The Morning Wire / Fri Oct 2, 2026

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The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Fri, Oct 2
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Oct 1Oct 2Oct 3 →

The market in a line

Fri, Oct 2
Choice cutout closed $2.60 lower at $374.19. 15 barns across 11 states reported 698 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 Fri, Oct 2, weighted by head. Spread of $101.53 between the top and bottom of 9 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
CrawfordNE463.83/cwt1,815
Ft. Pierre Livestock AuctionSD451.53/cwt1,155
St. Onge LivestockSD450.53/cwt741
LexingtonNE440.98/cwt152
Public Auction YardsMT431.29/cwt303
BurwellNE416.01/cwt61
Springville Feeder Cattle AuctionIN393.97/cwt351
Richmond Livestock AuctionKY377.89/cwt29
Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc.AR362.29/cwt23

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 2 USDA
Choice $374.19, $2.60 lower. Select $354.49, $1.60 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.70. 119 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
24,298 head traded Sep 26–Oct 2.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered348.452,602
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB345.0040
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered220.75283
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB219.387,538
NebraskaDressed Delivered346.108,344
NebraskaLive Delivered226.00700

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 from 450 lbs to 499 lbs were 8.00 to 12.00 higher, steers from 500 lbs to 549 lbs were15.00 to 20.00 lower, steers from 550 lbs to 599 lbs were 10.00 to 12.00 higher, steers from 850 lbs to 899 lbs were 10.00 to 15.00 lower, steers from 900 lbs to 949 lbs were steady to…

Ft. Pierre Livestock Auction · South Dakota

Compared to last week; slaughter and feeder cows traded mostly steady throughout the day with the majority going back to the country. Slaughter bulls also mostly steady.

Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

This month's special feeder calf sale featured black and black and white face steer and heifer feeder calves. Compared to the previous sale on 9/4/26, feeder steers were 52.00 higher and feeder heifers were 26.00 higher.

Springville Feeder Cattle Auction · Indiana

Short consignment sheet of bawling spring calves and pregnancy checked open yearling heifers on offer. Compared to two weeks ago steer calves 400-600 lbs sold steady to 10.00 higher and feeder heifers 800-1000 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower.

Lexington · Nebraska

Slaughter cattle were 2.00 higher this week compared to last week . Feeder cattle were steady to 2.00 to 3.00 lower this week compared to last week . Demand was moderate ; market activity and buyer interest were moderate . Offerings moderate with quality average . 12 head of hogs

Siler City Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers sold 3.00 to 5.00 higher. Yearling steers sold 3.00 to 4.00 lower. Slaughter cows sold 5.00 to 7.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 3.00 to 5.00 lower on a light test. Groups of 20hd or more: Steers: 50hd 1042lbs 289.00 BLK 7 CHARX 51hd 1007lbs 292.50 BLK

Richmond Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week, widespread rainfall across the region resulted in reduced offerings as muddy conditions limited movement. Feeder offerings this week consisted primarily of unweaned calves and were of overall plainer quality.

Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc. · Arkansas

Average attendance and active market today, similar head run of Feeders compared to last week with an uptick in Slaughter Cows and small runs of Lambs and Goats from the Buckwheat Festival.

Preston Farmers Market · West Virginia

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)256.38/cwt$1.63 higher645
Boner (85% lean)267.20/cwt$2.01 higher1,979
Cutter (90% lean)271.64/cwt$0.98 higher3,366
Premium White288.69/cwt$2.24 higher1,597
Bull (92% lean)321.95/cwt$0.89 lower352

What published

See every report →
43 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.