The Morning Wire / Fri Aug 21, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Fri, Aug 21
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

The market in a line

Fri, Aug 21
Choice cutout closed $4.24 lower at $385.69. 9 barns across 8 states reported 508 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 lb524.56/cwt$11.97 lower2,560133
400-499 lb442.46/cwt$11.63 lower4,267143
500-599 lb396.78/cwt$5.05 lower5,729147
600-699 lb361.20/cwt$12.69 lower5,634143
700-799 lb338.19/cwt$15.84 lower5,032117
800-899 lb328.98/cwt$9.99 lower6,27685

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Fri, Aug 21, weighted by head. Spread of $173.39 between the top and bottom of 3 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
CrawfordNE507.50/cwt430
Siler City Livestock AuctionNC344.77/cwt21
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NMNM334.12/cwt34

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 21 USDA
Choice $385.69, $4.24 lower. Select $361.32, $2.42 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $24.37. 91 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
20,150 head traded Aug 15–Aug 21.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered353.832,953
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered223.7351
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB224.165,981
NebraskaDressed Delivered356.784,784
NebraskaDressed FOB356.00204
NebraskaLive FOB225.226,177

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, steers over 800 lbs sold steady to 10.00 lower and heifers over 750 lbs sold unevenly steady. Demand was moderate to good from the buyers in the crowd.

Lexington · Nebraska

Compared to last week: Feeder calves and yearlings sold sharply lower. With the exception of 925lb to 975lbs steers they sold 3.00 to 5.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls sold 10.00 to 12.00 lower.

Richmond Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week: No good comparisons for steer and heifer calves, but a downward trend was noticed. There was also no good comparable for feeder steers and heifers. Slaughter cows and bulls sold 5.00-7.00 lower, Trade and demand moderate.

Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NM · New Mexico

Slaughter cattle 2.00 higher this week compared to last week . Slaughter cattle steady to 3.00 higher this week compared to last week . Demand was moderate ; market activity and buyer interest were moderate . Offerings light with quality average . 8 hogs

Siler City Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Friday's auction had a light offering of feeder calves mostly unweaned steers and bulls all selling though with good demand. Selling mostly in small packages and singles.

Eastern Missouri Commission Company · Missouri

Compared to last week, feeder cattle supply was moderate, consisting primarily of unweaned calves. Feeder steers were not tested sufficiently to establish a market trend, while feeder bulls sold steady to $5.00 higher. Feeder heifers sold $5.00 to $10.00 lower;

Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc. · Arkansas

Compared to last week; slaughter and feeder cows traded under pressure 6.00 to 10.00 lower. Slaughter bulls traded 5.00 lower. A light offering today with all bidding coming from the seats. Sale again next Friday.

Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Nice packages of preg. check open heifers, a few spayed heifers, fall calves, and just weaned calves. They are coming off of short and dry grass. Prices on the lower side. Demand was moderate to good.

Crawford · Nebraska

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)305.13/cwt$4.60 lower618
Boner (85% lean)324.05/cwt$4.96 higher1,732
Cutter (90% lean)323.61/cwt$4.61 higher3,043
Premium White319.29/cwt$3.48 lower1,872
Bull (92% lean)365.85/cwt$0.37 higher479

What published

See every report →
42 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.