The Morning Wire / Sat Oct 17, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Oct 17

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 16Oct 17Oct 19 →

The market in a line

Sat, Oct 17

Choice cutout closed $1.67 lower at $372.31. 13 barns across 7 states reported 934 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 Sat, Oct 17, weighted by head. Spread of $87.59 between the top and bottom of 8 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
Ericson	NE	454.53/cwt	349
South Branch Valley Livestock Exchange	WV	403.45/cwt	196
Weston Livestock Marketing	WV	388.20/cwt	20
Somerset Livestock Auction	KY	385.65/cwt	51
Shenandoah Valley Livestock	VA	385.35/cwt	92
Carthage Livestock Auction	TN	375.88/cwt	48
Finger Lakes Livestock Auction	NY	374.76/cwt	40
Jackson County Regional Livestock Market	WV	366.94/cwt	39

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 two weeks ago, steers and heifer calves under 650 lbs sold steady to 15.00 higher and yearling feeder steers and heifers over 850 lbs sold steady to 10.00 higher with the bred heifers selling steady. Demand was good from the buyers in the crowd with internet activity noticed.
Ericson · Nebraska

Compared to last week Feeder Steers/ Bulls 6.00 to 12.00 higher with good quality and strong demand; Feeder Heifer 10.00 lower; Slaughter Cows/ Bulls mostly steady.
Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last feeder sale 400 to 500lb feeder steers sold 15.00 to 37.50 lower. 500 to 600lb feeder steers sold 2.00 to 14.00 higher. 300-400lb feeder heifers sold 24.50 to 27.50 lower. 600 to 700lb feeder heifers sold 1.00 to 10.00 higher.
Finger Lakes Livestock Auction · New York

Compared to last Saturday: Feeders steers and feeder heifers steady to firm . Good demand for quality feeders. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady.
Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Above average attendance today, lower head run by over 100. Few Hair Lambs up to $310 per hundred. Somewhat of a rally looking at Feeders, Steers saw a much higher demand this week especially on the lighter end of the run, six weights sold steady to $1.25 per cwt higher.
Weston Livestock Marketing · West Virginia

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 →

15 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.