The Morning Wire / Thu Oct 1, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Thu, Oct 1

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Sep 30Oct 1Oct 2 →

Summary

Thu, Oct 1

Choice cutout closed $6.00 lower at $376.79. 34 barns across 17 states reported 1,980 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 Thu, Oct 1, weighted by head. Spread of $110.58 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
Ogallala	NE	460.30/cwt	186
Valentine	NE	458.84/cwt	720
Stockmen's Livestock Exchange	ND	452.12/cwt	232
Winter Livestock - Pratt	KS	444.81/cwt	70
Napoleon Livestock Auction	ND	431.13/cwt	105
Billings Livestock Commission	MT	429.71/cwt	138
Tulia Livestock Auction	TX	427.27/cwt	54
Cedar Livestock Auction	UT	423.18/cwt	71
Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - Kansas	KS	420.62/cwt	240
Wheeler Livestock Auction	MO	411.30/cwt	174
Stanford Livestock Auction	KY	405.15/cwt	20
Lamoni Livestock Auction	IA	404.63/cwt	45
Virginia Livestock, LLC	VA	400.29/cwt	84
Mid Missouri Stockyards	MO	399.74/cwt	72
Paris Livestock Auction	KY	391.61/cwt	102
Benton County Sale Barn	AR	376.68/cwt	57
Guthrie Livestock Auction	KY	374.46/cwt	21
Producers Livestock Auction Co - San Angelo	TX	366.87/cwt	53
Apache Livestock Auction	OK	353.31/cwt	105
Hope Livestock Auction Inc.	AR	349.72/cwt	36

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 1 USDA

Choice $376.79, $6.00 lower. Select $352.89, $7.70 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $23.90. 117 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

27,500 head traded Sep 25–Oct 1.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	348.16	2,673
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	220.52	303
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	219.57	9,340
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	345.73	10,515
Nebraska	Live FOB	219.94	4,669

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: Only good comparison of yearling feeder steers were those 850-900 lbs 7.00 lower. Yearling feeder heifers 800-900 lbs unevenly steady, over 900 lbs 5.00 to 7.00 lower. Steer calves 450-550 lbs 10.00 to 20.00 lower, other weights not well compared.
Stockmen's Livestock Exchange · North Dakota

Compared to two weeks ago , calves were 9.00 - 15.00 higher and feeders were 5.00 - 14.00 higher. Nice offering today both calves and feeders. Demand was good to moderate on everything offered.
Ogallala · Nebraska

Compared to last week, steers weighing 400 to 899 lbs sold 9.00 to 12.00 lower with the exception of steers weighing 500 to 550 lbs selling 10.00 higher and 600 to 799 lbs steers not enough for market test.
Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission - Kansas · Kansas

Compared to last week feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady. There was moderate to good demand for feeder and yearling classes. Slaughter cows and bulls sold 6.00 to 8.00 lower. There was moderate demand for slaughter classes.
Paris Livestock Auction · Kentucky

Compared to last week: Feeder steers unevenly steady on a light test. Feeder heifers steady to 10.00 higher. Steer calves under 450 lbs. 10.0 to 20.00 higher, over 450 lbs. steady to 10.00 lower. Heifer calves 10.00 to 20.00 lower. Quality average with good demand.
Apache Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last sale (9-24-26): Feeder steers and heifer calves were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Yearling steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.
Billings Livestock Commission · Montana

Compared to last week, feeder steers and heifers under 650 lbs sold 3.00 to 12.00 higher and yearling cattle 650 lbs up selling 2.00 to 5.00 higher. On the video side, A nice string of 84 steers with a base weight of 600lbs selling @401.00.
Wheeler Livestock Auction · Missouri

Comparted to last week: Feeder steers and heifers sold 10.00-15.00 lower. Supply was moderate with good demand. Slaughter cows sold 5.00-8.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold 8.00-10.00 lower.
Benton County Sale Barn · Arkansas

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	254.75/cwt	$6.10 lower	364
Boner (85% lean)	265.19/cwt	$4.00 lower	1,781
Cutter (90% lean)	270.67/cwt	$1.99 lower	3,237
Premium White	286.46/cwt	$8.14 lower	1,500
Bull (92% lean)	322.84/cwt	$0.96 lower	352

Reports published

See every report →

69 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.