The Morning Wire / Wed Oct 7, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Wed, Oct 7

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 6Oct 7Oct 8 →

Summary

Wed, Oct 7

Choice cutout closed $3.31 lower at $375.62. 55 barns across 24 states reported 3,594 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Oct 5 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	533.84/cwt	$20.03 higher	4,660	163
400-499 lb	482.80/cwt	$20.94 higher	15,688	181
500-599 lb	430.36/cwt	$15.70 higher	26,018	183
600-699 lb	380.51/cwt	$14.13 higher	15,892	182
700-799 lb	344.45/cwt	$0.58 higher	8,153	163
800-899 lb	334.06/cwt	$1.13 higher	8,928	120

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA

Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Wed, Oct 7, weighted by head. Spread of $80.00 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
St. Onge Livestock	SD	457.16/cwt	376
Torrington Livestock Commission Company	WY	450.95/cwt	326
Huss Livestock	NE	449.12/cwt	121
Bloomfield Livestock Auction	IA	441.40/cwt	343
Bassett	NE	435.12/cwt	26
Hub City Livestock Auction	SD	435.00/cwt	34
Creston Livestock Auction	IA	427.32/cwt	154
Windsor Livestock Auction	MO	420.41/cwt	136
'R' Livestock Connection	UT	418.80/cwt	191
La Junta	CO	413.50/cwt	315
Clovis Livestock Auction	NM	412.51/cwt	145
Public Auction Yards	MT	409.95/cwt	39
Winter Livestock - Dodge City	KS	406.91/cwt	128
Green City Livestock Auction	MO	402.06/cwt	29
Farmington Regional Stockyards	MO	400.41/cwt	58
Sterling	CO	396.50/cwt	79
Arcadia Stockyard (Wed)	FL	386.85/cwt	58
Green Forest Stockyards	AR	383.84/cwt	22
Russell Springs Livestock Auction	KY	378.81/cwt	45
Lafayette Livestock Auction	TN	377.16/cwt	23

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 7 USDA

Choice $375.62, $3.31 lower. Select $354.21, $2.13 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $21.41. 114 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

24,298 head traded Sep 26–Oct 2.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	348.45	2,602
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	345.00	40
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	220.75	283
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	219.38	7,538
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	346.10	8,344
Nebraska	Live Delivered	226.00	700

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: Slaughter steers steady to 1.00 lower, couple instances of 2.00 lower, heifers 1.00 to 3.00 lower. A lighter run as farmer feeders are busy with fall harvest. Moderate demand for this offering of very attractive, high quality grading steers and heifers.
Sioux Falls Regional Livestock · South Dakota

Compared to last week, steers over 600 lbs and heifers over 650 lbs, both up to 850 lbs, sold 20.00 higher. Steers and heifers over 850 lbs sold 5.00 higher. Several were off grass and in green condition. Steers and heifers under 650 lbs sold steady, soft undertone noted.
Winter Livestock - Dodge City · Kansas

Compared to last week; feeder steers and heifers traded mostly steady on comparable trades to last week. Steer and heifer calves traded 3.00 to 8.00 lower with all the offering being package trade and very few lots having both spring and fall shots.
Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Compared to two weeks ago, steer and heifer calves 400-650 lbs sold unevenly steady and feeder steers over 900 lbs sold 5.00 to 10.00 higher. Demand was moderate to good from the buyers in the crowd with internet activity noticed.
Huss Livestock · Nebraska

Compared to last sale; Steer calves 300-350 lbs sold lower and 400-550 lbs were steady to 20.00 higher. Feeder steers 600-750 lbs sold steady to 8.00 higher. Heifer calves 300-550 lbs sold higher with 550-600 lbs being lower.
Clovis Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Compared to last week (9-30-26): Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested in any weight category to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on all offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average with most offerings seen in small packages or as singles.
Public Auction Yards · Montana

Compared to last week. Steers and Heifers 5.00 to 15.00 higher. Quality was plain to average with a good demand as there was a good rain in the area last week.
Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Compared to last week, slaughter cows and bulls were 2.00-5.00 lower. Demand was good on a moderate supply of slaughter animals and a heavy supply of replacement cattle. The top slaughter bulls sold for 200.00/cwt. and the top slaughter cow sold for 155.00/cwt.
Ozarks Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	252.62/cwt	$3.28 higher	397
Boner (85% lean)	265.12/cwt	$0.84 higher	1,751
Cutter (90% lean)	269.32/cwt	$0.57 lower	3,818
Premium White	280.73/cwt	$2.67 lower	1,140
Bull (92% lean)	324.08/cwt	$1.54 lower	334

Reports published

See every report →

97 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.