The Morning Wire / Thu Sep 3, 2026

Feeder Cattle — prices, barns, and planning

The Feeder BoardNational weight ladder, every weight classfreeState & Region LaddersEvery state, every weightfreeFind Your BarnEvery USDA-reported market, every salefreeSale ReportsClean report pages replacing USDA PDFsfreeState Auction SummariesUSDA's statewide view, 30 statesfreeWhat Are My Calves Worth?Weight + sex + state → today's moneyfreeThe Forward CurveFall prices trading today, by regionproVideo & Internet SalesSuperior, Western Video and morefreeBoard SalesForward feeder trade, by delivery monthfree

Fed Cattle — the cash market and what quality pays

Fed Cash Today5-Area live & dressed, regional splitfreePacker MarginThe daily per-head numberfreeCarcass Weight WatchWeekly weights vs 5-year bandfreeCattle on FeedMonthly placements & marketings, revisions trackedfreeNegotiated Share TrackerCash vs formula, tracked over yearsfreeWhat Quality PaysWhat packers add and subtract on a carcass gridfree

Beef & Retail — from the box to the grocery shelf

Boxed Beef DailyChoice, Select, the spreadfreePrimal ValuesRib to flank, what's pulling the cutoutfreeWhat the Label Is WorthGrass-fed and organic vs conventional, by cutfreeThe 84-Cut LadderEvery cut USDA tracks, dailyproWho Gets WhatEvery segment’s share of the beef dollarfreeImported Lean MarketThe 90s trade that moves cull cowsSoon

Feed & Hay — the cost side, cash not futures

Cash Grain Bids30 states of elevator bids, dailyfreeHay Prices19 states + 18 auctions, by qualityfreeBasis MapWhat local corn is worth against the boardfreeFeedstuffs DeskDDGS, soybean meal, mill feedsfree

Cows & Bred Stock — the rebuild market

Cull Cow & Bull PricesDaily national, by class and regionfreeCow CutoutWhat the grinding beef is worth, dailyfreeBred Cows & PairsBy stage, age, and statefree

More

Latest ReportsEvery USDA release as it publishesfreeReport ArchiveWhat USDA published on any datefreeThe Morning WireDaily brief from every fresh reportfreeRecords BookAll-time highs, and where today sitsfreeCattle on FeedMonthly, with revisions trackedfreeThe BordersMexico & Canada flows and pricesproDrought & Forced SellingHow much of the herd is dry, and what it costsfreeAlertsYour barn, your class, your thresholdSoon

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Thu, Sep 3
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Sep 2Sep 3Sep 4 →

The market in a line

Thu, Sep 3
Choice cutout closed $1.88 lower at $376.90. 28 barns across 15 states reported 1,499 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Aug 31 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 lb478.27/cwt$1.66 lower2,406128
400-499 lb416.75/cwt$0.47 higher4,330144
500-599 lb371.39/cwt$0.39 higher5,984157
600-699 lb347.19/cwt$1.92 lower5,170139
700-799 lb331.41/cwt$3.21 lower4,421123
800-899 lb324.16/cwt$0.16 higher6,69480

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, Sep 3, weighted by head. Spread of $80.04 between the top and bottom of 14 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
Denison Livestock AuctionIA423.20/cwt20
Winter Livestock - PrattKS411.58/cwt103
Dalhart Livestock AuctionTX395.68/cwt22
Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - KansasKS392.41/cwt29
Lamoni Livestock AuctionIA388.25/cwt22
Mid Missouri StockyardsMO384.49/cwt28
Paris Livestock AuctionKY376.90/cwt20
Benton County Sale BarnAR375.69/cwt34
Woodward Livestock IncOK364.84/cwt90
Apache Livestock AuctionOK364.34/cwt126
Fairview Livestock AuctionIL357.89/cwt20
Producers Livestock Auction Co - San AngeloTX352.73/cwt68
Hope Livestock Auction Inc.AR344.19/cwt20
Tulia Livestock AuctionTX343.16/cwt63

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 3 USDA
Choice $376.90, $1.88 lower. Select $350.72, $2.86 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $26.18. 117 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
21,555 head traded Aug 28–Sep 3.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered347.124,448
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB342.67120
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered218.0076
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB218.815,024
NebraskaDressed Delivered344.655,067
NebraskaLive FOB220.066,820

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: Feeder steers under 700 lbs. 10.00 lower. Feeder heifers under 650 lbs. steady to 10.00 lower, over 650 lbs. 3.00 to 6.00 higher. Steer calves and heifer calves 10.00 to 20.00 lower. Quality good to attractive with good demand. Slaughter cows 8.00 to 12.00 lower.

Apache Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last week, steers over 800 lbs sold 5.00 to 10.00 lower, however steers 700 to 797 sold steady to 5.00 higher. Steers under 700 lbs not enough for market test. Heifers under 560 lbs and over 850 lbs not enough for market test, heifers weighing 561 to 842 sold 5.00 to 15.00 lower.

Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - Kansas · Kansas

JRS had a good crowd on hand this Thursday afternoon for their replacement cattle special sale. The majority of the sale consisted of nice groups of open heifers ready to breed this fall.

Joplin Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last sale (8-27-26): Feeder steers were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder heifers under 1050 lbs sold generally steady in a narrow comparison, heifers over 1050 lbs sold mostly 5.00 higher in a narrow comparison.

Billings Livestock Commission · Montana

Compared to last week, feeder cattle overall sold steady to 3.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls sold on a light test, however a lower undertone was noted.

Producers Livestock Auction Co - San Angelo · Texas

Compared to last week's sale, Slaughter Steers sold 6.00 to 8.00 lower, Slaughter Dairy Cows traded 10.00 to 13.00 lower. Feeder Dairy Calf Holstein Bulls sold 60.00 to 80.00 higher with Beef Cross calves 50.00 to 75.00 higher.

New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Comparted to last week: Feeder steers sold mixed under 400lbs 10.00-15.00 lower, 400-500lbs 10.00-15.00 higher, 500-600lbs 5.00-10.00 lower, over 600lbs 10.00-15.00 higher. Feeder heifers sold 10.00-15.00 higher. Slaughter cows sold 5.00-8.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00-5.00 lower.

Benton County Sale Barn · Arkansas

Compared to last Thursday, not enough stocker or feeder cattle this week for accurate trends. Feeder cattle futures closed mixed, with front months down 17 cents to $1.37 and deferreds 5 to 25 cents higher. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up 4 cents on September 1 to $329.18.

Toppenish Livestock Commission · Washington

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)288.24/cwt$1.83 lower449
Boner (85% lean)299.16/cwt$6.06 lower1,709
Cutter (90% lean)304.75/cwt$5.37 lower3,189
Premium White317.88/cwt$7.65 higher1,404
Bull (92% lean)350.07/cwt$3.60 higher547

What published

See every report →
63 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.