The Morning Wire / Tue Aug 4, 2026

Feeder Cattle — prices, barns, and planning

The Feeder BoardNational weight ladder, every weight classfreeState & Region LaddersEvery state, every weightfreeFind Your BarnEvery USDA-reported market, every salefreeSale ReportsClean report pages replacing USDA PDFsfreeState Auction SummariesUSDA's statewide view, 30 statesfreeWhat Are My Calves Worth?Weight + sex + state → today's moneyfreeThe Forward CurveFall prices trading today, by regionproVideo & Internet SalesSuperior, Western Video and morefreeBoard SalesForward feeder trade, by delivery monthfree

Fed Cattle — the cash market and what quality pays

Fed Cash Today5-Area live & dressed, regional splitfreePacker MarginThe daily per-head numberfreeCarcass Weight WatchWeekly weights vs 5-year bandfreeCattle on FeedMonthly placements & marketings, revisions trackedfreeNegotiated Share TrackerCash vs formula, tracked over yearsfreeWhat Quality PaysWhat packers add and subtract on a carcass gridfree

Beef & Retail — from the box to the grocery shelf

Boxed Beef DailyChoice, Select, the spreadfreePrimal ValuesRib to flank, what's pulling the cutoutfreeWhat the Label Is WorthGrass-fed and organic vs conventional, by cutfreeThe 84-Cut LadderEvery cut USDA tracks, dailyproWho Gets WhatEvery segment’s share of the beef dollarfreeImported Lean MarketThe 90s trade that moves cull cowsSoon

Feed & Hay — the cost side, cash not futures

Cash Grain Bids30 states of elevator bids, dailyfreeHay Prices19 states + 18 auctions, by qualityfreeBasis MapWhat local corn is worth against the boardfreeFeedstuffs DeskDDGS, soybean meal, mill feedsfree

Cows & Bred Stock — the rebuild market

Cull Cow & Bull PricesDaily national, by class and regionfreeCow CutoutWhat the grinding beef is worth, dailyfreeBred Cows & PairsBy stage, age, and statefree

More

Latest ReportsEvery USDA release as it publishesfreeReport ArchiveWhat USDA published on any datefreeThe Morning WireDaily brief from every fresh reportfreeRecords BookAll-time highs, and where today sitsfreeCattle on FeedMonthly, with revisions trackedfreeThe BordersMexico & Canada flows and pricesproDrought & Forced SellingHow much of the herd is dry, and what it costsfreeAlertsYour barn, your class, your thresholdSoon

The Morning Wire

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

The market in a line

Tue, Aug 4
Choice cutout closed $2.92 higher at $369.65. 53 barns across 19 states reported 3,368 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, 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

Compared to two weeks ago: Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady. Feeder classes sold sharply lower. Replacement cows and pairs sold steady. Trade active with good demand on feeder cattle.

Opp Stockyards · Alabama

Compared to last week: Slaughter cows and bulls mostly steady. Demand was moderate.

Woodward Livestock Inc · Oklahoma

Compared to last week, slaughter steers were 3.00 lower and Holstein slaughter steers were 2.00 lower based on a limited comparison. Slaughter bulls were trending lower while Holstein slaughter bulls were trending higher based on a limited comparison.

Topeka Livestock Auction · Indiana

Compared to last week: Steers sold steady to 15.00 higher. Heifers sold 8.00 - 15.00 higher, 25.00 higher in spots. Slaughter cattle sold steady to 10.00 lower.

Philadelphia Livestock Auction · Mississippi

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

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.