The Morning Wire / Tue Aug 4, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Tue, Aug 4
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 3Aug 4Aug 5 →

The market in a line

Tue, Aug 4
Choice cutout closed $2.92 higher at $369.65. 53 barns across 19 states reported 3,369 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 Tue, Aug 4, weighted by head. Spread of $82.08 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
Kingsville Livestock AuctionMO459.88/cwt45
SEMO Livestock SalesMO443.29/cwt71
Interstate Regional StockyardsMO440.69/cwt95
Ozarks Regional StockyardsMO439.21/cwt75
Four State StockyardsMO432.32/cwt52
Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TNTN425.67/cwt47
Knoxville Livestock Auction - Knoxville, TNTN424.40/cwt32
OKC West Livestock MarketOK423.17/cwt64
Springfield Livestock Auction - KentuckyKY421.14/cwt35
McAlester Union StockyardsOK419.95/cwt31
Beaver Livestock AuctionOK417.63/cwt133
United Producers Inc (Fayetteville, TN)TN414.24/cwt23
Arkansas Cattle Auction LLCAR410.93/cwt54
Flemingsburg Livestock AuctionKY407.64/cwt25
Letohatchee StockyardsAL392.84/cwt90
Southern LivestockGA390.85/cwt22
Uniontown StockyardsAL386.66/cwt46
Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Tue)FL386.57/cwt68
Philadelphia Livestock AuctionMS378.88/cwt33
Opp StockyardsAL377.80/cwt47

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 4 USDA
Choice $369.65, $2.92 higher. Select $346.50, $2.05 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $23.15. 120 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.

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers 10.00-20.00 higher. Feeder heifer quality was better than feeder steer quality. Buyers were active for all classes of cattle. Steer calves 10.00-15.00 higher. Heifer calves 15.00-20.00 higher. Calf demand good for steers and very good for heifers.

OKC West Livestock Market · Oklahoma

Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold steady to 5.00 higher with spots 10.00-15.00 higher on the 550-625 lb weight range. Demand was moderate to good for a moderate supply.

Kingsville Livestock Auction · Missouri

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows 1.00 to 3.00 lower, slaughter bulls mostly steady. Feeder steers, bulls, and heifers 5.00 to 10.00 higher.

Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Tue) · Florida

Compared to a week ago: Slaughter Cows and Slaughter Bulls steady. Replacement Cattle sharply higher. All Feeder Classes and Calf Classes mostly steady.

Southern Livestock · Georgia

Feeders sold with a lower undertone but with no recent price comparisons available. Demand moderate to good. Nice feeder offering with several medium sized consignments of green yearling cattle weighing 550-750 lbs.

Interstate Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last week's light run, feeder steers and heifers were 15.00-20.00 higher. Demand was good on a light supply. The largest draft of the day was 20 head of 758 lb. steers which sold for 356.00/cwt.

Ozarks Regional Stockyards · Missouri

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

Carnesville · Georgia

Compared to last week; Steer calves 20.00+ higher. Heifer calves 8.00 to 10.00 higher. Quality was attractive in all classes. Demand was very good. Slaughter cows 8.00 to 10.00 lower. Slaughter bulls 10.00 higher.

McAlester Union Stockyards · Oklahoma

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)316.11/cwt$0.01 lower596
Boner (85% lean)336.94/cwt$1.92 higher1,488
Cutter (90% lean)338.27/cwt$3.60 higher2,308
Premium White328.24/cwt$0.37 higher1,518
Bull (92% lean)375.96/cwt$0.16 higher299

What published

See every report →
99 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.