The Morning Wire / Nebraska / Fri Oct 2, 2026

Nebraska cattle market

The trading day in one page — Fri, Oct 2
● 3 barns reportedEvery figure as filed

The market in a line

Fri, Oct 2
Choice cutout closed $2.60 lower at $374.19. 3 Nebraska barns reported 84 priced lots.

Feeder steers

Nebraska, week of Sep 28 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.
WeightPricevs prior weekHeadBarns
300-399 lb582.46/cwt$10.90 higher3086
400-499 lb511.86/cwt$2.79 higher2,0766
500-599 lb454.60/cwt$9.89 higher3,3286
600-699 lb407.41/cwt$11.49 higher9056
700-799 lb370.27/cwt$1.98 lower4956
800-899 lb345.66/cwt$2.54 higher7474

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Fri, Oct 2, weighted by head. Spread of $47.82 between the top and bottom of 3 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
CrawfordNE463.83/cwt1,815
LexingtonNE440.98/cwt152
BurwellNE416.01/cwt61

Boxed beef

National · PM close · Oct 2 USDA
Choice $374.19, $2.60 lower. Select $354.49, $1.60 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $19.70. 119 loads traded.

Fed cattle

National · Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
24,298 head traded Sep 26–Oct 2.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered348.452,602
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB345.0040
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered220.75283
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB219.387,538
NebraskaDressed Delivered346.108,344
NebraskaLive Delivered226.00700

At the Nebraska barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA

Short consignment sheet of bawling spring calves and pregnancy checked open yearling heifers on offer. Compared to two weeks ago steer calves 400-600 lbs sold steady to 10.00 higher and feeder heifers 800-1000 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower.

Lexington · Nebraska

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)256.38/cwt$1.63 higher645
Boner (85% lean)267.20/cwt$2.01 higher1,979
Cutter (90% lean)271.64/cwt$0.98 higher3,366
Premium White288.69/cwt$2.24 higher1,597
Bull (92% lean)321.95/cwt$0.89 lower352

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 Nebraska 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.