The Morning Wire / Thu Sep 24, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Thu, Sep 24
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Sep 23Sep 24Sep 25 →

Summary

Thu, Sep 24
Choice cutout closed $1.19 lower at $376.12. 34 barns across 17 states reported 2,301 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.
WeightPricevs prior weekHeadBarns
300-399 lb514.02/cwt$15.72 higher3,710163
400-499 lb460.87/cwt$10.00 higher9,597174
500-599 lb405.41/cwt$2.05 higher12,027175
600-699 lb363.62/cwt$0.35 higher10,899172
700-799 lb346.74/cwt$2.57 higher10,789159
800-899 lb335.03/cwt$0.26 higher10,844119

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, Sep 24, weighted by head. Spread of $74.77 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.
BarnStateAverageHead
Winter Livestock - PrattKS449.95/cwt205
Stockmen's Livestock ExchangeND440.24/cwt172
Billings Livestock CommissionMT432.67/cwt104
Toppenish Livestock CommissionWA413.08/cwt26
Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - KansasKS412.72/cwt44
Cedar Livestock AuctionUT407.12/cwt70
Lamoni Livestock AuctionIA406.67/cwt27
Stanford Livestock AuctionKY406.35/cwt124
Paris Livestock AuctionKY403.83/cwt130
Clarinda Livestock AuctionIA402.05/cwt71
Tulia Livestock AuctionTX400.69/cwt80
Norwood Livestock AuctionNC399.71/cwt112
Guthrie Livestock AuctionKY398.69/cwt79
Apache Livestock AuctionOK393.87/cwt135
Denison Livestock AuctionIA391.81/cwt117
Benton County Sale BarnAR391.02/cwt119
Wheeler Livestock AuctionMO390.33/cwt53
Mid Missouri StockyardsMO385.24/cwt138
Dalhart Livestock AuctionTX375.22/cwt62
Mo-Kan Livestock MarketMO375.17/cwt44

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 24 USDA
Choice $376.12, $1.19 lower. Select $352.10, $0.24 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $24.02. 116 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
8,725 head traded Sep 18–Sep 24.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered350.791,821
Iowa-MinnesotaLive Delivered222.0080
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB220.121,650
NebraskaDressed Delivered349.831,942
NebraskaLive FOB222.143,232

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, steers over 600 lbs sold 3.00 to 10.00 higher with the exception of steers weighing 750 to 849 lbs selling 5.00 to 7.00 lower and 900 to 950 lbs selling 12.00 lower. Steers under 600 lbs not enough for market test.

Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - Kansas · Kansas

Compared to last Thursday feeder steers sold 5.00 to 7.00 higher. Feeder heifers sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher. There was good to very good demand with moderate supply. Slaughter cows sold 3.00 to 5.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00 to 4.00 lower. There was moderate demand for slaughter classes.

Paris Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and steer calves unevenly steady. Feeder heifers and heifer calves steady to 10.00 lower. Quality average to attractive with good demand. Slaughter cows 4.00 to 7.00 lower. Slaughter bulls steady.

Apache Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to two weeks ago: Yearling feeder steers were not of similar weight to last sale, no comparisons able to be made. Feeder heifers sold with steady to lower undertones compared to last sale's large offering.

Stockmen's Livestock Exchange · North Dakota

Compared to last sale (9-17-26): Feeder steers and heifer calves were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed. Yearling steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.

Billings Livestock Commission · Montana

Compared to the last reported sale four weeks ago, steers and heifers sold mostly steady but a slightly weak undertone was noted on some weight breaks. The majority of the offering consisted of a large group of yearling steers but several loads of yearlings were offered along with some new crop calv…

Mo-Kan Livestock Market · Missouri

Compared to the auction 2 weeks ago yearling cattle, both steers & heifers were steady with a slight lower undertone. No trend established on new crop calves due to low receipts for previous sale. Available today were load lots of green yearling steers and heifers from reputation farms.

Clarinda Livestock Auction · Iowa

Comparted to last week: Feeder steers sold 10.00-15.00 higher. Feeder heifers sold steady to 5.00 higher. Slaughter cows sold 5.00-8.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 8.00-10.00 higher.

Benton County Sale Barn · Arkansas

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)266.56/cwt$2.70 lower463
Boner (85% lean)275.70/cwt$4.75 lower1,707
Cutter (90% lean)279.17/cwt$5.56 lower3,296
Premium White292.80/cwt$6.72 lower1,018
Bull (92% lean)326.45/cwt$4.88 lower360

Reports published

See every report →
70 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.