The Morning Wire / Wed Aug 26, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Wed, Aug 26
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Aug 25Aug 26Aug 27 →

The market in a line

Wed, Aug 26
Choice cutout closed $3.40 lower at $385.13. 49 barns across 23 states reported 2,848 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 Wed, Aug 26, weighted by head. Spread of $116.28 between the top and bottom of 18 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 CompanyWY459.46/cwt75
Winter Livestock - Dodge CityKS410.64/cwt122
'R' Livestock ConnectionUT398.42/cwt36
Creston Livestock AuctionIA396.64/cwt22
Russell Springs Livestock AuctionKY393.93/cwt23
Windsor Livestock AuctionMO388.35/cwt66
Springfield Livestock Marketing CenterMO382.32/cwt51
Southern Oklahoma Livestock AuctionOK375.72/cwt105
North Wilkesboro Livestock AuctionNC375.37/cwt25
AshburnGA372.11/cwt112
McMinnville Livestock AuctionTN369.98/cwt135
Arcadia Stockyard (Wed)FL368.53/cwt56
Albany Livestock AuctionKY365.77/cwt39
Clovis Livestock AuctionNM360.55/cwt317
Lucedale Livestock AuctionMS359.58/cwt29
Roanoke StockyardsAL345.52/cwt42
Savannah Livestock AuctionTN345.36/cwt27
Brundidge StockyardsAL343.18/cwt40

Boxed beef

PM close · Aug 26 USDA
Choice $385.13, $3.40 lower. Select $362.68, $6.30 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $22.45. 119 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
31,585 head traded Aug 20–Aug 26.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered352.363,705
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered221.31205
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB222.086,910
NebraskaDressed Delivered346.1110,288
NebraskaDressed FOB345.85480
NebraskaLive FOB222.659,997

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, feeder steers and heifers sold sharply lower on the day. Some comparable weights 20.00 lower. Demand was mostly moderate. A lot of negative news in the cattle sector the last two weeks adding downward pressure to Wednesday market.

Huss Livestock · Nebraska

Compared to last week, steers over 800 lbs sold 5.00 to 10.00 lower and heifers over 700 lbs sold 5.00 to 10.00 lower. Stocker steer and heifer calves sold sharply lower. Boning utility slaughter cows sold 10.00 lower while Lean utility slaughter cows sold 5.00 lower.

Winter Livestock - Dodge City · Kansas

Compared to last week very uneven trade. Steers 10.00 to 20.00 lower. Heifers 10.00 to 15.00 lower. Quality was plain to average with a very moderate trade. High temperatures and dry conditions.

Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to one week ago, slaughter cows 8.00 to 12.00 lower, slaughter bulls lightly tested, all feeder classes sharply lower and replacement cows unevenly steady.

Ashburn · Georgia

Compared to the last reported sale two weeks ago, steers and heifers sold 20.00-30.00 lower. Supply and demand were moderate. It's been all negative news for the last month or better for the cattle market and the President's remarks last Friday have sent cattle futures lower and rattled confidence i…

Windsor Livestock Auction · Missouri

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows 1.00 to 2.00 higher, bulls not well tested. Feeder steers, bulls, and heifers steady to 5.00 higher.

Arcadia Stockyard (Wed) · Florida

Compared to one week ago: Feeder cattle sold sharply lower. Slaughter cows sold steady to 1.00 higher, slaughter bulls sold 3.00 lower. Replacement cows and pairs sold mostly steady.

Roanoke Stockyards · Alabama

Active trade at this week's sale, attendance average on the heels of yesterday's Board and Feeder Special Sales. Slightly lower head run compared to last week, lowering offering of Feeder Cattle, similar numbers of Slaughter Cattle with a slight gain in Replacements.

Buckhannon Stockyards · West Virginia

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)303.49/cwt$2.08 lower472
Boner (85% lean)318.95/cwt$0.47 lower1,953
Cutter (90% lean)321.50/cwt$0.85 lower3,216
Premium White319.49/cwt$1.39 lower832
Bull (92% lean)362.94/cwt$0.18 lower564

What published

See every report →
94 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.