The Morning Wire / Fri Jul 17, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Fri, Jul 17
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Jul 16Jul 17Jul 18 →

The market in a line

Fri, Jul 17
Choice cutout closed $1.57 lower at $366.81. 9 barns across 9 states reported 492 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Jul 13 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 lb561.99/cwt$9.47 lower2,710143
400-499 lb480.51/cwt$22.70 lower4,862153
500-599 lb439.15/cwt$20.33 lower7,617158
600-699 lb405.54/cwt$23.07 lower7,750156
700-799 lb370.47/cwt$16.59 lower5,424133
800-899 lb351.29/cwt$10.62 lower7,38573

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, Jul 17, weighted by head. Spread of $30.43 between the top and bottom of 3 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
Siler City Livestock AuctionNC406.93/cwt21
Culpeper Agricultural EnterpriseVA397.85/cwt23
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NMNM376.50/cwt22

Boxed beef

PM close · Jul 17 USDA
Choice $366.81, $1.57 lower. Select $355.29, $0.40 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $11.52. 111 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
22,134 head traded Jul 11–Jul 17.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered377.662,531
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB372.0040
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered242.461,026
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB237.065,721
KansasDressed FOB372.0072
KansasLive Delivered235.00213

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; slaughter and feeder cows traded mostly steady on all classes. Slaughter bulls traded 5.00 lower. A small offering of feeder cattle today also with a few load lots. A nice offering with moderate bidding. A few new buyers on the seats today all with a very active internet.

Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Compared to last week: Steer calves from 350-399 lbs sold 5.00-10.00 higher, while heifer calves sold 3.00-5.00 lower. Feeder steers and heifers sold 5.00-7.00 higher with limited comparisons. Slaughter cows sold 1.00-2.00 lower, while slaughter bulls sold 2.00-3.00 higher. Trade and demand good.

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

Slaughter cattle were steady this week compared to last week . Feeder cattle were steady this week compared to last week . Demand was moderate ; market activity and buyer interest were moderate . Offerings moderate with quality average . 9 head of hogs

Siler City Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Compared to last week, supply and demand were lighter. Several days of losses in the cattle futures market, along with the hot weather forecast for the coming week, resulted in less aggressive buyer participation.

Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc. · Arkansas

Friday's auction at EMC had very light receipts with a few bred cows and pairs, most of the bred cows were 3yrs to short solid mouth in the 2nd stage and all sold with moderate to good demand. A very light offering of feeders were not tested.

Eastern Missouri Commission Company · Missouri

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)319.60/cwt$1.89 higher554
Boner (85% lean)331.16/cwt$1.08 lower1,903
Cutter (90% lean)332.59/cwt$2.65 higher3,009
Premium White327.27/cwt$0.08 higher2,601
Bull (92% lean)371.93/cwt$2.76 lower514

What published

See every report →
41 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.