The Morning Wire / Fri Oct 16, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Fri, Oct 16

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 15Oct 16Oct 17 →

The market in a line

Fri, Oct 16

Choice cutout closed $1.67 lower at $372.31. 17 barns across 12 states reported 1,002 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 Fri, Oct 16, weighted by head. Spread of $106.54 between the top and bottom of 14 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
Lexington	NE	466.61/cwt	225
Burwell	NE	461.19/cwt	402
Ft. Pierre Livestock Auction	SD	459.89/cwt	2,614
Crawford	NE	453.73/cwt	1,618
St. Onge Livestock	SD	450.40/cwt	1,500
Herreid Livestock Market	SD	447.51/cwt	278
Public Auction Yards	MT	428.05/cwt	440
Brush	CO	411.30/cwt	120
Eastern Missouri Commission Company	MO	395.09/cwt	23
Ash Flat Livestock Auction Inc.	AR	394.74/cwt	21
Ledbetter Livestock Auction	KY	382.70/cwt	73
Sweetwater Livestock Auction	TN	381.20/cwt	81
Preston Farmers Market	WV	365.19/cwt	27
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NM	NM	360.07/cwt	83

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 16 USDA

Choice $372.31, $1.67 lower. Select $353.05, $0.43 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.26. 135 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

24,753 head traded Oct 10–Oct 16.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	353.40	3,231
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	350.84	679
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	225.48	73
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	223.03	5,858
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	351.23	9,484
Nebraska	Dressed FOB	354.00	639

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 steers and heifers were 8.00 to 10.00 higher, steer calves from 400 lbs to 650 lbs generally steady. Heifer calves from 400 lbs to 449 lbs were 4.00 to 6.00 lower, heifers from 450 lbs to 549 lbs were 10.00 to 12.00 higher.
Ft. Pierre Livestock Auction · South Dakota

Sale made up mostly packages of heifers and steer calves. Most calves were just weaned and some long weaned. Precondition shots on most calves while some just spring shots. Prices on the lower side. Demand moderate to good.
Crawford · Nebraska

Compared to last week steer calves under 450 lbs were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however sharply higher undertones were noticed. 450-599 lbs steers sold mostly 5.00-8.00 higher, steer calves over 600 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower.
Public Auction Yards · Montana

Compared to last week; slaughter and feeder cows traded mostly steady to 2.00 lower. Slaughter bulls traded steady. A nice offering of heiferettes also today with a very active market from the seats and the internet. A large offering again this week with most of the cows returning to the country.
Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Trade activity and demand was good. Sale consisted of many high quality yearling cattle and a high percentage of preconditioned calves. Feeder steer sand heifers traded mostly 3.00 to 15.00 higher with some sharply higher. Next available report will be as receipts warrant.
Brush · Colorado

Compared to last week: Steer and heifer calves sold 12.00-18.00 higher. Feeder steers and heifers sold sold 5.00-10.00 higher. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady. Trade and demand good.
Cattlemen's Livestock Auction - Belen, NM · New Mexico

Compared to last Friday feeder steers sold mostly steady. Feeder heifers sold steady to 3.00 higher. There was good demand for feeder and yearling classes. Slaughter cows sold 4.00 to 6.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00 to 4.00 lower. There was moderate demand for slaughter classes.
Richmond Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Friday's auction was a special bed cow and pairs sale with the main attraction being a consignment of good quality 48 hd of young western 3-5 yr old bred cows in the 2nsd stage selling form 3850.00--4150.00 per head, the balance mostly young 3-6 yrs in the 2nd stage with several short solid mouth co…
Eastern Missouri Commission Company · Missouri

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	245.39/cwt	$0.49 lower	561
Boner (85% lean)	258.35/cwt	$1.32 higher	2,252
Cutter (90% lean)	259.54/cwt	$1.43 lower	4,167
Premium White	274.19/cwt	$0.65 lower	1,498
Bull (92% lean)	317.49/cwt	$0.36 lower	438

What published

See every report →

49 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.