The Morning Wire / Mon Aug 24, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Mon, Aug 24
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 22Aug 24Aug 25 →

The market in a line

Mon, Aug 24
Choice cutout held near $385.69. 51 barns across 16 states reported 3,693 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Aug 24 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 lb479.93/cwt$44.63 lower2,173131
400-499 lb416.28/cwt$26.18 lower4,241154
500-599 lb371.00/cwt$25.78 lower5,891153
600-699 lb349.11/cwt$12.09 lower6,188155
700-799 lb334.62/cwt$3.57 lower5,752130
800-899 lb324.00/cwt$4.98 lower8,80594

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Mon, Aug 24, weighted by head. Spread of $70.58 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
Farmers Livestock Exchange, Inc.VA419.74/cwt39
Callaway Livestock CenterMO410.36/cwt119
Harned Livestock AuctionKY401.46/cwt25
Tina LivestockMO398.83/cwt33
Oklahoma National Stockyards MarketOK395.67/cwt215
Lexington Livestock Auction - KentuckyKY385.83/cwt20
Tulsa Stockyards Inc.OK384.86/cwt74
Lynchburg Livestock Market, Inc.VA381.53/cwt72
Joplin Regional StockyardsMO373.60/cwt147
Cleburne County Livestock AuctionAR373.29/cwt34
Southeast Mississippi Livestock AuctionMS373.11/cwt20
Dickson Livestock AuctionTN371.73/cwt55
Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Mon)FL368.43/cwt57
Roswell Livestock AuctionNM363.68/cwt117
New Brockton StockyardsAL361.74/cwt21
Unionville Livestock Auction - Unionville, TNTN360.90/cwt42
Arcadia Stockyard (Mon)FL358.50/cwt56
Cattlemans Livestock Auction - West Point, MSMS357.76/cwt63
Saluda StockyardsSC356.49/cwt29
Tadlock Livestock AuctionMS349.17/cwt34

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 24 USDA
Choice $385.69, steady. Select $365.02, $3.70 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $20.67. 79 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
20,190 head traded Aug 18–Aug 24.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered353.832,953
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered223.7351
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB224.126,021
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.

CLOSE Compared to last week feeder steers under 750 lbs. sold 5.00-15.00 lower. Heavier weights sold from 5.00 lower to 6.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 700 lbs. sold 8.00-20.00 lower. Heavier weights sold 2.00-6.00 lower. Supply was light with moderate demand.

Joplin Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last week: Feeder steers 4.00-10.00 lower, instance to 15.00 lower over 900 lbs. Feeder heifers 2.00-8.00 lower. Steer and heifer calves 5.00-15.00 lower. Demand moderate as buyers a little more selective for kind and condition.

Oklahoma National Stockyards Market · Oklahoma

Compared to last weeks sale; Steer calves 350-500 lbs sold sharply lower with 550-600 lbs being 20.00 lower. Feeder steers sold lower. Heifer calves were 10.00-30.00 lower and feeder heifers were lower.

Roswell Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Compare to last week's sale, Slaughter Steers traded 1.50-3.00 higher. Slaughter Dairy Cows sold 8.00-10.00 lower. Feeder Dairy Calves sold 25.00 lower and Beef Cross Calves traded 25.00-30.00 lower.

New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Total receipts were 1.315 head compared to 1,336 last week. The drought along with bearish news this past week caused the market to be lower on all classes. Feeder steers and heifers were 15,00 to 25.00 lower. Slaughter cows were down 10.00 to 15.00. Slaughter bulls were down 8.00 to 14.00.

Giddings Livestock Commission · Texas

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows sold 2.00 to 8.00 lower, slaughter bulls sold 4.00 to 10.00 higher. Feeder cattle sold unevenly steady, a lower undertone was noted. Replacement cattle sold mostly steady.

Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Mon) · Florida

Compared to one week ago, slaughter cows and bulls steady to 5.00 lower, feeder steers lightly tested, feeder bulls and heifers unevenly steady, all replacements steady.

Greensboro · Georgia

Compared to last week, feeder steers 7.00 lower, feeder heifers sharply lower, feeder bulls sharply lower, slaughter cows sharply lower, slaughter bulls 1.00 higher. Moderate offering of plain to average quality cattle with active buyer participation.

Saluda Livestock Exchange · South Carolina

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)315.35/cwt$10.22 higher889
Boner (85% lean)321.70/cwt$2.35 lower1,901
Cutter (90% lean)320.80/cwt$2.80 lower2,495
Premium White320.19/cwt$0.90 higher1,689
Bull (92% lean)365.07/cwt$0.78 lower528

What published

See every report →
138 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.