The Morning Wire / Sat Oct 24, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Oct 24

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 23Oct 24Oct 26 →

The market in a line

Sat, Oct 24

Choice cutout closed $3.68 lower at $365.79. 10 barns across 6 states reported 721 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Oct 19 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	544.49/cwt	$0.50 higher	5,174	160
400-499 lb	488.60/cwt	$0.23 higher	17,561	179
500-599 lb	439.27/cwt	$6.98 higher	33,329	183
600-699 lb	392.08/cwt	$7.03 higher	21,745	185
700-799 lb	350.70/cwt	$0.76 lower	9,212	154
800-899 lb	340.23/cwt	$3.06 higher	8,837	108

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 24, weighted by head. Spread of $92.35 between the top and bottom of 5 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	459.17/cwt	640
South Branch Valley Livestock Exchange	WV	396.69/cwt	131
Somerset Livestock Auction	KY	391.69/cwt	62
Carthage Livestock Auction	TN	382.33/cwt	40
Shenandoah Valley Livestock	VA	366.82/cwt	35

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 23 USDA

Choice $365.79, $3.68 lower. Select $352.69, $2.28 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $13.10. 124 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

391 head traded Oct 17–Oct 23.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	354.50	152
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	225.66	239

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 over 400 lbs sold steady to 10.00 higher and heifers calves under 600 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower. The yearling feeder steers and heifers sold steady to 10.00 higher.
Ericson · Nebraska

Compared to last Saturday: Feeder steers under 500 lbs sharply higher, over 500 lbs 3.00-5.00 higher, Feeder and yearling heifers steady to 5.00 higher, Very good demand for lite weight steers and good demand for middle weight and yearling steers, Good demand for feeder and yearling heifers, Slaught…
Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week Feeder Steers 4.00 to 7.00 higher; Feeder Heifers 8.00 to 12.00 higher; Feeder Bulls 10.00 to 20.00 higher; Slaughter Cows 4.00 lower; Slaughter Bulls 2.00 to 4.00 higher.
Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last week, feeder bulls sold 5.00 to 20.00 higher with exception of 4-weights 40.00 to 50.00 higher. No market trends available for feeder steers and heifers due to limited comparable receipts, however, a higher undertone was noted for heifers.
Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TN · Tennessee

Compared to last Saturday: Feeder steers and feeder heifers sold mostly steady. Slaughter cows sold 2.00 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)	245.91/cwt	$3.73 lower	713
Boner (85% lean)	251.29/cwt	$2.18 lower	1,774
Cutter (90% lean)	255.58/cwt	$0.92 lower	3,588
Premium White	264.73/cwt	$3.97 lower	1,323
Bull (92% lean)	318.75/cwt	$0.22 higher	333

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.