Lewis Ziska, Richard Sicher and Jim Bunce all work at the ARS Crops Systems and Global Change Laboratory in Beltsville, MD.

Whether environmental groups are exploiting the Equal Access to Justice Act to get federal subsidies of their lawsuits against ranchers grazing livestock on public lands was addressed at the Idaho Cattle Associations (ICA) recent annual convention and trade show in Sun Valley, ID.

A major wild horse gather in the Calico Mountain and Black Rock Desert area in northern Nevada, originally scheduled for Dec. 1, has been postposed until the 28th following the joint filing of a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by In Defense of Animals (IDA) and ecologist Craig Downer.

Tyson Foods Inc. posted higher-than-expected quarterly results last Monday on strength in its beef, pork and prepared foods businesses which it expects to continue in its new fiscal year.

Tri-Western Meat Packing, Inc. is scheduled to open a new slaughter and packing facility in Willcox, AZ, approximately 80 miles east of Tucson, AZ. Operation of the facility, which will be housed in a former apple warehouse, is anticipated to begin in three to four months, according to local media. Although the plant will be able to handle

Researchers worldwide are trying to economically convert cellulosic biomass such as corn stover into cellulosic ethanol. But Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that it might be more costeffective, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable to use corn stover for generating an energyrich oil called bio-oil and for making biochar to enrichsoils and sequester carbon.

Pilgrims Pride Corp. reported a net profit of $82.7 million, or $1.07 per share from continuing operations, on quarterly net sales of $1.7 billion in its fourth fiscal quarter which ended Sept. 26. That compares with a net loss of $802 million, or $10.79 per share on net sales of $2.

In a normal El Ni o event, the combination of warmer than normal equatorial Pacific temperatures and a west-to-east subtropical jet stream component results in more generous wintertime precipitation in the southern third of the U.S.from south-central Kansas south through Texas, and east to Georgia and Florida.

When he began his year as chairman of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA) in November 2008, Monte Cluck set a unique goal: to personally visit as many TCFA member feed yards as possible. Twelve months later, he had managed to make it to more than 60 yards and described the experience as one of my most enjoyable times of the past year.

The decline in beef demand is the biggest challenge facing the industry, Cattle-Fax Executive Vice President Randy Blach said at the Texas Cattle Feeders Association Annual Convention in Amarillo, TX. Weve averaged $83 to $84 on fed cattle this year.