The Morning Wire / Iowa / Thu Oct 22, 2026

Iowa cattle market

The trading day in one page — Thu, Oct 22

● 3 barns reportedEvery figure as filedNational wire →

← Oct 21Oct 22Oct 23 →

The market in a line

Thu, Oct 22

Choice cutout closed $3.12 lower at $369.47. 3 Iowa barns reported 81 priced lots.

Feeder steers

Iowa, 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 state figure. Watch the barn count: a weight class carried by one or two barns is a thin figure, not a market.

Weight	Price	vs prior week	Head	Barns
300-399 lb	539.00/cwt	$39.72 lower	21	1
400-499 lb	489.16/cwt	$24.52 lower	41	2
500-599 lb	457.49/cwt	$23.58 higher	222	3
600-699 lb	389.83/cwt	$3.34 lower	249	3
700-799 lb	370.51/cwt	$7.76 higher	182	3
800-899 lb	346.80/cwt	$5.85 higher	370	3

Boxed beef

National · PM close · Oct 22 USDA

Choice $369.47, $3.12 lower. Select $350.41, $4.93 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.06. 123 loads traded.

Fed cattle

National · 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 Iowa barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA

Compared to the auction 2 weeks ago 500 -600 lb steer calves were 7.00 to 11.00 higher with no trend stated on yearling steers. Heifer calves were 7.00 to 20.00 higher with yearling heifers 5.00 to 7.00 higher.
Clarinda Livestock Auction · Iowa

Slaughter cattle sale today: Compared to last week. Choice steers and heifers were steady- .75 higher, Dairy steers no comparison due to low receipts, slaughter cows were steady - 1.00 higher. Trade active. Demand good.
Kalona Livestock Auction · Iowa

Compared to last Thursday: Choice slaughter steers 3.00 higher. Choice slaughter heifers 2.00 higher. Drug free and no implant steers bringing a premium. The auction consisted of one load each of heifers and dairy heifers, along with plenty of smaller strings. Good demand.
Sheldon Livestock Auction · Iowa

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	249.64/cwt	$2.92 higher	609
Boner (85% lean)	253.47/cwt	$0.39 lower	1,709
Cutter (90% lean)	256.50/cwt	$2.49 lower	4,083
Premium White	268.70/cwt	$2.43 lower	1,017
Bull (92% lean)	318.53/cwt	$3.82 lower	382

What published

See every report →

Every USDA report carried this date is listed in the archive.

Source: USDA AMS. Feeder prices and barn comment are Iowa only; boxed beef, fed cattle and the cow market are national, because those markets are. 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.