The Morning Wire / Virginia / Mon Aug 3, 2026

Feeder Cattle — prices, barns, and planning

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Virginia cattle market

The trading day in one page — Mon, Aug 3
● 3 barns reportedEvery figure as filed
← Aug 1Aug 3Aug 4 →

The market in a line

Mon, Aug 3
Choice cutout closed $5.35 higher at $366.73. 3 Virginia barns reported 140 priced lots.

Feeder steers

Virginia, week of Aug 3 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 lb458.77/cwt$25.97 lower205
400-499 lb440.49/cwt$15.56 higher1007
500-599 lb409.14/cwt$4.76 lower1457
600-699 lb368.50/cwt$1.92 higher1277
700-799 lb328.87/cwt$21.60 lower427
800-899 lb337.08/cwt$25.83 higher565

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA
Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Mon, Aug 3, weighted by head. Spread of $7.75 between the top and bottom of 2 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
Farmers Livestock Exchange, Inc.VA421.13/cwt20
Lynchburg Livestock Market, Inc.VA413.37/cwt63

Boxed beef

National · PM close · Aug 3 USDA
Choice $366.73, $5.35 higher. Select $344.45, $1.78 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $22.28. 85 loads traded.

Fed cattle

National · Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
9,171 head traded Jul 28–Aug 3.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered364.80354
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB365.0070
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered235.811,432
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB233.484,067
KansasLive FOB232.831,476
NebraskaDressed Delivered364.511,620

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)316.11/cwt$2.66 higher421
Boner (85% lean)335.01/cwt$4.76 higher1,390
Cutter (90% lean)334.67/cwt$1.99 higher2,327
Premium White327.87/cwt$0.35 lower1,836
Bull (92% lean)375.79/cwt$0.64 lower424

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 Virginia 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.