The Morning Wire / Thu Jun 18, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Thu, Jun 18
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← earliestJun 18latest →

The market in a line

Thu, Jun 18
Choice cutout held near $393.92. 30 barns across 16 states reported 1,780 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Jun 15 USDA
Weighted across every reported lot, by weight class. Weekly rather than daily — one day's barns are too thin a base for a national figure.
WeightPricevs prior weekHeadBarns
300-399 lb565.28/cwt$4.05 higher2,372143
400-499 lb495.50/cwt$4.48 higher5,255156
500-599 lb459.05/cwt$5.33 higher9,107161
600-699 lb419.76/cwt$5.34 higher9,445155
700-799 lb385.83/cwt$6.80 higher6,217132
800-899 lb363.63/cwt$11.95 higher11,40584

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Thu, Jun 18, weighted by head. Spread of $82.87 between the top and bottom of 20 barns. An average moves with the cattle that showed up as much as with the buyers in the seats — a yard with better grade will average higher on the same demand. This is where the money landed, not a verdict on the barn.
BarnStateAverageHead
ValentineNE505.78/cwt45
New Cambria Livestock MarketMO493.99/cwt94
Lamoni Livestock AuctionIA488.63/cwt66
Paris Livestock AuctionKY486.75/cwt183
Virginia Livestock, LLCVA484.77/cwt116
Tulia Livestock AuctionTX478.10/cwt21
Clarinda Livestock AuctionIA477.92/cwt54
Fairview Livestock AuctionIL476.73/cwt48
Woodward Livestock IncOK471.11/cwt79
Norwood Livestock AuctionNC468.03/cwt255
Dalhart Livestock AuctionTX465.68/cwt31
Mid Missouri StockyardsMO465.28/cwt68
Mo-Kan Livestock MarketMO460.48/cwt142
Apache Livestock AuctionOK456.84/cwt53
Guthrie Livestock AuctionKY452.74/cwt28
Producers Livestock Auction Co - San AngeloTX446.77/cwt29
Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TNTN443.46/cwt108
I-40 Livestock AuctionAR442.41/cwt24
Wheeler Livestock AuctionMO441.73/cwt65
Stanford Livestock AuctionKY422.91/cwt31

Boxed beef

PM close · Jun 18 USDA
Choice $393.92, $0.58 lower. Select $374.75, $2.51 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.17. 73 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
11,073 head traded Jun 12–Jun 18.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered403.931,200
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered257.913,321
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB255.022,841
NebraskaDressed Delivered404.772,094
NebraskaLive FOB255.00727
TX-OK-NMLive Delivered256.0018

At the barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA
One barn per state, largest first — more states file than fit here. Your own state is linked below.

Compared to last week: There was a stronger turnout of better quality calves and feeders. There were few comparable sales to state a trend but sentiment favored a higher market. Demand followed the better quality cattle, while bidding on the plainer cattle seemed moderate.

Dalhart Livestock Auction · Texas

Compared to the sale two weeks ago, steers and heifers sold with a higher undertone noted although not well compared. Nearly all the load lots were from two consignors who brought more than 500 head of eight-, nine-, and ten-weight steers. Demand was good today and included active internet bidding.

Lamoni Livestock Auction · Iowa

Compared to last Thursday, not enough stocker or feeder cattle this week for accurate trends. . Feeder cattle futures were down 30 cents to $1.10 on Thursday, as August was still $9.17 higher this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $3.04 on June 17 to $367.06.

Toppenish Livestock Commission · Washington

Compared to last week, feeder steers and heifers under 550 lbs sold 5.00 to 10.00 higher with a few spots higher. Heavier weights sold steady but on a light offering of yearlings. Slaughter cows and bulls were steady. Demand good to very good with a large attendance. Supply was light.

Wheeler Livestock Auction · Missouri

Compared to last week's sale, all grades of Slaughter Steers traded 8.00-10.00 lower. Slaughter Breaker Dairy Cows traded mostly 2.00 lower, while Slaughter Boner Dairy Cows traded mostly steady, and Slaughter Lean Dairy Cows traded mostly 9.00 lower.

New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Compared to last Thursday: Feeder steers under 600 lbs. sold 10.00-12.00 lower and those over 600 lbs. were 8.00-10.00 higher on a light test. Feeder heifers traded 8.00-10.00 lower. Softer demand for those unweaned, plain calves today.

Guthrie Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week: Feeder steers under 500 lbs sold 14.00-20.00 higher, over 500 lbs sold 2.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 400 lbs sold 20.00-24.00 higher, 500-600 lbs sold 8.00 higher, over 600 lbs not well tested. Slaughter cows and bulls sold 3.00 lower.

I-40 Livestock Auction · Arkansas

Compared to last week's sale breaker slaughter cattle sold 6.00 to 13.00 higher. Boner and lean slaughter cattle sold 5.00 to 7.00 lower. Holstein bull calves sold 8.00 to 11.00 lower. Beef cross bull calves sold 40.00 to 90.00 lower.

Empire - Bath · New York

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)316.93/cwt$0.83 lower475
Boner (85% lean)331.68/cwt$0.35 lower1,577
Cutter (90% lean)331.34/cwt$1.73 lower2,675
Premium White328.08/cwt$0.95 lower2,494
Bull (92% lean)369.83/cwt$4.19 lower338

What published

See every report →
64 USDA reports carried this date — sale barns, state summaries, video and board sales, grain, hay and the national desks.
Source: USDA AMS. Every figure is USDA's as filed, and the direction words — higher, lower, steady— follow the arithmetic rather than an opinion. Quoted comment is the work of USDA market reporters, credited to the sale it came from. This is RaisedBeef's rendering of USDA data, not a copy of USDA's document and not endorsed by USDA.