Cargill has begun construction on an expansion of its Plainview, TX, beef plant, according to the plant?s general manager, Jim Rathke. The expansion adds a finely textured beef operation to the existing facility, and beef product that is 93 percent to 96 percent lean as an ingredient in the company?s ground beef, Rathke said.

Harry?s first cowboy job was when he was 14 and his last when he was 75 for his good friend Paul Lowrey. He also packed in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, rode race horses, working in a rock quarry and logged. He had many stallions and brood mares through the years.

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The cash fed cattle market improved some last week as futures markets posted increases in early week trade and cutout values finally found a level of support. Those two factors helped improve sentiment, and trade looked to be steady to $1 higher when it developed.

The IRS is focusing more on audits in the farming, livestock and horse industries in which taxpayers are claiming six figures or more in tax deductions. This often pertains to taxpayers who are employed full time in a profession and operate the farm or other activity on a parttime basis, often relying on managers and contract employees.

Canadian beef exporters will have access to the lucrative Saudi Arabian market for the first time since 2003, said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. ?Step by step, this government is reopening markets to Canadian beef producers,? said Ritz.

Dear Pete, I wanted to comment on your Comments?COOL is cool. I totally agree with your assessment of COOL and your comments in reference to NAIS. I agree that we should let the marketplace work its magic.

TREASURE BULL TEST Treasure Bull Test has now completed 100 days of their test on 150 Angus bulls, 18 Simm x Angus bulls and 10 Chi x Angus bulls. The 137 spring Angus bulls on test are gaining 3.22 lbs. per day with an average weight per day of age (WDA) of 3.07 lbs.

Sale Calendar is a service to our advertisers. There is a minimum advertising requirement to be eligible to be listed in the sale calendar. Contact your fieldman for more information, or to have your date added to the Sale Calendar. We will only run auction sale dates or private treaty start dates.

Most North American cowherds calve in the ?spring,? very broadly defined as January to May because folks contending with wind chill don?t want to admit they calve in the winter. Spring continues for the first three weeks of June, but we tend to call that summer calving.