The Morning Wire / Wed Sep 30, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Wed, Sep 30
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

The market in a line

Wed, Sep 30
Choice cutout held near $382.79. 50 barns across 24 states reported 3,416 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 Wed, Sep 30, weighted by head. Spread of $100.16 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
Torrington Livestock Commission CompanyWY467.51/cwt533
Hub City Livestock AuctionSD460.00/cwt91
Public Auction YardsMT435.17/cwt90
South Central Regional StockyardsMO427.27/cwt97
Windsor Livestock AuctionMO420.72/cwt32
'R' Livestock ConnectionUT413.44/cwt176
Winter Livestock - Dodge CityKS405.84/cwt98
Farmington Regional StockyardsMO405.13/cwt94
Springfield Livestock Marketing CenterMO400.69/cwt125
Owenton Livestock AuctionKY399.18/cwt34
Russell Springs Livestock AuctionKY394.28/cwt50
Albany Livestock AuctionKY387.70/cwt37
Green Forest StockyardsAR387.20/cwt50
Arcadia Stockyard (Wed)FL382.95/cwt56
Campbellsville Livestock AuctionKY380.54/cwt25
Mount Sterling Livestock AuctionKY378.35/cwt55
Clovis Livestock AuctionNM377.89/cwt112
Preston Farmers MarketWV376.58/cwt118
Southern Oklahoma Livestock AuctionOK367.40/cwt258
Lafayette Livestock AuctionTN367.35/cwt26

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 30 USDA
Choice $382.79, $0.13 higher. Select $360.59, $3.89 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $22.20. 108 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
14,056 head traded Sep 24–Sep 30.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered349.802,451
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered219.6955
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB219.943,611
NebraskaDressed Delivered346.726,697
NebraskaLive FOB220.581,242

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. Steers 5.00 to 10.00 lower. Heifers steady to 10.00 lower. Quality was plain to average with a moderate demand.

Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to one week ago, slaughter cows 3.00 to 7.00 higher, slaughter bulls 1.00 to 5.00 higher, feeder steers and bulls 5.00 to 10.00 higher, feeder heifers and replacement cows unevenly steady.

Ashburn · Georgia

Compared to last week, 500 lbs steers and the heifer offering sold 14.00-23.00 higher, the rest of the steer offering sold 1.00-5.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady; Demand uneven and supply moderate

Farmington Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to one week ago: Feeder steers and bulls sold 8.00 to 12.00 lower, feeder heifers sold 3.00 to 6.00 lower. Slaughter cows sold 2.00 to 6.00 lower, slaughter bulls sold steady. Replacement cows and pairs sold mostly steady.

Roanoke Stockyards · Alabama

Compared to last Wednesday: Feeder steers 8.00-12.00 higher, Feeder heifers steady to 5.00 lower, Moderate to good demand for feeder classes. Slaughter cows and bulls 2.00-4.00 lower, Moderate demand for slaughter classes.

Owenton Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week, slaughter steers and heifers sold 2.00 to 3.00 lower. No dairy steers or dairy cross steers were offered last week for a comparison. Trade was active with moderate demand.

Greenville Livestock Auction · Illinois

Compared to last week, Feeder Steers steady-$4.00 lower, Feeder Heifers $8.00-$9.00 lower, Feeder Bulls $5.00-$7.00 lower, Slaughter Cows $4.00-$6.00 lower, Slaughter Bulls not well established. Quality fair to good, Demand moderate to good.

Savannah Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Comparted to last week: Feeder steers sold mixed under 400lbs 10.00-15.00 lower, 400-550lbs 7.00-10.00 higher, over 550lbs 10.00-15.00 lower. Feeder heifers under 400lbs sold 5.00-10.00 higher, over 400lbs 10.00-15.00 lower. Supply was moderate with good demand. Slaughter cows 5.00-7.00 lower.

Green Forest Stockyards · Arkansas

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)260.85/cwt$17.66 lower439
Boner (85% lean)269.18/cwt$5.89 lower1,943
Cutter (90% lean)272.65/cwt$3.00 lower3,442
Premium White294.59/cwt$1.28 lower1,847
Bull (92% lean)323.80/cwt$3.77 higher372

What published

See every report →
96 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.