The Morning Wire / Tue Jul 28, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Tue, Jul 28
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Jul 27Jul 28Jul 29 →

The market in a line

Tue, Jul 28
Choice cutout closed $2.97 higher at $365.86. 47 barns across 19 states reported 2,619 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Jul 27 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 lb528.70/cwt$14.38 lower2,016127
400-499 lb442.30/cwt$21.17 lower3,021137
500-599 lb399.29/cwt$19.75 lower3,877142
600-699 lb371.94/cwt$15.92 lower3,856139
700-799 lb350.71/cwt$5.75 lower3,237111
800-899 lb342.06/cwt$1.77 lower3,99672

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Tue, Jul 28, weighted by head. Spread of $91.43 between the top and bottom of 18 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
Kingsville Livestock AuctionMO455.72/cwt115
Lexington Livestock Auction - KentuckyKY429.73/cwt31
OKC West Livestock MarketOK413.62/cwt94
Knoxville Livestock Auction - Knoxville, TNTN410.40/cwt75
Virginia Cattle CompanyVA408.91/cwt23
Beaver Livestock AuctionOK402.30/cwt90
McAlester Union StockyardsOK396.40/cwt28
Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TNTN387.47/cwt37
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction Market, IncFL382.29/cwt23
Uniontown StockyardsAL380.15/cwt23
United Producers Inc (Fayetteville, TN)TN379.81/cwt39
Flemingsburg Livestock AuctionKY378.23/cwt24
Letohatchee StockyardsAL376.57/cwt53
ThomasvilleGA374.57/cwt32
Shelby Livestock AuctionNC369.95/cwt22
Brookhaven Livestock AuctionMS369.81/cwt37
Southern LivestockGA367.53/cwt59
Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Tue)FL364.29/cwt58

Boxed beef

PM close · Jul 28 USDA
Choice $365.86, $2.97 higher. Select $343.52, $1.64 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $22.34. 112 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
11,334 head traded Jul 22–Jul 28.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered364.491,268
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered232.41184
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB230.123,039
KansasLive FOB229.811,149
NebraskaDressed Delivered364.554,759
NebraskaLive FOB230.93935

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, feeder steers sold unevenly steady, with feeder heifers 4.00 to 5.00 lower and feeder bulls 4.00 higher. Regarding slaughter classes- breaker and boning cows sold 4.00 to 5.00 lower with lean cows and bulls steady.

Knoxville Livestock Auction - Knoxville, TN · Tennessee

Compared to last Tuesday the feeder market was mostly lower with an average quality offering. Light weight steers 350 lbs and under appeared sharply lower with a lite test, while the 400-700 lbs steers were steady to 3 lower in spots with a good supply and good demand for weaned and pre-conditioned…

Lexington Livestock Auction - Kentucky · Kentucky

As Compared to the last market: Feeder steers and heifers sold steady to $10.00 lower in spots. Slaughter cows sold steady. Slaughter Bulls sold steady. A few nice tiger stripes with one heifer at 555lbs @ $6.10

Tylertown Livestock Auction · Mississippi

Due to the heat again this week not enough feeders in the offering for a trend comparison with lower quality also in the offering. Slaughter cows steady and bulls scarce; Demand not establish and supply very light.

SEMO Livestock Sales · Missouri

Compared to last week, Feeder Steers unevenly steady up to 15.00 higher. On a Better-Quality offering. Feeder Heifers 5.00 to 20.00 lower. Feeder Bulls 10.00 to 20.00 lower with instances of 30.00 lower. Heavily fleshed, excessively haired, and plain cattle receiving most discounts.

Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TN · Tennessee

Compared to last Tuesday: Feeder steers sold sharply lower on limited comparisons. Feeder heifers traded 3.00-5.00 lower with much better demand for the lightweight and yearling heifers. Continued warm temperatures and high humidity is contributing to the weaker overall demand for feeder calves.

Upton Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last Tuesday: Feeder steers 10.00-12.00 lower, Feeder heifers under 500 lbs sharply lower, 500-600 lbs steady to 5.00 lower, Moderate demand for feeder classes. Slaughter cows and bulls steady, Good demand for slaughter classes.

Flemingsburg Livestock Auction · Kentucky

As compared to the last market: Feeder calves sold 5.00-10.00 lower. Slaughter cattle sold steady. Sold some good tiger stripe calves in the regular calf run, that brought the bank 515 lb. heifer @ $5.45, 485 lb. @ $ 4.95, 535 lb. @ $ 5.05 and a 605 lb. @ $ 4.80. Really nice heifers.

Brookhaven Livestock Auction · Mississippi

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)317.34/cwt$1.00 higher392
Boner (85% lean)339.27/cwt$5.55 higher1,496
Cutter (90% lean)340.16/cwt$5.58 higher2,396
Premium White327.52/cwt$3.21 higher1,892
Bull (92% lean)374.93/cwt$1.14 higher350

What published

See every report →
90 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.