The Morning Wire / Tue Sep 29, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Tue, Sep 29

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Sep 28Sep 29Sep 30 →

Summary

Tue, Sep 29

Choice cutout closed $2.18 higher at $382.66. 59 barns across 23 states reported 4,039 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Sep 28 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	513.81/cwt	$0.21 lower	3,901	167
400-499 lb	461.86/cwt	$0.99 higher	10,799	180
500-599 lb	414.66/cwt	$9.25 higher	17,632	184
600-699 lb	366.38/cwt	$2.76 higher	12,358	176
700-799 lb	343.87/cwt	$2.87 lower	8,586	165
800-899 lb	332.93/cwt	$2.10 lower	10,110	116

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA

Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Tue, Sep 29, weighted by head. Spread of $66.11 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
F&T Livestock Market	MO	442.34/cwt	94
Winter Livestock - Riverton, WY	WY	426.33/cwt	32
Beaver Livestock Auction	OK	422.93/cwt	522
Toppenish Livestock Commission	WA	422.91/cwt	239
Lolli Brothers Livestock Market	MO	420.16/cwt	47
Producers Livestock Marketing - Salina, UT	UT	419.90/cwt	334
Springfield Livestock Auction - Kentucky	KY	413.50/cwt	114
Kingsville Livestock Auction	MO	407.36/cwt	109
Brookhaven Livestock Auction	MS	399.93/cwt	36
Lexington Livestock Auction - Kentucky	KY	398.15/cwt	39
Flemingsburg Livestock Auction	KY	394.44/cwt	42
Lonestar Stockyards	TX	394.29/cwt	90
Interstate Regional Stockyards	MO	391.68/cwt	37
Four State Stockyards	MO	388.46/cwt	174
Winter - La Junta	CO	384.82/cwt	355
United Producers Inc (Fayetteville, TN)	TN	382.33/cwt	21
OKC West Livestock Market	OK	382.04/cwt	420
Thomasville	GA	381.81/cwt	22
Ozarks Regional Stockyards	MO	381.31/cwt	309
McAlester Union Stockyards	OK	376.23/cwt	105

Boxed beef

PM close · Sep 29 USDA

Choice $382.66, $2.18 higher. Select $364.48, $6.25 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $18.18. 112 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

13,791 head traded Sep 23–Sep 29.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	350.04	2,026
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	219.69	55
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	219.95	3,981
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	346.85	6,993
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 week: Feeder steers 4.00-10.00 higher. Feeder heifers 2.00-7.00 higher. Stocker type cattle 600-700lbs mostly sold on Tuesday as calves: steers 5.00-10.00 lower and stocker type heifers mostly steady. Demand good for feeders.
OKC West Livestock Market · Oklahoma

Compared to last week, feeder steers and heifers were steady to 6.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves under 700 lbs were steady to 6.00 lower. Demand was good on a moderate supply. There were several drafts of green yearlings crossing the scales today with the largest draft being 102 head of 936 lb.
Ozarks Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last report feeder steers sold sharply higher, with feeder heifer selling unevenly steady. While breaker slaughter cows sold 8.00 lower boning cows sold steady, with lean cows selling 14.00 higher. While slaughter bulls sold steady on a light test.
Producers Livestock Marketing - Salina, UT · Utah

Compared to one week ago, slaughter cows and bulls mostly steady, feeder steers unevenly steady, feeder bulls unevenly steady to 5.00 lower, feeder heifers unevenly steady, all replacements steady to 5.00 higher.
Carnesville · Georgia

Special Carlot Feeder cattle sale and BBQ. Compared to 2 weeks ago, stocker and feeder steers steady to 12.00 higher. Heifers uneven less than 550 lbs. steady, over 550 lbs. steady to 14.00 lower. Feeder cattle futures were $1.20 to $1.75 higher at the closing bell.
Toppenish Livestock Commission · Washington

Compared to last Tuesday the feeder market was mostly steady with a good quality, but mostly yearling offering. Feeder steers 450 lbs and under appeared sharply higher with a lite test, while the 500-650 lbs steers were steady to 4.00 higher and the yearling steers were steady with good demand.
Lexington Livestock Auction - Kentucky · Kentucky

Compared to last sale (9-22-26): All feeder steers and heifer calves were too lightly tested last week to develop any market trend. All weights of yearling heifers sold mostly 2.00-5.00 lower in a narrow comparison. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive.
Miles City Livestock Commission · Montana

No Feeder Cattle Sale last week, comparisons made to 2 weeks ago. Feeder Steers 950 to 1000 3.00 higher, other classes of Feeder Steers not well compared; Feeder Heifers 900 to 950 Steady to 2.00 higher, 950 to 1050 2.00 higher.
Philip Livestock Auction · South Dakota

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	278.50/cwt	$21.57 higher	810
Boner (85% lean)	275.07/cwt	$2.81 higher	2,314
Cutter (90% lean)	275.65/cwt	$3.79 lower	3,630
Premium White	295.87/cwt	$5.05 higher	1,331
Bull (92% lean)	320.03/cwt	$9.17 lower	475

Reports published

See every report →

106 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.