The Morning Wire / Fri Jun 26, 2026

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

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Fri, Jun 26
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Jun 25Jun 26Jun 27 →

The market in a line

Fri, Jun 26
Choice cutout closed $5.29 lower at $391.03. 12 barns across 10 states reported 591 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Jun 22 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 lb590.53/cwt$25.25 higher2,785141
400-499 lb508.92/cwt$13.42 higher4,909151
500-599 lb468.46/cwt$9.41 higher8,917150
600-699 lb432.61/cwt$12.85 higher9,757147
700-799 lb393.26/cwt$7.43 higher7,756130
800-899 lb365.14/cwt$1.51 higher7,52996

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Fri, Jun 26, weighted by head. Spread of $35.89 between the top and bottom of 4 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
Dunlap Livestock AuctionIA519.43/cwt86
LexingtonNE512.00/cwt33
Eastern Missouri Commission CompanyMO499.75/cwt73
BurwellNE483.54/cwt27

Boxed beef

PM close · Jun 26 USDA
Choice $391.03, $5.29 lower. Select $371.58, $3.16 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.45. 94 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
6,880 head traded Jun 20–Jun 26.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered408.891,162
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered261.78928
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB259.832,667
KansasLive FOB258.00998
NebraskaDressed Delivered408.00419
NebraskaLive FOB258.89234

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 two weeks ago: best test on steers 900 to 999 mostly steady, 1000 to 1049 lbs 3.00 lower. Heifers not well tested two weeks ago for comparison. A large offering of strings and loads, both home raised and back grounded, most of these were big, finishing type cattle.

Herreid Livestock Market · South Dakota

Compared to two weeks ago steers over 650 lbs sold 10.00-20.00 higher. Demand was good from the buyers in the crowd with internet activity noticed.

Lexington · Nebraska

Compared to last week; slaughter and feeder cows traded 3.00 to 5.00 higher with several new buyers on the internet and on the seats. Slaughter bulls traded 3.00 higher. A nice offering today with a very active market. No sale next week due to the 4th of July holiday.

Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Slaughter cattle were steady this week compared to last week . Feeder cattle were 3.00 to 5.00 higher this week compared to last week . Demand was moderate ; market activity and buyer interest were moderate . Offerings moderate with quality average .

Siler City Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Compared to the last special two weeks ago, light test of 4 weight steers sold with a higher undertone, 500-550 lb steers sold 20.00-30.00 higher, with 550-700 lbs trading 5.00-15.00 higher, spots 20.00 higher on the 550-600 lb steers, over 700 lbs were lightly tested.

Eastern Missouri Commission Company · Missouri

Compared to last week: Steer calves sold steady to 5.00 higher, while heifer calves sold steady to 5.00 lower. Feeder steers and heifers sold 3.00-8.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady. Trade and demand good.

Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NM · New Mexico

Compared to last week, feeder cattle were lightly tested due to limited receipts. On a light comparison, feeder steers sold steady, while feeder heifers sold $10.00 higher on stronger demand. Slaughter cattle traded on active demand, selling $5.00 to $10.00 higher.

Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc. · Arkansas

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)316.39/cwt$3.08 lower463
Boner (85% lean)331.10/cwt$0.81 lower1,605
Cutter (90% lean)332.05/cwt$1.53 higher2,524
Premium White324.71/cwt$3.34 lower1,227
Bull (92% lean)372.97/cwt$2.56 higher570

What published

See every report →
43 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.