The Morning Wire / Wed Jul 29, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Wed, Jul 29
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← earliestJul 29latest →

The market in a line

Wed, Jul 29
Choice cutout closed $2.43 lower at $363.43. 45 barns across 21 states reported 2,469 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 Wed, Jul 29, weighted by head. Spread of $102.17 between the top and bottom of 15 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
Huss LivestockNE467.29/cwt72
Springfield Livestock Marketing CenterMO430.14/cwt34
Russell Springs Livestock AuctionKY420.53/cwt24
Ozarks Regional StockyardsMO411.32/cwt56
Albany Livestock AuctionKY409.47/cwt66
Southern Oklahoma Livestock AuctionOK406.71/cwt73
County Line Sale BarnAR395.04/cwt21
Arcadia Stockyard (Wed)FL388.19/cwt42
Clovis Livestock AuctionNM387.37/cwt38
AshburnGA385.48/cwt114
Roanoke StockyardsAL380.33/cwt20
Savannah Livestock AuctionTN374.86/cwt21
Lucedale Livestock AuctionMS370.31/cwt28
Johnson StockyardMS368.25/cwt23
Norwood Livestock AuctionNC365.12/cwt21

Boxed beef

PM close · Jul 29 USDA
Choice $363.43, $2.43 lower. Select $342.41, $1.11 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $21.02. 137 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
4,225 head traded Jul 23–Jul 29.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered363.39403
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered232.68112
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB230.09929
KansasLive FOB229.841,184
NebraskaDressed Delivered362.251,462
NebraskaLive FOB230.00135

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 steers and heifers 10.00 to 15.00 lower. Demand was more moderate this week as packers were bidding, and buying cattle lower in the country early in the week. The market was still fairly active, even though it was lower.

Sioux Falls Regional Livestock · South Dakota

Compared to two weeks ago steers over 800 lbs sold 10.00-15.00 lower and not enough comparable offerings of heifers to establish a trend. Demand was moderate to good from the buyers in the crowd.

Huss Livestock · Nebraska

Compared to last week. Steers and Heifers steady to lower with a light trade to set a good trend on most classes. Quality was plain to average with a moderate demand with very high temperatures.

Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to a week ago: Slaughter cows steady to 2.00 higher, slaughter bulls steady, feeder steers steady to 2.00 lower, feeder bulls and heifers had limited comparable sales from week before, steer and heifer calves sharply lower, bull calves 10.00 lower, replacement cows mostly steady.

Ashburn · Georgia

Compared to one week ago: Feeder cattle sold sharply lower. Slaughter cows sold 3.00 to 6.00 higher, slaughter bulls sold sharply higher. Replacement cows and pairs sold mostly steady.

Roanoke Stockyards · Alabama

Compared to last sale (7-01-26): Feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality this week was mixed from plain to average, with lots of variation noticed. Most offerings were in small packages or as singles, making it difficult for buyers to piece together loads.

Public Auction Yards · Montana

Compared to last week slaughter cows and bulls sold steady to 3.00 lower. Supply was light with moderate demand. The high selling slaughter cow weighed 1,270 lbs. and sold for 200.00/cwt.. The top selling slaughter bull, a Limousin weighing 2,140 bs. sold for 269.00/cwt.

Joplin Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady to 3.00 higher. Feeder classes sold sharply lower. Replacement cows and pairs sold steady to firm. Trade active with moderate to good demand on feeder cattle.

Brundidge Stockyards · Alabama

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)319.06/cwt$1.72 higher367
Boner (85% lean)333.31/cwt$5.96 lower1,876
Cutter (90% lean)331.03/cwt$9.13 lower3,013
Premium White327.39/cwt$0.14 lower1,884
Bull (92% lean)375.85/cwt$0.92 higher364

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.