The Morning Wire / Sat Sep 26, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Sep 26
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Sep 25Sep 26Sep 28 →

The market in a line

Sat, Sep 26
Choice cutout closed $2.71 higher at $378.83. 10 barns across 4 states reported 678 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Sep 21 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 lb514.77/cwt$16.47 higher3,675162
400-499 lb461.31/cwt$10.44 higher9,503173
500-599 lb405.57/cwt$2.21 higher11,933174
600-699 lb363.69/cwt$0.42 higher10,864171
700-799 lb346.77/cwt$2.60 higher10,765158
800-899 lb335.04/cwt$0.27 higher10,840118

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 26, weighted by head. Spread of $19.11 between the top and bottom of 6 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
Weston Livestock MarketingWV386.70/cwt26
Jackson County Regional Livestock MarketWV385.43/cwt94
Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TNTN378.47/cwt21
Somerset Livestock AuctionKY376.44/cwt44
Springlake Livestock Market, Inc.VA376.14/cwt21
Shenandoah Valley LivestockVA367.59/cwt41

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 25 USDA
Choice $378.83, $2.71 higher. Select $355.76, $3.66 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $23.07. 112 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
12,385 head traded Sep 19–Sep 25.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered350.042,026
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered219.6955
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB219.984,041
NebraskaDressed Delivered346.255,527
NebraskaLive FOB221.38736

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 Saturday the feeder market was stronger in spots with a good quality offering. Feeder steers 300-450 lbs appeared steady, while the 500-700 lbs steers were steady to 5.00 higher in spots with a good supply and good demand long weaned packages and groups.

Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week Feeder Steers 7.00 to 12.00 higher; Feeder Heifers 4.00 to 6.00 higher; Feeder Bulls under 550lbs 12.00 higher, over 550lbs steady to 5.00 lower; Slaughter Cows 4.00 to 6.00 lower with lower quality; Slaughter Bulls mostly staedy.

Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and feeder heifers sold 3.00 to 5.00 higher. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold mostly steady.

Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week, slaughter cows sold 6.00 to 7.00 lower with no comparisons available for slaughter bulls or feeder classes due to limited comparable receipts, but a higher undertone was noted for feeder cattle.

Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TN · Tennessee

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)258.84/cwt$7.72 lower540
Boner (85% lean)270.71/cwt$4.99 lower2,078
Cutter (90% lean)275.15/cwt$4.02 lower3,680
Premium White292.58/cwt$0.22 lower1,702
Bull (92% lean)324.32/cwt$2.13 lower390

What published

See every report →
11 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.