The Morning Wire / Sat Oct 10, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Oct 10

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 9Oct 10Oct 12 →

The market in a line

Sat, Oct 10

Choice cutout closed $1.50 lower at $373.35. 10 barns across 5 states reported 771 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 Sat, Oct 10, weighted by head. Spread of $29.70 between the top and bottom of 6 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
South Branch Valley Livestock Exchange	WV	389.83/cwt	513
Shenandoah Valley Livestock	VA	388.75/cwt	51
Weston Livestock Marketing	WV	385.18/cwt	32
Somerset Livestock Auction	KY	380.05/cwt	40
Empire - Bath	NY	365.17/cwt	34
Carthage Livestock Auction	TN	360.13/cwt	32

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 Saturday the feeder market was mostly stronger with a good quality offering. Feeder steers 350 lbs and under appeared stronger with a lite test, while the 400-700 lbs steers were steady to 3.00 higher with a good supply and good demand for quality cattle.
Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week Feeder Steers steady to 5.00 higher with limited comparable data; Feeder Heifers 10.00 to 15.00 higher with instances of 35.00 higher; Feeder Bulls 10.00 to 12.00 higher with instances of 30.00 higher;
Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last month's sale 500-600lb feeder steers sold 40.00 to 41.00 higher. 600-700lb feeder steers sold 68.50 to 75.50 higher. 300-400lb feeder heifers sold 44.00 to 70.00 lower. 500-600lb feeder heifers sold 19.50 to 37.00 higher.
Empire - Bath · New York

Lower total head in today's run compared to last week, less short legs but very similar offerings of Feeders and Slaughter Cattle, average attendance and active market participation. Small offering of Lambs, hair breeds, $312.50-$315.00 per cwt.
Weston Livestock Marketing · West Virginia

Compared to last Saturday: Feeder steers and feeder heifers sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher. Slaughter cows sold 3.00 to 4.00 lower . Slaughter bulls sold steady.
Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

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 →

11 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.