The Morning Wire / Sat Aug 8, 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 — Sat, Aug 8
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 7Aug 8Aug 10 →

The market in a line

Sat, Aug 8
Choice cutout held near $364.36. 9 barns across 5 states reported 677 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 Sat, Aug 8, weighted by head. Spread of $58.82 between the top and bottom of 6 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
Somerset Livestock AuctionKY442.42/cwt24
Jackson County Regional Livestock MarketWV412.74/cwt70
Carthage Livestock AuctionTN412.29/cwt32
Springlake Livestock Market, Inc.VA408.51/cwt30
Crossville Livestock AuctionTN393.50/cwt21
Finger Lakes Livestock AuctionNY383.60/cwt25

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 7 USDA
Choice $364.36, $0.50 higher. Select $352.37, $2.59 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $11.99. 60 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
48,598 head traded Aug 1–Aug 7.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered375.393,154
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered239.181,090
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB235.326,326
KansasDressed Delivered370.0039
KansasLive FOB234.943,813
NebraskaDressed Delivered370.3914,747

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 Saturday the feeder market was mostly stronger with a good quality offering. Feeder steers 600 lbs and under were 3.00 to 8.00 higher with a good supply and good demand for weaned and harder conditioned calves.

Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last month's sale 500-600lb feeder steers sold 70.00 to 100.00 lower. 600-700lb feeder steers sold 52.00 to 107.00 lower. 400-500lb feeder heifers sold 38.00 to 53.00 lower. 600-700lb feeder heifers sold 7.00 to 37.00 lower. Vaccinated cattle brought a 10.00 to 20.00 premium.

Finger Lakes Livestock Auction · New York

No trends could be established on Feeder Cattle due to lack of comparable data however all classes of Feeders traded higher; Slaughter Cattle 2.00 to 3.00 lower on a light test.

Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

No trends established due to lack of comparable sales. However mostly steady undertones noted.

Crossville Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last week, slaughter cows sold 3.00 to 8.00 lower with no comparisons available for slaughter bulls or feeder classes due to limited comparable receipts, however, a higher undertone and higher-quality offerings was noted for feeder cattle.

Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TN · Tennessee

Compared to last Saturday: Feeder steers and feeder heifers sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady .

Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)310.76/cwt$3.42 lower452
Boner (85% lean)328.33/cwt$0.72 lower1,842
Cutter (90% lean)329.75/cwt$0.57 lower2,875
Premium White325.78/cwt$0.05 lower1,617
Bull (92% lean)373.00/cwt$2.25 lower383

What published

See every report →
10 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.