The Morning Wire / Thu Oct 1, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Thu, Oct 1
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Sep 30Oct 1Oct 2 →

The market in a line

Thu, Oct 1
Choice cutout closed $6.00 lower at $376.79. 34 barns across 17 states reported 1,980 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 lb515.03/cwt$1.01 higher3,854163
400-499 lb462.19/cwt$1.32 higher10,712175
500-599 lb414.98/cwt$9.57 higher17,467179
600-699 lb366.55/cwt$2.93 higher12,280171
700-799 lb344.10/cwt$2.64 lower8,528161
800-899 lb333.11/cwt$1.92 lower10,078114

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Thu, Oct 1, weighted by head. Spread of $110.58 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
OgallalaNE460.30/cwt186
ValentineNE458.84/cwt720
Stockmen's Livestock ExchangeND452.12/cwt232
Winter Livestock - PrattKS444.81/cwt70
Napoleon Livestock AuctionND431.13/cwt105
Billings Livestock CommissionMT429.71/cwt138
Tulia Livestock AuctionTX427.27/cwt54
Cedar Livestock AuctionUT423.18/cwt71
Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - KansasKS420.62/cwt240
Wheeler Livestock AuctionMO411.30/cwt174
Stanford Livestock AuctionKY405.15/cwt20
Lamoni Livestock AuctionIA404.63/cwt45
Virginia Livestock, LLCVA400.29/cwt84
Mid Missouri StockyardsMO399.74/cwt72
Paris Livestock AuctionKY391.61/cwt102
Benton County Sale BarnAR376.68/cwt57
Guthrie Livestock AuctionKY374.46/cwt21
Producers Livestock Auction Co - San AngeloTX366.87/cwt53
Apache Livestock AuctionOK353.31/cwt105
Hope Livestock Auction Inc.AR349.72/cwt36

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 1 USDA
Choice $376.79, $6.00 lower. Select $352.89, $7.70 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $23.90. 117 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
27,500 head traded Sep 25–Oct 1.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered348.162,673
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered220.52303
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB219.579,340
NebraskaDressed Delivered345.7310,515
NebraskaLive FOB219.944,669

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 two weeks ago , calves were 9.00 - 15.00 higher and feeders were 5.00 - 14.00 higher. Nice offering today both calves and feeders. Demand was good to moderate on everything offered.

Ogallala · Nebraska

Compared to last week, steers weighing 400 to 899 lbs sold 9.00 to 12.00 lower with the exception of steers weighing 500 to 550 lbs selling 10.00 higher and 600 to 799 lbs steers not enough for market test.

Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - Kansas · Kansas

Compared to last week: Feeder steers unevenly steady on a light test. Feeder heifers steady to 10.00 higher. Steer calves under 450 lbs. 10.0 to 20.00 higher, over 450 lbs. steady to 10.00 lower. Heifer calves 10.00 to 20.00 lower. Quality average with good demand.

Apache Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last sale (9-24-26): Feeder steers and heifer calves were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Yearling steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.

Billings Livestock Commission · Montana

Comparted to last week: Feeder steers and heifers sold 10.00-15.00 lower. Supply was moderate with good demand. Slaughter cows sold 5.00-8.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 8.00-10.00 lower.

Benton County Sale Barn · Arkansas

Compared to last week, feeder steers sold 5.00 to 7.00 higher, while feeder heifers and bulls sold steady to 3.00 lower. Slaughter cows sold uneven; breakers and boners sold 3.00 to 5.00 higher, while leans sold 5.00 to 6.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 7.00 to 8.00 lower.

Producers Livestock Auction Co - San Angelo · Texas

Compared to last week's sale, Slaughter Steers were $5.00-$8.00 higher and Slaughter Dairy Cows traded $5.00-$10.00 lower. Feeder Dairy Bull Calves traded $20.00-$40.00 lower while Beef Cross Bull Calves were $50.00-$80.00 higher.

New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Compared to last report feeder steers sold sharply higher, with feeder heifers selling unevenly steady. While slaughter cows and bulls sold too light to test. With sheep and goats selling with too few comparable sales to test. Trade was active with a good demand with a moderate supply.

Cedar Livestock Auction · Utah

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)254.75/cwt$6.10 lower364
Boner (85% lean)265.19/cwt$4.00 lower1,781
Cutter (90% lean)270.67/cwt$1.99 lower3,237
Premium White286.46/cwt$8.14 lower1,500
Bull (92% lean)322.84/cwt$0.96 lower352

What published

See every report →
68 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.