The Morning Wire / Wed Oct 28, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Wed, Oct 28
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Oct 27Oct 28Oct 29 →

The market in a line

Wed, Oct 28
Choice cutout closed $3.22 lower at $369.00. 57 barns across 24 states reported 3,886 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Oct 26 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.
WeightPricevs prior weekHeadBarns
300-399 lb539.05/cwt$5.44 lower4,346147
400-499 lb489.24/cwt$0.64 higher13,743161
500-599 lb435.15/cwt$4.12 lower26,594163
600-699 lb389.69/cwt$2.39 lower17,913161
700-799 lb354.97/cwt$4.27 higher9,016143
800-899 lb343.29/cwt$3.06 higher9,552102

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Wed, Oct 28, weighted by head. Spread of $75.83 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.
BarnStateAverageHead
St. Onge LivestockSD466.74/cwt226
Ft. Pierre Livestock AuctionSD464.96/cwt684
Philip Livestock AuctionSD464.53/cwt1,730
BassettNE461.04/cwt516
Torrington Livestock Commission CompanyWY454.91/cwt828
Hub City Livestock AuctionSD453.69/cwt617
Huss LivestockNE450.86/cwt183
Kist Livestock AuctionND449.63/cwt842
South Central Regional StockyardsMO444.48/cwt126
SterlingCO424.09/cwt241
Russell Springs Livestock AuctionKY420.65/cwt39
Windsor Livestock AuctionMO417.57/cwt141
Winter Livestock - Dodge CityKS408.84/cwt57
Albany Livestock AuctionKY406.85/cwt36
Southern Oklahoma Livestock AuctionOK404.26/cwt344
'R' Livestock ConnectionUT403.66/cwt223
La JuntaCO402.89/cwt418
Mount Sterling Livestock AuctionKY395.87/cwt62
Farmington Regional StockyardsMO393.00/cwt24
McMinnville Livestock AuctionTN390.91/cwt115

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 28 USDA
Choice $369.00, $3.22 lower. Select $355.25, $3.60 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $13.75. 107 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
11,551 head traded Oct 22–Oct 28.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered357.121,980
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB355.00256
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB224.234,381
NebraskaDressed Delivered351.193,735
NebraskaDressed FOB353.00885
NebraskaLive FOB224.36314

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 with two weeks ago 500 to 600 lbs steers calves traded steady to as much as 25.0 higher and 900 to 950 lbs yearling steers traded 4.0 to 10.0 higher. A limited number of comparable offerings for heifers with 450 to 500 lbs offerings trading steady.

Bassett · Nebraska

Compared to last sale; Steer calves 300-450 lbs and 500-600 lbs sold 8.00-15.00 lower while 450-500 lbs were 15.00 higher. Feeder steers were 14.00-20.00 higher. Heifer calves 300-350 lbs and 400-500 lbs sold 5.00-12.00 higher with 350-400 lbs and 500-550 lbs being 15.00 lower.

Clovis Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Compared to last week. Steers steady to 10.00 higher. Heifers steady to 10.00 lower. Quality was plain to average with an uneven trend.

Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last week (10-21-26): Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Todays sale mostly featured bred cows, weigh cows and bulls. A few tested open heifers were seen off bred heifer offerings. Demand was mostly moderate for limited offerings.

Public Auction Yards · Montana

Compared to last week, steers under 800 lb's sold 10.00-20.00 higher, heifer calves under 600 lb's sold 5.00-15.00 higher and heifers over 600 lb's sold steady to 5.00 higher. Demand was good to very good for a moderate supply of calves and yearlings with several loads offered.

Windsor Livestock Auction · Missouri

Compared to last week, steers over 750 lbs sold steady, strong undertone. Heifers 750 to 850 lbs sold steady to 6.50 higher, over 850 lbs not enough for market test. Steer and heifer calves sold steady. Breaker and Boning utility slaughter cows sold steady.

Winter Livestock - Dodge City · Kansas

Compared to one week ago: Slaughter cows 1.00 to 2.00 lower, slaughter bulls mostly steady. Feeder steers, bulls, and heifers steady to 5.00 higher.

Arcadia Stockyard (Wed) · Florida

Slight uptick in today's offering compared to last week, slightly higher than average attendance today as well. Feeder Steers and Bulls trended somewhat higher this week, not a strong trend though, Heifers significantly lower this week. Small run but quite a bit of quality in it.

Buckhannon Stockyards · West Virginia

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)244.29/cwt$3.13 higher558
Boner (85% lean)251.31/cwt$2.50 higher1,757
Cutter (90% lean)254.76/cwt$2.00 higher3,900
Premium White264.63/cwt$0.12 lower1,586
Bull (92% lean)309.89/cwt$2.03 lower428

What published

See every report →
102 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.