The Morning Wire / Tue Aug 11, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Tue, Aug 11
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

The market in a line

Tue, Aug 11
Choice cutout held near $371.31. 55 barns across 18 states reported 3,396 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Aug 10 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 lb536.53/cwt$15.56 higher2,410129
400-499 lb454.09/cwt$1.70 lower4,267152
500-599 lb401.83/cwt$12.41 lower6,255153
600-699 lb373.89/cwt$13.62 lower7,091152
700-799 lb354.03/cwt$9.39 lower6,343136
800-899 lb338.97/cwt$11.78 lower7,82985

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 11, weighted by head. Spread of $76.71 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
F&T Livestock MarketMO456.12/cwt25
Flemingsburg Livestock AuctionKY449.47/cwt24
I-40 Livestock AuctionAR444.07/cwt45
Springfield Livestock Auction - KentuckyKY439.13/cwt43
Four State StockyardsMO425.12/cwt78
Knoxville Livestock Auction - Knoxville, TNTN424.39/cwt93
OKC West Livestock MarketOK422.67/cwt290
Beaver Livestock AuctionOK421.83/cwt233
Lonestar StockyardsTX417.15/cwt27
Ozarks Regional StockyardsMO416.75/cwt76
Guthrie Livestock AuctionKY412.77/cwt28
Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TNTN410.38/cwt88
Arkansas Cattle Auction LLCAR406.65/cwt26
McAlester Union StockyardsOK405.29/cwt33
Producers Livestock Marketing - Salina, UTUT403.88/cwt37
Darlington Livestock AuctionSC395.94/cwt49
Upton Livestock AuctionKY392.94/cwt20
CarnesvilleGA388.46/cwt51
Brookhaven Livestock AuctionMS388.35/cwt123
Letohatchee StockyardsAL379.41/cwt78

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 11 USDA
Choice $371.31, $0.11 lower. Select $349.80, $1.04 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $21.51. 124 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.

Lolli Livestock held a special feeder sale with the bulk of the receipts being 9 pot loads of yearling heifers weighing from 685-806 lbs with no recent comparisons as the last sale was a month ago.

Lolli Brothers Livestock Market · Missouri

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows and bulls 2.00 to 5.00 lower. Feeder steers, bulls, and heifers mostly steady to 5.00 lower.

Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Tue) · Florida

Compared to last week, Feeder Steers under 425lbs 10.00 to 20.00 higher, over 450lbs 10.00 to 15.00 lower. Feeder Heifers and Bulls unevenly steady. Slaughter Cows 2.00 to 5.00 lower. Slaughter Bulls mostly steady to 5.00 higher. Quality and demand fair to good.

Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TN · Tennessee

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cattle sold unevenly steady. Replacement cattle were firm. Feeder steers and bulls sold 7.00 to 14.00 lower. Feeder heifers sold sharply lower. Trade was active, with good demand on feeder cattle.

Uniontown Stockyards · Alabama

Compared to last week; Steer calves under 500 lbs. 10.00 to 12.00 higher, over 500 lbs. 11.00 lower. Heifer calves under 550 lbs. 12.00 to 15.00 higher, over 550 lbs. 2.00 3.00 higher. Quality of cattle was very attractive. Demand was moderate to good. Slaughter cows steady to 3.00 higher.

McAlester Union Stockyards · Oklahoma

Compared to last week slaughter cattle were mostly steady, while feeder cattle were 15.00 to 20.00 higher. Trade and demand were moderate with moderate offerings. Quality of cattle was average. 4 head Baby Calves: 800.00 - 975.00

Shelby Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steers sold mostly steady. Feeder heifers sold steady to 3.00 higher. There was good demand for feeder classes. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher. There was good demand for slaughter classes.

Springfield Livestock Auction - Kentucky · Kentucky

Compared to last week, slaughter steers and heifers sold 1.00 to 2.00 lower. Slaughter dairy cross steers and heifers had no steers and heifers for a comparison to last week. Slaughter cows mostly traded steady to 1.00 higher, with the exception with Leans 9.00 higher.

Fairview Livestock Auction · Illinois

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)315.15/cwt$1.17 higher324
Boner (85% lean)334.80/cwt$3.60 higher1,210
Cutter (90% lean)337.79/cwt$6.54 higher2,247
Premium White324.86/cwt$0.28 higher1,385
Bull (92% lean)372.24/cwt$1.93 lower478

What published

See every report →
101 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.