The Morning Wire / Fri Oct 9, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Fri, Oct 9

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 8Oct 9Oct 10 →

The market in a line

Fri, Oct 9

Choice cutout closed $1.50 lower at $373.35. 19 barns across 14 states reported 974 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Oct 5 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.

Weight	Price	vs prior week	Head	Barns
300-399 lb	533.84/cwt	$20.03 higher	4,660	163
400-499 lb	482.80/cwt	$20.94 higher	15,688	181
500-599 lb	430.36/cwt	$15.70 higher	26,018	183
600-699 lb	380.51/cwt	$14.13 higher	15,892	182
700-799 lb	344.45/cwt	$0.58 higher	8,153	163
800-899 lb	334.06/cwt	$1.13 higher	8,928	120

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 9, weighted by head. Spread of $123.18 between the top and bottom of 11 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.

Barn	State	Average	Head
Crawford	NE	468.71/cwt	2,066
Ft. Pierre Livestock Auction	SD	468.34/cwt	1,393
St. Onge Livestock	SD	466.36/cwt	1,258
Imperial	NE	457.31/cwt	146
Lexington	NE	441.94/cwt	304
Eastern Missouri Commission Company	MO	430.34/cwt	42
Dunlap Livestock Auction	IA	429.28/cwt	293
Public Auction Yards	MT	429.24/cwt	459
Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc.	AR	375.65/cwt	48
Siler City Livestock Auction	NC	347.19/cwt	46
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NM	NM	345.53/cwt	73

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 9 USDA

Choice $373.35, $1.50 lower. Select $354.30, $2.57 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.05. 124 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

9,540 head traded Oct 3–Oct 9.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	345.00	173
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	343.00	40
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	219.76	82
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	218.67	4,131
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	345.00	1,818
Nebraska	Dressed FOB	345.00	121

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: Yearling feeder steers and heifers 5.00 to 10.00 higher. Steer calves 10.00 to 20.00 higher, except 550-600 lbs steady. Heifer calves 450-500 lbs 10.00 lower, over 500 lbs 10.00 to 15.00 higher.
Ft. Pierre Livestock Auction · South Dakota

Several lot loads the rest was packages of heifers and steers. Calves mostly made up of just weaned and a few long weaned. Most of the calves had precondition shots, with a few just spring shots. Prices looked like higher on a few weights, while lower on others. Demand moderate to good.
Crawford · Nebraska

Compared to last week steer calves under 450 lbs were too lightly tested either this week or last to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. 450 lbs steer calves and heavier sold generally steady.
Public Auction Yards · Montana

Compared to last week; slaughter cows traded 5.00 lower with feeding cows trading mostly steady in the morning and 3.00 lower later in the day. Slaughter bulls traded mostly steady. A nice offering of Bred Cows also with a very active market for dispersal cows.
Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Special Calf & Yearling Sale. Compared to the sale two weeks ago: Light steers were mixed, 450 lbs 4.00 higher, 550 lbs 5.00 lower. Too light a test on yearling steers, no comparison. Heifers, 600 lbs, sharply higher. Too light a test on yearling heifers, no comparison.
Dunlap Livestock Auction · Iowa

Slaughter cattle were 5.00 lower this week compared to last week . Feeder cattle were steady to 2.00 to 4.00 lower this week compared to last week . Demand was moderate ; market activity and buyer interest were moderate . Offerings were moderate with quality average .
Siler City Livestock Auction · North Carolina

Compared to last week: Feeder steers sold 5.00 to 10.00 higher with some instances of sharply higher. Feeder heifers sold steady to firm. Yearling steers sold steady. Slaughter cows sold 4.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold steady on a light test.
Richmond Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to two week ago, because of last week small sale due to weather: Steer and heifer calves sold 8.00-15.00 higher. Feeder steers and heifers sold 10.00-15.00 higher. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady. Trade and demand good.
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NM · New Mexico

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	247.41/cwt	$5.20 lower	567
Boner (85% lean)	261.14/cwt	$2.93 lower	1,944
Cutter (90% lean)	265.77/cwt	$4.68 lower	3,331
Premium White	275.36/cwt	$20.45 lower	1,222
Bull (92% lean)	321.12/cwt	$1.71 lower	314

What published

See every report →

50 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.