The Morning Wire / Sat Sep 26, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Sat, Sep 26

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Sep 25Sep 26Sep 28 →

Summary

Sat, Sep 26

Choice cutout closed $2.71 higher at $378.83. 10 barns across 4 states reported 678 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 Sat, Sep 26, weighted by head. Spread of $19.11 between the top and bottom of 6 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
Weston Livestock Marketing	WV	386.70/cwt	26
Jackson County Regional Livestock Market	WV	385.43/cwt	94
Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TN	TN	378.47/cwt	21
Somerset Livestock Auction	KY	376.44/cwt	44
Springlake Livestock Market, Inc.	VA	376.14/cwt	21
Shenandoah Valley Livestock	VA	367.59/cwt	41

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 25 USDA

Choice $378.83, $2.71 higher. Select $355.76, $3.66 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $23.07. 112 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

12,385 head traded Sep 19–Sep 25.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	350.04	2,026
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	219.69	55
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	219.98	4,041
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	346.25	5,527
Nebraska	Live FOB	221.38	736

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 Saturday the feeder market was stronger in spots with a good quality offering. Feeder steers 300-450 lbs appeared steady, while the 500-700 lbs steers were steady to 5.00 higher in spots with a good supply and good demand long weaned packages and groups.
Somerset Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week Feeder Steers 7.00 to 12.00 higher; Feeder Heifers 4.00 to 6.00 higher; Feeder Bulls under 550lbs 12.00 higher, over 550lbs steady to 5.00 lower; Slaughter Cows 4.00 to 6.00 lower with lower quality; Slaughter Bulls mostly staedy.
Carthage Livestock Auction · Tennessee

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and feeder heifers sold 3.00 to 5.00 higher. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold mostly steady.
Campbellsville Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week, slaughter cows sold 6.00 to 7.00 lower with no comparisons available for slaughter bulls or feeder classes due to limited comparable receipts, but a higher undertone was noted for feeder cattle.
Greenville Livestock Auction - Greenville, TN · Tennessee

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	258.84/cwt	$7.72 lower	540
Boner (85% lean)	270.71/cwt	$4.99 lower	2,078
Cutter (90% lean)	275.15/cwt	$4.02 lower	3,680
Premium White	292.58/cwt	$0.22 lower	1,702
Bull (92% lean)	324.32/cwt	$2.13 lower	390

Reports published

See every report →

11 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.