The Morning Wire / Wed Aug 12, 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 — Wed, Aug 12
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 11Aug 12Aug 13 →

The market in a line

Wed, Aug 12
Choice cutout held near $372.28. 47 barns across 23 states reported 2,724 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 lb537.15/cwt$16.18 higher2,397127
400-499 lb454.11/cwt$1.68 lower4,256151
500-599 lb401.88/cwt$12.36 lower6,242152
600-699 lb373.90/cwt$13.61 lower7,088151
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 Wed, Aug 12, weighted by head. Spread of $114.02 between the top and bottom of 19 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
Torrington Livestock Commission CompanyWY457.83/cwt60
Russell Springs Livestock AuctionKY456.40/cwt113
Albany Livestock AuctionKY434.49/cwt43
Windsor Livestock AuctionMO427.59/cwt74
Clovis Livestock AuctionNM422.78/cwt109
Campbellsville Livestock AuctionKY412.21/cwt31
Springfield Livestock Marketing CenterMO412.11/cwt158
Savannah Livestock AuctionTN410.51/cwt39
AshburnGA389.57/cwt137
Arcadia Stockyard (Wed)FL386.04/cwt62
Southern Oklahoma Livestock AuctionOK380.00/cwt90
Roanoke StockyardsAL375.56/cwt43
Lucedale Livestock AuctionMS370.22/cwt57
Brundidge StockyardsAL365.50/cwt22
Johnson StockyardMS359.72/cwt21
Orangeburg Livestock AuctionSC358.90/cwt51
Norwood Livestock AuctionNC354.93/cwt34
Frisco City StockyardsAL352.59/cwt28
Winter Livestock - Dodge CityKS343.81/cwt21

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 12 USDA
Choice $372.28, $0.97 higher. Select $349.81, $0.01 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $22.47. 105 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
30,186 head traded Aug 6–Aug 12.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered376.42907
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered239.55980
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB235.103,052
KansasLive FOB235.013,681
NebraskaDressed Delivered369.046,775
NebraskaLive FOB235.0614,791

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 two weeks ago, yearling steers over 800 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher with not enough yearling heifers from the last auction to establish a trend. Demand was moderate to good from the buyers in the crowd.

Huss Livestock · Nebraska

Compared to last weeks sale, steer calves 350-600 lbs sold 5.00-20.00 higher and feeder steers 600-900 lbs were steady to higher. Heifer calves 400-500 lbs sold 5.00-15.00 higher and feeder heifers 600-700 lbs were 6.00 lower.

Clovis Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Compared to last week. Steers and Heifers 10.00 20.00 lower with extreme heat in the area. Quality was plain to average with a moderate demand.

Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last week, feeder steers and stocker calves, too light to test. Heifers 750 lbs, sold steady to 5.00 higher and 4 loads of steers over 1000 lbs sold steady, strong. Slaughter cows sold 5.00 lower. CME Cattle closed 6.00 down. Good demand for light to moderate supply.

Winter Livestock - Dodge City · Kansas

Compared to last week, feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady with limited comparisons from last week's light offering. Demand was good on a moderate supply. Even though temps soared to near 100 degrees this week, 4 straight loads and several other smaller consignments were in the offering.

Springfield Livestock Marketing Center · Missouri

Compared to a week ago: Slaughter cows and bulls mostly steady, feeder steers, bulls, and heifers steady, steer calves steady to 2.00 lower, bull and heifer calves steady, replacement cows mostly steady.

Ashburn · Georgia

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows and bulls 2.00 to 5.00 lower. Feeder steers, bulls, and heifers 5.00 to 10.00 lower.

Arcadia Stockyard (Wed) · Florida

Compared to last week's sale slaughter steers sold 1.00 to 4.00 higher. Slaughter heifers sold 6.00 to 6.50 higher. Slaughter cows sold 6.00 to 13.00 lower. Holstein bull calves sold 30.00 to 35.00 lower.

Finger Lakes Livestock Auction · New York

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)309.60/cwt$5.55 lower442
Boner (85% lean)326.64/cwt$8.16 lower1,470
Cutter (90% lean)327.88/cwt$9.90 lower2,933
Premium White321.12/cwt$3.74 lower1,641
Bull (92% lean)368.90/cwt$3.34 lower337

What published

See every report →
92 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.