The Morning Wire / Tue Sep 29, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Tue, Sep 29
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Sep 28Sep 29Sep 30 →

The market in a line

Tue, Sep 29
Choice cutout closed $2.18 higher at $382.66. 59 barns across 23 states reported 4,040 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Sep 28 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 lb512.91/cwt$1.86 lower3,646156
400-499 lb460.26/cwt$1.05 lower9,788168
500-599 lb413.83/cwt$8.26 higher15,995172
600-699 lb366.06/cwt$2.37 higher11,536164
700-799 lb344.16/cwt$2.61 lower8,385154
800-899 lb333.27/cwt$1.77 lower9,678108

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Tue, Sep 29, weighted by head. Spread of $66.11 between the top and bottom of 20 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
F&T Livestock MarketMO442.34/cwt94
Winter Livestock - Riverton, WYWY426.33/cwt32
Beaver Livestock AuctionOK422.93/cwt522
Toppenish Livestock CommissionWA422.91/cwt239
Lolli Brothers Livestock MarketMO420.16/cwt47
Producers Livestock Marketing - Salina, UTUT419.90/cwt334
Springfield Livestock Auction - KentuckyKY413.50/cwt114
Kingsville Livestock AuctionMO407.36/cwt109
Brookhaven Livestock AuctionMS399.93/cwt36
Lexington Livestock Auction - KentuckyKY398.15/cwt39
Flemingsburg Livestock AuctionKY394.44/cwt42
Lonestar StockyardsTX394.29/cwt90
Interstate Regional StockyardsMO391.68/cwt37
Four State StockyardsMO388.46/cwt174
Winter - La JuntaCO384.82/cwt355
United Producers Inc (Fayetteville, TN)TN382.33/cwt21
OKC West Livestock MarketOK382.04/cwt420
ThomasvilleGA381.81/cwt22
Ozarks Regional StockyardsMO381.31/cwt309
McAlester Union StockyardsOK376.23/cwt105

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 29 USDA
Choice $382.66, $2.18 higher. Select $364.48, $6.25 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $18.18. 112 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
13,791 head traded Sep 23–Sep 29.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered350.042,026
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered219.6955
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB219.953,981
NebraskaDressed Delivered346.856,993
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 week, feeder steers and heifers were steady to 6.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves under 700 lbs were steady to 6.00 lower. Demand was good on a moderate supply. There were several drafts of green yearlings crossing the scales today with the largest draft being 102 head of 936 lb.

Ozarks Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last sale (9-22-26): All feeder steers and heifer calves were too lightly tested last week to develop any market trend. All weights of yearling heifers sold mostly 2.00-5.00 lower in a narrow comparison. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive.

Miles City Livestock Commission · Montana

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cattle sold 2.00 to 3.00 lower. Feeder cattle sold 6.00 to 10.00 lower. Trade active with good demand. Replacement cattle sold mostly steady.

Cullman Stockyards · Alabama

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows and bulls steady to 2.00 higher. Feeder steers, bulls, and heifers unevenly steady to 5.00 higher.

Okeechobee Livestock Auction (Tue) · Florida

Compared to a week ago: Slaughter Cows and Slaughter Bulls steady. Replacement Cattle Steady. All Feeder Classes steady. All Calf Classes sold steady to 2.00 higher.

Southern Livestock · Georgia

Compared to last week: Slaughter cows 2.00 to 5.00 lower. Slaughter bulls steady. Demand was moderate for the slaughter cattle and good for the bred females. Quality average.

Woodward Livestock Inc · Oklahoma

Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold steaty to 5.00 higher with spots up to 10.00 higher on some of the bigger groups of middle weight yearling steers weighing from 625-800 lbs. Demand was good for a moderate supply with mostly yearlings on hand but some nice groups of calves also.

Kingsville Livestock Auction · Missouri

Compared to the last sale two weeks ago, yearling load lots traded 4.00 to 5.00 lower with slim comparisons on other weights. Slaughter cows sharply lower.

Unionville Livestock Market LLC · Missouri

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)278.50/cwt$21.57 higher810
Boner (85% lean)275.07/cwt$2.81 higher2,314
Cutter (90% lean)275.65/cwt$3.79 lower3,630
Premium White295.87/cwt$5.05 higher1,331
Bull (92% lean)320.03/cwt$9.17 lower475

What published

See every report →
106 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.