The Morning Wire / Thu Oct 15, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Thu, Oct 15

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 14Oct 15Oct 16 →

The market in a line

Thu, Oct 15

Choice cutout closed $2.52 lower at $373.98. 33 barns across 19 states reported 1,974 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Oct 12 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	543.99/cwt	$10.15 higher	5,423	170
400-499 lb	488.37/cwt	$5.57 higher	18,357	190
500-599 lb	432.29/cwt	$1.93 higher	30,929	190
600-699 lb	385.05/cwt	$4.54 higher	20,559	187
700-799 lb	351.46/cwt	$7.01 higher	9,935	156
800-899 lb	337.17/cwt	$3.11 higher	8,977	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 Thu, Oct 15, weighted by head. Spread of $88.06 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.

Barn	State	Average	Head
Valentine	NE	464.71/cwt	877
Mobridge Livestock Exchange	SD	457.62/cwt	1,413
Ogallala	NE	452.89/cwt	950
Stockmen's Livestock Exchange	ND	446.21/cwt	1,076
Billings Livestock Commission	MT	437.54/cwt	870
Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - Kansas	KS	433.33/cwt	96
Lamoni Livestock Auction	IA	430.66/cwt	92
Winter Livestock - Pratt	KS	430.59/cwt	58
Cedar Livestock Auction	UT	426.68/cwt	74
Dalhart Livestock Auction	TX	423.72/cwt	71
Tulia Livestock Auction	TX	410.77/cwt	71
Benton County Sale Barn	AR	407.64/cwt	86
Mo-Kan Livestock Market	MO	405.92/cwt	64
Stanford Livestock Auction	KY	405.70/cwt	44
Wheeler Livestock Auction	MO	405.44/cwt	227
Paris Livestock Auction	KY	400.07/cwt	107
Woodward Livestock Inc	OK	392.08/cwt	20
Apache Livestock Auction	OK	388.25/cwt	45
Mid Missouri Stockyards	MO	385.71/cwt	77
Guthrie Livestock Auction	KY	376.65/cwt	56

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 15 USDA

Choice $373.98, $2.52 lower. Select $352.62, $5.85 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $21.36. 101 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

10,242 head traded Oct 9–Oct 15.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	355.00	1,032
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	349.45	511
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	220.00	42
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	219.09	2,972
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	346.08	2,389
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: steer calves 400 to 499 lbs 10.00 higher with instances up to 18.00 higher on 400 to 449 lbs, 500 to 549 lbs mostly steady. Heifer calves 400 to 549 lbs mostly steady except 450 to 499 lbs 13.00 to 15.00 higher.
Mobridge Livestock Exchange · South Dakota

Compared to last week, steers were 5.00 - 18.00 lower and heifers were 6.00 - 8.00 lower. There was a few exceptins in steers and heifers. Demand was moderate to good with alot of internet action.
Ogallala · Nebraska

Compared to last sale (10-08-26): Yearling cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer calves under 400 lbs were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed on a higher quality offering.
Billings Livestock Commission · Montana

Compared to last week, steers over 850 lbs sold steady to 10.00 higher, steers 600 lbs to 800 lbs sold steady. Steers under 550 lbs not well tested. Heifers not enough for market test across all weights. 34 head of 586 lbs reputation heifers sold for 413.00 cwt. Slaughter cows sold steady.
Winter Livestock - Pratt · Kansas

Compared to last week: What a difference late rains and unseasonably warm temperatures can do to an outlook. Wheat is starting to pop around the area bringing wheat calves to the forefront.
Dalhart Livestock Auction · Texas

Compared to last week: Feeder steers mostly steady. Feeder heifers steady to 5.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves unevenly steady with attention on quality and condition. Quality plain to average. Demand was moderate.
Woodward Livestock Inc · Oklahoma

Compared to last Thursday: Feeder steers sold 2.00-4.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 500 lbs. traded sharply higher and those over 500 lbs. were 4.00-6.00 lower. There was strong demand for all calves under 500 lbs.
Guthrie Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week's sale, Slaughter Dairy Cows traded $1.00-$3.00 higher. Feeder Dairy Bull Calves were $30.00-$60.00 lower.
New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	245.89/cwt	$1.78 lower	376
Boner (85% lean)	257.03/cwt	$2.27 lower	1,709
Cutter (90% lean)	260.97/cwt	$3.62 lower	3,509
Premium White	274.83/cwt	$1.94 lower	1,214
Bull (92% lean)	317.86/cwt	$3.72 lower	426

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.