The Morning Wire / Mon Sep 21, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Mon, Sep 21

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Sep 19Sep 21Sep 22 →

Summary

Mon, Sep 21

Choice cutout closed $4.41 higher at $376.35. 52 barns across 17 states reported 3,664 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Sep 21 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	514.02/cwt	$15.72 higher	3,710	163
400-499 lb	460.87/cwt	$10.00 higher	9,597	174
500-599 lb	405.41/cwt	$2.05 higher	12,027	175
600-699 lb	363.62/cwt	$0.35 higher	10,899	172
700-799 lb	346.74/cwt	$2.57 higher	10,789	159
800-899 lb	335.03/cwt	$0.26 higher	10,844	119

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, Sep 21, weighted by head. Spread of $64.10 between the top and bottom of 20 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
Callaway Livestock Center	MO	425.21/cwt	69
Sigourney Livestock Auction	IA	419.29/cwt	71
Joplin Regional Stockyards	MO	413.75/cwt	382
Florence Stockyards	AL	408.58/cwt	22
Lexington Livestock Auction - Kentucky	KY	404.12/cwt	78
Farmers Livestock Exchange, Inc.	VA	400.68/cwt	79
Tulsa Stockyards Inc.	OK	400.53/cwt	167
Tina Livestock	MO	398.72/cwt	38
Tadlock Livestock Auction	MS	398.20/cwt	116
Oklahoma National Stockyards Market	OK	394.95/cwt	313
Paris Livestock Auction	KY	387.91/cwt	22
Turnersburg Livestock Auction	NC	384.18/cwt	27
Lynchburg Livestock Market, Inc.	VA	381.52/cwt	54
Harned Livestock Auction	KY	381.21/cwt	25
Unionville Livestock Auction - Unionville, TN	TN	380.98/cwt	64
Cleburne County Livestock Auction	AR	378.15/cwt	47
Arcadia Stockyard (Mon)	FL	371.49/cwt	59
Carrollton	GA	369.43/cwt	26
Cattlemans Livestock Auction - West Point, MS	MS	364.89/cwt	50
Williamston Livestock Auction	SC	361.11/cwt	35

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 21 USDA

Choice $376.35, $4.41 higher. Select $355.77, $2.51 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $20.58. 58 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

24,714 head traded Sep 15–Sep 21.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	350.21	3,357
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	348.00	76
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	222.17	329
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	221.64	5,693
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	350.02	10,488
Nebraska	Dressed FOB	350.00	222

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.

CLOSE Compared to last week feeder steers under 600 lbs. sold 10.00-25.00 higher. Heavier weights sold mostly steady. Feeder heifers under 550 lbs. sold 5.00-25.00 higher with heavier weights selling from 10.00 lower to 8.00 higher. Supply was moderate with good demand.
Joplin Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last week: Feeder steers over 800 lbs steady to 4.00 higher; under 800 lbs lightly tested and steady to 4.00 lower. Feeder heifers 1.00-5.00 lower. Demand moderate to good for feeders. Steer calves over 500 lbs steady to 5.00 higher;
Oklahoma National Stockyards Market · Oklahoma

Compared to last week: Few comparable sales of yearling feeder steers and heifers, mostly steady. Moderate to good demand for the long strings of feedyard backgrounded yearlings, good to very good demand for weaned fall calves.
Sioux Falls Regional Livestock · South Dakota

Compared to last week, Slaughter Steers traded mostly 1.00-2.00 lower and Slaughter Dairy Cows sold mostly 3.00-5.00 lower. Feeder Dairy Bull Calves sold 10.00-15.00 lower with Beef Cross Calves selling 25.00-30.00 lower.
New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Compared to last Monday the feeder feeder market was spotty, but mostly stronger with a good quality offering. Feeder steers 300-600 lbs were 6.00 to 10.00 higher or greater in spots with a good supply and good demand, while the yearling steers appeared 2.00 to 4.00 higher with a lite test.
Lexington Livestock Auction - Kentucky · Kentucky

Compared to last weeks sale; Steer calves sold steady to 12.00 higher except 450-500 lbs being lower. Feeder steers were 10.00 higher. Heifer calves and feeder calves sold uneven. Weaning dates and preconditioning vaccinations earned a premium.
Roswell Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Total receipts were 1,225 compared to 1,107 last week. Feeder steers were 10.00 to 15.00 higher. Feeder heifers were 3.00 to 8.00 higher. Slaughter cows were 3.00 to 6.00 lower. Slaughter bulls were 2.00 to 4.00 lower.
Giddings Livestock Commission · Texas

Compared to last week: All classes of feeder cattle sold sharply higher. Slaughter cows 5.00 higher. Slaughter bulls 8.00 lower based on limited comparable sales. Moderate offering of plain to average quality cattle with active buyer participation.
Saluda Livestock Exchange · South Carolina

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	272.92/cwt	$6.22 higher	422
Boner (85% lean)	286.21/cwt	$5.64 higher	1,391
Cutter (90% lean)	287.28/cwt	$1.48 higher	2,952
Premium White	303.59/cwt	$1.83 higher	2,480
Bull (92% lean)	336.07/cwt	$1.51 higher	403

Reports published

See every report →

139 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.