The Morning Wire / Tennessee / Wed Aug 19, 2026

Feeder Cattle — prices, barns, and planning

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Tennessee cattle market

The trading day in one page — Wed, Aug 19
● 6 barns reportedEvery figure as filed
← Aug 18Aug 19Aug 20 →

The market in a line

Wed, Aug 19
Choice cutout closed $3.84 higher at $394.99. 6 Tennessee barns reported 280 priced lots.

Feeder steers

Tennessee, week of Aug 17 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 lb440.76/cwt$37.47 lower809
400-499 lb412.28/cwt$31.25 lower15212
500-599 lb377.00/cwt$30.93 lower37213
600-699 lb352.32/cwt$17.65 lower50812
700-799 lb331.53/cwt$21.63 lower76112
800-899 lb316.07/cwt$20.41 lower47710

Boxed beef

National · PM close · Aug 19 USDA
Choice $394.99, $3.84 higher. Select $364.17, $2.12 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $30.82. 87 loads traded.

Fed cattle

National · Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
23,926 head traded Aug 13–Aug 19.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered361.962,705
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered230.5826
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB226.343,966
KansasDressed Delivered360.00156
KansasLive FOB228.00117
NebraskaDressed Delivered361.1910,361

At the Tennessee barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA

Compared to last week, Slaughter cows mostly steady. Feeder Heifers steady-7.00 lower. Trends could not be established for Slaughter Bulls, Feeder Steers and Feeder Bulls due to a lack of comparable receipts. Quality fair to good. Demand moderate.

Savannah Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to the last sale, Feeder Steers/Bulls 10.00-20.00 lower with instances of 30.00 lower; Feeder Heifers under 650 lbs. 5.00-15.00 lower with instances of 20.00 lower, over 650 lbs. steady to 5.00 higher; Slaughter Cows 2.00-5.00 lower; Slaughter Bulls 5.00 lower.

Lafayette Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last week, slaughter cows and bulls sold 6.00 to 15.00 lower with no comparisons available for feeder classes due to limited comparable receipts, but a lower undertone was noted.

Sweetwater Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)308.63/cwt$2.15 higher459
Boner (85% lean)326.83/cwt$1.42 lower1,620
Cutter (90% lean)324.93/cwt$8.53 lower3,086
Premium White320.82/cwt$2.10 lower1,588
Bull (92% lean)370.02/cwt$1.30 higher470

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 Tennessee 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.