Lamb Meat, Live Lambs Move Lower
Carcass lamb prices lost another $3-5 last week for the fourth weekly loss in a row. Fat and feeder lambs followed the decline by a couple of dollars. USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service reported a total of 3571 metric tons of lamb imported into the U.S. in July, bringing the yearly total to 21,983 MT. For the year, lamb imports are up 22 percent. Imports from Australian in July totaled 1982 MT and from New Zealand 1556 MT.

Plains Fed Cattle Trade Jells By Midweek; Prices Up At $67
Plains cattle feeders were scratching their heads Wednesday afternoon as the dust began to clear, wondering just how they pulled off a $1-2 rise in the market while selling cattle at midweek.

PLAINS FEEDLOT SALES

RANGE SALES

CORRECTION
Hair Price Not Quite As Rosy As Reported
If last week's report of $8 kid mohair selling at Rocksprings sounded too good to be true, there is a reason — it wasn't true.

Longtime Competitive Roper Now Taking On Pantex Plant
At 66, rancher Lee Cockrell can still make three wraps and a hooey in less time than ropers a third his age, but it's not a calf out of the chute he's trying to get his loop around these days. It's the state and federal government.

Braunvieh Genetics Working For Rancher In Mississippi
For some 28 years, Gene Thompson raised purebred Beefmasters. He raised them because he believed these cattle were, in many ways, ideal for cattlemen in the South — good in weaning weight, heat tolerance and maternal traits.

Bill Humphries Believes Public Should See Ranching's Positives
"Texans have an agreement with the land," says film star and Texas rancher Tommy Lee Jones. "They farm it. They ranch it. They love it. They're good people."

Wool Income Only Contributing Seven Percent To Bottom Line
Without trying to be pessimistic about the status of today's sheep industry, Extension sheep and goat specialist Dr. Frank Craddock, encouraged sheep producers attending the recent annual sheep and goat field day here to be conscious of where their income is coming in from.

Senator Proposes Moratorium On Further Ag Sector Mergers
A senator from Minnesota is expected to introduce stronger anti-trust legislation this week after calling for the halt of mergers and acquisitions among large agribusinesses until the Senate can study the problem.

Collision Downs German Jets In Controversial Training Zone
It was just yards away from being a major calamity when two German Air Force jets flying from Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico collided about 15 Miles northwest of Carlsbad on Friday.

Pro And Con Dilemma Over Feral Hogs Gets Airing At Seminar
Hunters are going hog wild over feral pigs in Texas, but many farmers and ranchers would rather see the porkers dead than fed. Feral, or wild, pigs are a growing problem across the United States. Population estimates run as high as four million pigs, and they live in habitats ranging from forest and dense scrub to swamps and meadows. Biologists estimate that half of the wild pigs live in Texas.

Ag Aid Bill Reaches $8 Billion, Snags On Milk And Cuba Embargo
The Clinton administration raised objections late last week to an agricultural spending bill that's stalled in Congress, saying it provides too little emergency assistance to growers and goes too far in restricting the use of trade embargoes.

Senate Upholds Longstanding Ban On Tighter Fuel Standards
The Senate rejected an attempt recently to lift a five-year ban on government studies into whether fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks should be raised.

Ballooning Grizzly Population Causes Increasing Stock Losses
The success of the grizzly bear recovery project is leading to more attacks on livestock and straining the resources of state biologists in Wyoming.

House Bill Would Require Feds To Obey States' Water Rights
If the federal government wanted to take water it did not own in New Mexico, it would first have to follow state water acquisition rules under a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mexican Wolves Killing More Livestock, Just As Predicted
A marauding wolf pack that already killed two cows recently killed a third, federal wildlife officials said.

Ag Woes Spawn Urge In Congress To Do Something; But Just What?
With lawmakers working on another multibillion-dollar bailout of the farm economy, the Republican chairman of the House Agriculture Committee says it's time to consider changes to the government's GOP-authored farm policy.

Buffalo Owner Wins BLM Permit To Graze Mostly Unfenced Area
A rancher has won the latest round in the range war, gaining approval from the Bureau of Land Management to let as many as 339 buffalo roam on 4300 acres near Elevenmile Canyon Reservoir.

Wild Horse Herds' Mystique Finally Tempered By Reality
Wild horses, with flaring nostrils and flashing manes, are the defiant free spirits of the West. Yet they are invaders, too, damaging land and making it uninhabitable for native species that have evolved over thousands of years.

Clinton Announces Another Land Buy, Lobbies For More Funding
President Clinton announced recently that the U.S. Forest Service has reached a $13 million agreement to acquire more than 9000 acres of forest and grasslands adjacent to Yellowstone National Park.

New Mexico Farm, Ranch Museum Opens 3000 Years Of Ag Exhibit
It's the story of generations of farming and ranching — 3000 years' worth. The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum's first main gallery permanent exhibit, ``Generations,'' officially opened Sunday after years of planning and hard work.

Senators Grill Forest Service Over Foot-Dragging On Lawsuit
Senators sharply criticized the Forest Service earlier this month for failing to adequately conduct surveys of rare species in the Pacific Northwest, causing dozens of timber sales to be put on hold.

Feds Admit Their Wolves Have Killed Another Cow
Federal officials admitted recently that Mexican gray wolves, reintroduced to eastern Arizona last year, have killed another cow. This was the second reported loss of livestock to the wolves this year.

Sierra Club Top Brass Order Local Yokels To Fall In Line
So much for the myth that environmental activist groups are grassroots outfits that arise spontaneously to do courageous battle over local issues.

Idahoans Tout Rally Against Grizzly Plan
Lemhi County commissioners are hopeful there will be a strong turnout at a rally to protest the proposed reintroduction of grizzly bears in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.

Veteran From Other Categories Hopes For NFR Calf Roping Slot
It's not that timed-event hand Trevor Brazile hasn’t ever been to the National Finals Rodeo. He's just never been there before as a calf roper. During the next six weeks, he's hoping to change that.

Nation’s Feeder Cattle Suffer First Decline In Three Months
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $3 lower across the country last week. Nearly all areas suffered the decline, the first substantial downturn in three months.

Texas Fed Cattle Prices Lower, Movement Liberal, Lots Current
Slaughter steers and heifers closed $1 lower last week in Texas Panhandle feedlot trading. This week's total movement included nearly 70,000 head sold last Friday, most of which were last week's cattle.

Angelo Feeder Lambs, Cattle Trade Lower
Feeder lambs sold $1-3 lower this week, slaughter lambs $1-1.50 lower, slaughter ewes $2-5 lower, the greatest decline on cull. Two-day receipts totaled 18,100 head, around 60 percent slaughter ewes, 10 percent feeder lambs, five percent slaughter lambs and 25 percent goats

August Meat Output Reaches Record Highs
Commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 3.91 billion pounds in August, up four percent from the 3.77 billion pounds produced in August 1998 and up one percent from the previous record high for August set in 1995. January through August red meat production was up three percent at 30.4 billion pounds.

U.S. Meat Production 4.1% Above A Year Ago
Total red meat production under federal inspection last week was estimated at 916 million pounds, .3 percent more than a week earlier and 4.1 percent above a year ago. Cumulative meat production for the year to date was up 2.3 percent at 33.2 billion pounds.

Kansas Direct Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers were generally steady in a light test last week. The weather was mild and cool early in the week but warmer than normal late. Sales were confirmed on 5683 head.

Better Abilene Feeder Cattle Prices Steady
Good quality feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady, plainer kids $1-2 lower, slaughter cows steady to $1 lower, bulls steady, stock cows steady to strong. Receipts totaled 1634 head.

Most Llano Cattle Prices Move Lower
Feeder steers weighing less than 500 pounds sold fully steady, heavier weights $1 lower, heifers steady to $2 lower, slaughter cows and bulls $2 lower. Receipts totaled 908 head.

Graham Feeder Steers Steady, Heifers Lower
Feeder steers sold steady to strong, heifers steady to $3 lower, the greatest decline on weights under 400 pounds, slaughter cows and bulls $2 lower, stock cows steady to $10 lower, pairs steady. Receipts totaled 2546 head.

Lampasas Feeder Steer, Heifer Prices Decline
Feeder steers and heifers sold $3-5 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady. Receipts totaled 2164 head.

Producers Video Auction Sale Offering Exceeds 6000 Cattle
Producers Video Auction offered more than 6000 feeder cattle at their regularly scheduled sale; 4845 head sold.

Most Junction Sheep And Goats Sell Lower
Feeder lambs sold $2-4 lower, fat lambs steady; Angora nannies and muttons $1-4 lower, kids and yearlings $2-6 lower; Spanish kids $4-6 lower, billies $2-4 lower. Receipts totaled 8715 head.

San Saba, Brownwood, Mason Steers Higher
Choice feeder steers sold $1-3 higher in Mason, Brownwood and San Saba last week, lesser quality lower, heifers steady, lesser quality $1-4 lower, slaughter cows and bulls steady, bred cows in good demand, pairs in poor demand. Receipts totaled 6327 head at the three sales.

Cuero Feeder Cattle Prices Mixed Affair
Feeder steers and heifers weighing more than 600 pounds sold higher, others steady except heifers under 500 pounds lower, slaughter cows steady, bulls higher. Receipts totaled 2550 head.

Fredericksburg Steer, Heifer Prices Steady
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady, slaughter cows and bulls strong. Receipts totaled 2619 head.

Colorado City Feeder Steers, Heifers Lower
Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $2 lower, slaughter cows $1-2 lower, bulls steady, bred stock cows steady. Receipts totaled 641 head.

Letter To The Editor

Loose Ends

Coming Up...
October 1 — Superior Livestock Auction’s Video Sale, Fort Worth, Texas. October 2 — Grand Opening Cattle Sale, Southwest Livestock Auction, Los Lunas, New Mexico. October 2 — Texas Charolais Sales Corporation’s Fall Bull and Female Sale, Lockhart Livestock Auction, Lockhart, Texas.