The Morning Wire / Wed Sep 16, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Wed, Sep 16

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Sep 15Sep 16Sep 17 →

Summary

Wed, Sep 16

Choice cutout held near $375.81. 51 barns across 23 states reported 2,970 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Sep 14 USDA

Weighted across every reported lot, by weight class. Weekly rather than daily — one day's barns are too thin a base for a national figure.

Weight	Price	vs prior week	Head	Barns
300-399 lb	498.30/cwt	$13.88 higher	2,902	148
400-499 lb	450.87/cwt	$10.19 higher	7,763	167
500-599 lb	403.36/cwt	$12.77 higher	12,243	167
600-699 lb	363.27/cwt	$10.59 higher	10,010	163
700-799 lb	344.17/cwt	$4.48 higher	7,980	146
800-899 lb	334.77/cwt	$10.37 lower	11,797	109

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA

Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Wed, Sep 16, weighted by head. Spread of $110.09 between the top and bottom of 19 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
Torrington Livestock Commission Company	WY	443.03/cwt	76
Windsor Livestock Auction	MO	432.62/cwt	90
Bloomfield Livestock Auction	IA	430.72/cwt	496
Winter Livestock - Dodge City	KS	426.85/cwt	52
'R' Livestock Connection	UT	420.42/cwt	65
South Central Regional Stockyards	MO	420.23/cwt	82
Springfield Livestock Marketing Center	MO	417.58/cwt	75
Russell Springs Livestock Auction	KY	401.29/cwt	58
Roanoke Stockyards	AL	399.82/cwt	38
Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction	OK	389.30/cwt	143
Farmington Regional Stockyards	MO	386.16/cwt	34
Green Forest Stockyards	AR	380.43/cwt	63
Lafayette Livestock Auction	TN	374.49/cwt	37
Lucedale Livestock Auction	MS	369.69/cwt	63
McMinnville Livestock Auction	TN	366.17/cwt	113
Clovis Livestock Auction	NM	362.93/cwt	262
Arcadia Stockyard (Wed)	FL	362.45/cwt	60
Ashburn	GA	344.98/cwt	52
Norwood Livestock Auction	NC	332.94/cwt	21

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 16 USDA

Choice $375.81, $0.27 lower. Select $354.57, $1.79 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $21.24. 119 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

23,885 head traded Sep 10–Sep 16.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	351.54	6,219
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	349.78	372
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	219.02	208
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	222.07	5,822
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	350.27	6,134
Nebraska	Dressed FOB	350.00	830

At the barns

USDA market reporters, as filed USDA

One barn per state, largest first — more states file than fit here. Your own state is linked below.

Compared to last week: Slaughter steers and heifers 3.00 to 5.00 higher. Moderate demand for this nice offering of very appealing, high quality grading steers and heifers.
Sioux Falls Regional Livestock · South Dakota

Compared to last sale; Steer calves sold steady to 15.00 higher except 450-500 lbs were 7.00 lower. Feeder steers sold steady to 12.00 higher. Heifer calves sold higher with the exception of 450-500 lbs being 10.00 lower. Feeder heifers sold higher.
Clovis Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Compared to last week, feeder steers and heifers over 650 lbs sold 10.00 to 15.00 higher. Steers and heifers under 650 lbs sold steady, strong undertone. Slaughter cows sold steady, strong undertone. Good demand for moderate to heavy supply.
Winter Livestock - Dodge City · Kansas

Compared to last week; feeder heifers traded 3.00 to 5.00 lower. No test on feeder steers with there not being enough receipts. A light test on calves also this week with fly weight steers trading mostly steady to higher.
Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

A limited number of comparable offerings from two weeks ago with 1000 lbs steers trading 4.00 higher and 900 lbs spayed heifers trading 11.00 higher. Demand was good with several buyers and active internet bidding. Next Auction Date: Sept 30th Special Feeder Cattle Auction.
Bassett · Nebraska

Today was the Annual Special Early Bird Calf Sale. Steers and heifers sold with a higher undertone, although they were not well compared. Demand was very good today and included active internet bidding.
Bloomfield Livestock Auction · Iowa

Compared to last week. Steers 15.00 to 25.00 higher. Heifers 5.00 to 10.00 higher. Demand was good with good weigh conditions compared to last week.
Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last sale (9-9-26): Feeder steer and heifer calves were too lightly tested last sale to develop any market trend. Yearling steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.
Public Auction Yards · Montana

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	275.26/cwt	$1.94 lower	836
Boner (85% lean)	285.36/cwt	$5.26 higher	2,155
Cutter (90% lean)	291.34/cwt	$6.97 higher	4,015
Premium White	299.19/cwt	$12.36 lower	2,166
Bull (92% lean)	333.09/cwt	$3.50 lower	463

Reports published

See every report →

95 USDA reports carried this date — sale barns, state summaries, video and board sales, grain, hay and the national desks.

Source: USDA AMS. 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.