The Morning Wire / Texas / Thu Oct 29, 2026

Texas cattle market

The trading day in one page — Thu, Oct 29

● 3 barns reportedEvery figure as filedNational wire →

← Oct 28Oct 29latest

The market in a line

Thu, Oct 29

Choice cutout closed $1.72 lower at $367.28. 3 Texas barns reported 218 priced lots.

Feeder steers

Texas, 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 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	472.48/cwt	$17.31 lower	130	5
400-499 lb	419.07/cwt	$10.52 lower	276	5
500-599 lb	380.94/cwt	$8.57 higher	514	5
600-699 lb	348.02/cwt	$2.50 lower	430	5
700-799 lb	329.85/cwt	$16.94 lower	177	5
800-899 lb	333.50/cwt	$8.38 lower	345	5

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 29, weighted by head. Spread of $45.06 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.

Barn	State	Average	Head
Dalhart Livestock Auction	TX	410.97/cwt	177
Tulia Livestock Auction	TX	369.32/cwt	103
Producers Livestock Auction Co - San Angelo	TX	365.91/cwt	67

Boxed beef

National · PM close · Oct 29 USDA

Choice $367.28, $1.72 lower. Select $351.63, $3.62 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $15.65. 101 loads traded.

Fed cattle

National · Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

17,855 head traded Oct 23–Oct 29.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	356.39	2,210
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	355.00	256
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	224.25	42
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	223.81	6,750
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	350.74	5,400
Nebraska	Dressed FOB	352.57	1,130

At the Texas barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA

Compared to last week: Abundant rains in the area brought, not only stronger wheat, but reignited interest in lighter calves. Healthy, good quality steer calves weighing 350-500 pounds brought 40.00 higher on average. Yearling steers made a step back however; bringing 11.00-16.00 lower.
Dalhart Livestock Auction · Texas

Compared to last week, feeder steers and bulls sold 2.00 to 5.00 lower, while feeder heifers sold 2.00 to 3.00 higher. Slaughter cows sold 2.00 to 5.00 higher on boning and lean flesh cows, while breakers sold 2.00 to 5.00 lower. Slaughter bulls overall sold 2.00 to 5.00 lower.
Producers Livestock Auction Co - San Angelo · Texas

Compared to last week: Steer and heifer calves sold mostly steady. Demand was moderate to good. Wide price spreads continued between long time weaned and short time weaned counterparts.
Tulia Livestock Auction · Texas

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	251.86/cwt	$7.57 higher	534
Boner (85% lean)	246.89/cwt	$4.42 lower	1,732
Cutter (90% lean)	250.79/cwt	$3.98 lower	3,756
Premium White	262.84/cwt	$1.79 lower	1,273
Bull (92% lean)	304.92/cwt	$4.97 lower	317

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 Texas 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.