Feeder Cattle — prices, barns, and planning

The Feeder BoardNational weight ladder, every weight classfreeState & Region LaddersEvery state, every weightfreeFind Your BarnEvery USDA-reported market, every salefreeSale ReportsClean report pages replacing USDA PDFsfreeState Auction SummariesUSDA's statewide view, 30 statesfreeWhat Are My Calves Worth?Weight + sex + state → today's moneyfreeThe Forward CurveFall prices trading today, by regionproVideo & Internet SalesSuperior, Western Video and morefreeBoard SalesForward feeder trade, by delivery monthfree

Fed Cattle — the cash market and what quality pays

Fed Cash Today5-Area live & dressed, regional splitfreePacker MarginThe daily per-head numberfreeCarcass Weight WatchWeekly weights vs 5-year bandfreeCattle on FeedMonthly placements & marketings, revisions trackedfreeNegotiated Share TrackerCash vs formula, tracked over yearsfreeWhat Quality PaysWhat packers add and subtract on a carcass gridfree

Beef & Retail — from the box to the grocery shelf

Boxed Beef DailyChoice, Select, the spreadfreePrimal ValuesRib to flank, what's pulling the cutoutfreeWhat the Label Is WorthGrass-fed and organic vs conventional, by cutfreeThe 84-Cut LadderEvery cut USDA tracks, dailyproWho Gets WhatEvery segment’s share of the beef dollarfreeImported Lean MarketThe 90s trade that moves cull cowsSoon

Feed & Hay — the cost side, cash not futures

Cash Grain Bids30 states of elevator bids, dailyfreeHay Prices19 states + 18 auctions, by qualityfreeBasis MapWhat local corn is worth against the boardfreeFeedstuffs DeskDDGS, soybean meal, mill feedsfree

Cows & Bred Stock — the rebuild market

Cull Cow & Bull PricesDaily national, by class and regionfreeCow CutoutWhat the grinding beef is worth, dailyfreeBred Cows & PairsBy stage, age, and statefree

More

Latest ReportsEvery USDA release as it publishesfreeReport ArchiveWhat USDA published on any datefreeThe Morning WireDaily brief from every fresh reportfreeRecords BookAll-time highs, and where today sitsfreeCattle on FeedMonthly, with revisions trackedfreeThe BordersMexico & Canada flows and pricesproDrought & Forced SellingHow much of the herd is dry, and what it costsfreeAlertsYour barn, your class, your thresholdSoon

Records book

The highest USDA has ever reported · and where the market sits today

Where the market stands

7 series

Nothing is at a record this week. The closest is cow cutout at 96.1% of its high, set May 20.

Every record, and today against it

Closest to its own high first
SeriesRecord highWhenLatest% of highRecords from
Cow cutoutWhat the grinding beef in a cull cow is worth.364.97May 20350.5996.1%May 9, 2022
Feeder steers, 800–900 lb369.40Oct 13, 2025326.9588.5%Aug 28, 2017
Choice boxed beef cutoutThe afternoon close, which is the one the trade quotes.475.39May 12, 2020394.9983.1%Jan 5, 2004
Select boxed beef cutout452.97May 11, 2020364.1780.4%Jan 5, 2004
Feeder heifers, 500–600 lb437.65Jan 26350.4380.1%Aug 28, 2017
Feeder steers, 500–600 lbThe weight the trade quotes. Weekly, every reported auction.490.83Apr 6387.7579.0%Aug 28, 2017
Choice–Select spreadWhat grading is worth on the whole carcass — it pays in the middle meats.39.74Jun 21, 202130.8277.6%Jan 5, 2004
"Record" means as far back as USDA's series goes, and they do not all start together — the last column says when each one begins. Boxed beef runs to 2001; the feeder rollup only to 2017. A 2017-deep record is a real record and a much shorter memory, and the page will not blur the two. All figures are $/cwt as USDA reported them USDA.

And the lows

Same windows
SeriesRecord lowWhenLatest is above it by
Cow cutout186.77Dec 8, 202288%
Feeder steers, 800–900 lb112.87Apr 6, 2020190%
Choice boxed beef cutout123.92Feb 12, 2004219%
Select boxed beef cutout117.23Feb 12, 2004211%
Feeder heifers, 500–600 lb122.47Sep 9, 2019186%
Feeder steers, 500–600 lb138.27Sep 9, 2019180%
Choice–Select spread−3.80Mar 25−911%

About these records

These are nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation. A 2001 record and a 2026 one are not the same money, and the gap matters most on boxed beef, where the window is twenty-five years. Adjusting would need CPI, which is not USDA data, and this site keeps to USDA sources — so the figures stand as reported and the caveat stands with them.

Fed cattle is deliberately absent. USDA files more than one row per day for a single class and selling basis, and until it is settled which of them is the quoted series, a maximum over them would be an arbitrary number sitting under the word "record". The fed cattle desk handles that properly. Related: boxed beef, feeder prices by state and cull cows. Source: USDA AMS. This site is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, the USDA.