The Morning Wire / Sat Sep 19, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Sep 19
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Sep 18Sep 19Sep 21 →

The market in a line

Sat, Sep 19
Choice cutout held near $371.94. 10 barns across 6 states reported 638 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Sep 14 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 lb498.30/cwt$13.88 higher2,902148
400-499 lb450.87/cwt$10.19 higher7,763167
500-599 lb403.36/cwt$12.77 higher12,243167
600-699 lb363.27/cwt$10.59 higher10,010163
700-799 lb344.17/cwt$4.48 higher7,980146
800-899 lb334.77/cwt$10.37 lower11,797109

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, Sep 19, weighted by head. Spread of $37.09 between the top and bottom of 5 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
South Branch Valley Livestock ExchangeWV393.58/cwt98
Finger Lakes Livestock AuctionNY361.90/cwt32
Jackson County Regional Livestock MarketWV360.71/cwt27
Carthage Livestock AuctionTN359.00/cwt23
Somerset Livestock AuctionKY356.50/cwt25

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 18 USDA
Choice $371.94, $0.21 lower. Select $353.26, $1.38 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $18.68. 86 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
24,654 head traded Sep 12–Sep 18.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered350.213,357
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB348.0076
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered222.17329
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB221.645,633
NebraskaDressed Delivered350.0210,488
NebraskaDressed FOB350.00222

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 sold 2.00 to 6.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 400lbs sold sharply lower. Feeder heifers over 400lbs sold steady to 4.00 lower. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 lower and bulls sold steady with good demand.

Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last feeder sale 400-500lb feeder steers sold 15.00 to 40.00 higher. 500-600lb feeder steers sold 40.00 to 77.50 higher. 400-500lb feeder heifers sold 6.50 to 11.50 higher. 600-700lb feeder heifers sold 12.50 to 87.50 higher.

Finger Lakes Livestock Auction · New York

Compared to last week Feeder Steers 6.00 to 9.00 higher; Feeder Heifers 5.00 to 12.00 higher with strong demand on Heifers over 400#; Feeder Bulls under 500# not well established, over 500# 4.00 to 12.00 higher; Good quality on all classes of feeders cattle; Slaughter Cows steady to 2.00 lower;

Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Lower head run by half compared to last, Regular sale today bookended by Feeder Special sales both last week and next week. Slightly lower than average attendance while trade remained relatively active throughout.

Jackson County Regional Livestock Market · West Virginia

Compared to last Saturday : Feeder steers and feeder heifers sold 3.00 to 6.00 lower. No trends on slaughter cattle due to low receipts.

Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

No market trends available due to limited comparable receipts, however, a lower undertone was noted for feeder and slaughter classes.

Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TN · Tennessee

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)266.70/cwt$7.91 lower490
Boner (85% lean)280.57/cwt$0.68 higher2,069
Cutter (90% lean)285.80/cwt$1.19 higher3,720
Premium White301.76/cwt$0.27 lower1,467
Bull (92% lean)334.56/cwt$5.43 higher512

What published

See every report →
12 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.