The Morning Wire / Sat Aug 22, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Aug 22
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 21Aug 22Aug 24 →

The market in a line

Sat, Aug 22
Choice cutout closed $4.24 lower at $385.69. 9 barns across 4 states reported 584 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 Sat, Aug 22, weighted by head. Spread of $49.63 between the top and bottom of 4 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 AuctionKY415.02/cwt27
Campbellsville Livestock AuctionKY375.41/cwt24
Carthage Livestock AuctionTN367.00/cwt24
Jackson County Regional Livestock MarketWV365.40/cwt64

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 last Saturday the feeder market was spotty but stronger in several spots with a good quality offering. Feeder steers and heifers 300-600 lbs were unevenly steady ranging from 5.00 lower to 5.00 higher in spots with a good supply and good demand for weaned and harder conditioned calves.

Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

No trends established on Feeder Cattle due to lack of comparable sales. However lower undertones prevailed. Slaughter Cows 5.00 to 10.00 lower. Slaughter Bulls 15.00 lower on a light test. Quality average or below and demand moderate.

Crossville Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last Saturday: Feeder steers and heifers sold 6.00 to 12.00 lower. Volatile market news continues to pressure markets down. Slaughter cows sold 5.00 to 8.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold steady.

Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week, slaughter cows sold unevenly steady with no comparisons available for slaughter bulls or feeder classes due to limited comparable receipts.

Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TN · Tennessee

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 →
11 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.