The Morning Wire / Mon Aug 3, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Mon, Aug 3
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 1Aug 3Aug 4 →

The market in a line

Mon, Aug 3
Choice cutout closed $5.35 higher at $366.73. 52 barns across 18 states reported 3,708 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Aug 3 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 lb520.97/cwt$7.73 lower2,144132
400-499 lb455.79/cwt$13.49 higher3,874147
500-599 lb414.24/cwt$14.95 higher6,223157
600-699 lb387.51/cwt$15.57 higher6,926156
700-799 lb363.42/cwt$12.71 higher5,686134
800-899 lb350.75/cwt$8.69 higher8,51394

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Mon, Aug 3, weighted by head. Spread of $63.21 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
Sioux Falls Regional LivestockSD448.45/cwt22
Callaway Livestock CenterMO447.11/cwt193
Oklahoma National Stockyards MarketOK437.72/cwt255
Joplin Regional StockyardsMO428.93/cwt290
Tulsa Stockyards Inc.OK426.61/cwt94
Farmers Livestock Exchange, Inc.VA421.13/cwt20
Unionville Livestock Auction - Unionville, TNTN421.06/cwt24
Paris Livestock AuctionKY418.64/cwt26
Arcadia Stockyard (Mon)FL417.83/cwt36
Lynchburg Livestock Market, Inc.VA413.37/cwt63
Lexington Livestock Auction - KentuckyKY410.51/cwt24
Roswell Livestock AuctionNM409.60/cwt26
Dickson Livestock AuctionTN405.69/cwt28
Turnersburg Livestock AuctionNC405.45/cwt29
Harned Livestock AuctionKY402.69/cwt25
Cattlemans Livestock Auction - West Point, MSMS398.24/cwt44
Cleburne County Livestock AuctionAR395.37/cwt43
Ashville StockyardsAL393.94/cwt28
Meridian Livestock AuctionMS388.48/cwt23
Giddings Livestock CommissionTX385.24/cwt126

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 3 USDA
Choice $366.73, $5.35 higher. Select $344.45, $1.78 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $22.28. 85 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
9,171 head traded Jul 28–Aug 3.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered364.80354
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB365.0070
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered235.811,432
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB233.484,067
KansasLive FOB232.831,476
NebraskaDressed Delivered364.511,620

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.

CLOSE Compared to last week feeder steers sold 10.00-25.00 higher with the most gain on five weights. Feeder heifers sold steady to 20.00 higher with the most gain on weights over 600 lbs. Supply was light with very good demand.

Joplin Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last week: Feeder steers lightly tested and few cattle sold 5.00-10.00 higher. Feeder heifers 5.00-15.00 higher. Steer calves unevenly steady. Heifer calves 10.00-15.00 higher. High heat continues after a little reprieve over the weekend. More 100+ degrees are expected this week.

Oklahoma National Stockyards Market · Oklahoma

Compared to last sale: Demand mostly good for moderate offerings. Market activity was active with good buyer participation and rapid bidding noticed. Dairy feeder steers traded sharply lower. Next sale will be August 31, 2026.

Centennial · Colorado

Compared to last week's sale, Slaughter Steers sold 2.00 higher, Slaughter Dairy Cows sold uneven from 1.00 higher to 1.00 lower. Feeder Dairy Calves traded 20.00-30.00 higher with Beef Cross calves 50.00-70.00 higher.

New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows sold mostly steady and slaughter bulls sold sharply higher. Feeder cattle sold sharply higher. Replacement cattle soldf steady.

Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Mon) · Florida

Compared to last week, steer calves 400-500 lbs sold 12.00-20.00 higher and heifer calves 400-500 lbs were 15.00-25,00 higher with 550-600 lbs being 5.00 lower. Rain in the drawing area made for a smaller sale with good demand. Slaughter cows sold 1.00-3.00 higher and slaughter bulls were steady.

Roswell Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Compared to one week ago, slaughter cows and bulls mostly 5.00 to 10.00 higher, feeder steers and bulls sharply higher, feeder heifers mostly steady, all replacements steady.

Greensboro · Georgia

Compared to last week, the best test was on a pot load of 822 lb steers trading 4.00 higher than a pot load of similar weight from last week, all other weights of steers have not had a good recent market test, but overall going back over the last several weeks would have a lower undertone.

Callaway Livestock Center · Missouri

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)316.11/cwt$2.66 higher421
Boner (85% lean)335.01/cwt$4.76 higher1,390
Cutter (90% lean)334.67/cwt$1.99 higher2,327
Premium White327.87/cwt$0.35 lower1,836
Bull (92% lean)375.79/cwt$0.64 lower424

What published

See every report →
142 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.