The Morning Wire / Fri Sep 4, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Fri, Sep 4
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Sep 3Sep 4Sep 5 →

The market in a line

Fri, Sep 4
Choice cutout held near $376.17. 9 barns across 8 states reported 425 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 Fri, Sep 4, weighted by head. Spread of $6.25 between the top and bottom of 2 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
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NMNM333.18/cwt28
Springville Feeder Cattle AuctionIN326.94/cwt72

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 4 USDA
Choice $376.17, $0.73 lower. Select $355.87, $5.15 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $20.30. 94 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
18,661 head traded Aug 29–Sep 4.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered346.523,846
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB343.001,040
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB218.414,685
NebraskaDressed Delivered344.605,247
NebraskaLive FOB218.693,843

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: There were not enough Feeder Steers to make a comparison. The best test on Heifers 850-900lbs,10.00 higher; 900-950lbs, 6.00 lower; over 1000lbs, mostly steady. Nice offering of mostly home raised, preg checked open or spayed heifers sold on moderate to good demand.

St. Onge Livestock · South Dakota

Compared to last week; thin feeding cows traded mostly steady. Fat cows and fleshy feeding cows traded 5.00 to 8.00 lower. Slaughter bulls traded mostly steady. A nice run of short bred aged cows also today with the majority of them leaving the state.

Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Compared to last week: Steers and heifers calves sold 10.00-15.00 lower with limited comparisons. Feeder steers sold 10.00-15.00 lower, while there was no comparable to feeder heifers. Slaughter cows and bulls sold 10.00-15.00 lower. Trade and demand moderate.

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

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

Siler City Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Compared to last week, receipts of feeder cattle were moderate, with stronger demand noted for lightweight calves. Positive gains in cattle futures on Thursday also provided some support to the market.

Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc. · Arkansas

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)284.58/cwt$3.66 lower541
Boner (85% lean)297.65/cwt$1.51 lower1,672
Cutter (90% lean)300.73/cwt$4.02 lower3,825
Premium White307.75/cwt$10.13 lower1,058
Bull (92% lean)346.88/cwt$3.19 lower405

What published

See every report →
38 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.