The Morning Wire / Thu Aug 20, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Thu, Aug 20
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 19Aug 20latest →

The market in a line

Thu, Aug 20
Choice cutout closed $5.06 lower at $389.93. 27 barns across 16 states reported 1,555 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Aug 17 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 lb523.90/cwt$12.63 lower2,240118
400-499 lb434.44/cwt$19.65 lower3,587126
500-599 lb388.91/cwt$12.92 lower4,978130
600-699 lb361.28/cwt$12.61 lower5,283126
700-799 lb338.67/cwt$15.36 lower4,710104
800-899 lb328.40/cwt$10.57 lower5,30571

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Thu, Aug 20, weighted by head. Spread of $81.62 between the top and bottom of 12 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
Toppenish Livestock CommissionWA431.54/cwt23
Sheldon Livestock AuctionIA423.65/cwt40
Stanford Livestock AuctionKY423.31/cwt24
Paris Livestock AuctionKY417.83/cwt52
Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - KansasKS409.40/cwt129
Mid Missouri StockyardsMO397.85/cwt40
Apache Livestock AuctionOK395.05/cwt117
Tulia Livestock AuctionTX384.84/cwt27
Fairview Livestock AuctionIL382.70/cwt92
Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TNTN381.53/cwt105
Benton County Sale BarnAR374.53/cwt20
Producers Livestock Auction Co - San AngeloTX349.92/cwt65

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 20 USDA
Choice $389.93, $5.06 lower. Select $363.74, $0.43 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $26.19. 110 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
14,303 head traded Aug 14–Aug 20.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered355.211,591
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB224.894,057
KansasLive FOB228.00117
NebraskaDressed Delivered357.815,074
NebraskaDressed FOB359.18999
NebraskaLive FOB226.422,465

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 over 550 lbs sold 10.00 - 20.00 lower with steers under 550 lbs not enough for market test. Heifers between 550 to 800 lbs sold 5.00 - 15.00 lower with heifers under 550 lbs and over 800 lbs not enough for market test. Several lots of unweaned calves offered today.

Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - Kansas · Kansas

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and feeder heifers 3.00 to 10.00 lower. Steer calves 15.00 to 20.00 lower. Heifer calves 20.00 to 30.00 lower. Quality good to attractive with moderate demand. Slaughter cows 3.00 to 8.00 lower. Slaughter bulls 7.00 lower.

Apache Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last Thursday feeder steers sold 10.00 to 15.00 lower. Feeder heifers sold 12.00 to 16.00 lower. Plainer quality feeders sold sharply lower in some instances. There was moderate demand for feeder and yearling classes. Slaughter cows and bulls sold 6.00 to 8.00 lower.

Paris Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to the last reported sale two weeks ago, steers and heifers sold mostly steady to 6.00 lower based on limited weight comparisons. Slaughter cows and bulls sold mostly 3.00 to 8.00 lower. A nice run of replacements this week that included a complete herd sellout with pairs and bred cows.

Mid Missouri Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last Thursday, stocker and feeder cattle 1.00-6.00 lower. Feeder cattle futures are up a quarter to $1.50 so far. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down another $1.19 on August 18 to $342.36. Slaughter cows weak to 6.00 lower. Trade moderate to active with light to moderate demand.

Toppenish Livestock Commission · Washington

Slaughter cattle sale today: Compared to last week. Choice steers and heifers were 6.75-8.75 lower, Dairy steers 3.50 higher, slaughter cows were mostly steady. Trade active. Demand moderate to good.

Kalona Livestock Auction · Iowa

Compared to last week, slaughter cattle were mostly steady. Feeder cattle were mostly steady while others were mixed. Demand was moderate; market activity and buyer interest were moderate. Offerings of cattle were light. Cattle quality was plain to average.

Smithfield Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Compared to last week: Feeder steers steady to 5.00 higher. Feeder heifers steady on a light test. Steer and heifer calves were mostly unweaned with a stronger undertone noted. Demand was moderate to active.

Woodward Livestock Inc · Oklahoma

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)309.74/cwt$1.10 higher558
Boner (85% lean)319.08/cwt$7.74 lower1,679
Cutter (90% lean)318.99/cwt$5.93 lower3,041
Premium White322.77/cwt$1.95 higher2,162
Bull (92% lean)365.48/cwt$4.54 lower419

What published

See every report →
61 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.