The Morning Wire / Kentucky / Thu Oct 22, 2026

Kentucky cattle market

The trading day in one page — Thu, Oct 22

● 4 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. 4 Kentucky barns reported 419 priced lots.

Feeder steers

Kentucky, 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	524.04/cwt	$12.74 higher	224	18
400-499 lb	449.83/cwt	$10.36 higher	463	20
500-599 lb	399.07/cwt	$10.41 higher	1,006	21
600-699 lb	363.63/cwt	$2.03 higher	1,037	21
700-799 lb	345.26/cwt	$4.85 lower	685	17
800-899 lb	336.45/cwt	$3.84 higher	922	16

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA

Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Thu, Oct 22, weighted by head. Spread of $18.31 between the top and bottom of 4 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
Paris Livestock Auction	KY	411.26/cwt	238
Stanford Livestock Auction	KY	397.96/cwt	87
Glasgow Livestock Auction	KY	396.09/cwt	22
Guthrie Livestock Auction	KY	392.95/cwt	33

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 Kentucky barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA

Compared to last Thursday feeder steers sold 1.00 to 3.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 600 lbs sold 4.00 to 6.00 higher and feeder heifers over 600 lbs sold mostly steady. There was good to very good demand for feeder and yearling classes. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 lower.
Paris Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last Thursday: Feeder steers under 600 lbs 8.00-12.00 higher, over 600 lbs steady, Feeder and yearling heifers 5.00-8.00 higher, Good demand for feeder and yearling classes. Slaughter cows and bulls steady, Moderate demand for slaughter classes.
Stanford Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week feeder steers sold steady. Feeder heifers sold steady to 4.00 lower. Good demand for feeder classes. Slaughter classes sold steady with good demand.
Guthrie Livestock Auction · Kentucky

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 Kentucky 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.