under 400 pounds firm, slaughter cows steady, bulls firm to $2 higher. Receipts totaled 938 head.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Feeders Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to strong last week in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba, slaughter cows and bulls steady to $1 higher, bred stock cows and pairs $50-100 higher, open and exposed heifers in poor demand.

Abilene Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady, slaughter cows and bulls $1-3 higher, stock cows steady, pairs $40-60 higher. Receipts totaled 990 head.

Most Cuero Cattle Prices Termed Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows also steady. Receipts totaled 1256 head.

Llano Feeder Steers Off, Heifers Steady
Feeder steers sold steady to $2 lower, heifers steady, slaughter cows and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 215 head.

Most Fredericksburg Cattle Sell Strong
Feeder steers and heifers sold strong, slaughter cows and bulls strong. Receipts totaled 1041 head.

Goldthwaite Feeder Lambs Mostly Steady
Feeder lambs sold mostly steady, slaughter ewes and bucks steady; slaughter Spanish kids under 35 pounds $6 lower, heavier weights $3-6 higher, other slaughter goats steady, stock nannies steady. Receipts totaled 7300 head.

Graham Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Higher
Feeder steers and heifers sold $1-3 higher, slaughter cows steady to fifty cents higher, bulls $1 higher, bred stock cows and pairs steady. Receipts totaled 2514 head.

Junction Feeder Lambs Move At Higher Trend
Feeder lambs sold $3 higher, slaughter ewes steady; stock Angora nannies $3 higher, slaughter kids $3-5 higher, other slaughter Angoras $1-3 higher; stock Spanish nannies steady, slaughter kids over 35 lbs. $5 higher, other slaughter goats $1-3 higher. Receipts totaled 2700 head.

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
May 6 — Ranch Horse Association of America Inc. Working Ranch Horse Competition, Western Heritage Classic, Abilene, Texas. May 7-8 — Ranch Horse Association of America Inc. Working Ranch Horse Competition, RHAA Semi-Finals, Abilene, Texas. May 12 — Stocker Calf and Feeder Yearling Sale, Coleman Livestock Auction Commission Company, Coleman, Texas.