The Morning Wire / Mon Oct 19, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Mon, Oct 19

● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed

← Oct 17Oct 19Oct 20 →

Summary

Mon, Oct 19

Choice cutout held near $371.58. 57 barns across 19 states reported 4,389 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Oct 19 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	544.56/cwt	$0.57 higher	5,185	161
400-499 lb	488.46/cwt	$0.09 higher	17,624	180
500-599 lb	439.05/cwt	$6.76 higher	33,564	184
600-699 lb	391.93/cwt	$6.88 higher	21,836	186
700-799 lb	350.60/cwt	$0.86 lower	9,257	155
800-899 lb	340.19/cwt	$3.02 higher	8,842	109

Barn by barn, 500–599 lb steers

Same day, same class USDA

Every barn that sold at least 20 head of this class on Mon, Oct 19, weighted by head. Spread of $103.41 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
Torrington Livestock Commission Company	WY	469.72/cwt	703
Winter - La Junta	CO	429.19/cwt	782
West Point Livestock Auction	NE	425.34/cwt	44
Paris Livestock Auction	KY	421.78/cwt	54
Tina Livestock	MO	420.93/cwt	44
Callaway Livestock Center	MO	415.74/cwt	196
Oklahoma National Stockyards Market	OK	405.93/cwt	559
Farmers Livestock Exchange, Inc.	VA	403.27/cwt	178
Lexington Livestock Auction - Kentucky	KY	403.15/cwt	50
Joplin Regional Stockyards	MO	400.25/cwt	491
Harned Livestock Auction	KY	392.27/cwt	78
Billings Livestock Commission	MT	391.33/cwt	84
Lynchburg Livestock Market, Inc.	VA	390.17/cwt	59
Tulsa Stockyards Inc.	OK	387.03/cwt	190
Florence Stockyards	AL	386.00/cwt	30
Cattlemans Livestock Auction - West Point, MS	MS	383.95/cwt	47
Unionville Livestock Auction - Unionville, TN	TN	380.93/cwt	29
Roswell Livestock Auction	NM	379.26/cwt	108
Dickson Livestock Auction	TN	378.23/cwt	100
Williamston Livestock Auction	SC	366.32/cwt	31

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 19 USDA

Choice $371.58, $0.73 lower. Select $359.91, $6.86 higher. The Choice–Select spread stands at $11.67. 104 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA

24,753 head traded Oct 10–Oct 16.

Region	Basis	Price	Head
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed Delivered	353.40	3,231
Iowa-Minnesota	Dressed FOB	350.84	679
Iowa-Minnesota	Live Delivered	225.48	73
Iowa-Minnesota	Live FOB	223.03	5,858
Nebraska	Dressed Delivered	351.23	9,484
Nebraska	Dressed FOB	354.00	639

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.

CLOSE Compared to last week heavy four weight and light five weight steers sold 30.00-60.00 higher. Heavy five weight up to eight weight steers sold steady to 8.00 lower. Heavier weights sold 2.00-7.00 higher. Feeder heifers sold from 10.00 lower to 8.00 higher.
Joplin Regional Stockyards · Missouri

Compared to last week: Feeder steers over 800 lbs 4.00-6.00 higher in a light test; under 800 lbs steady to 4.00 lower. Feeder heifers steady to 3.00 higher, 600-700 lbs. 6.00-7.00 lower. Steer calves 10.00-15.00 higher, but under 500 lbs not well tested.
Oklahoma National Stockyards Market · Oklahoma

Trade activity and demand was good. Feeder steers sold mostly sharply higher across all weight classes. Feeder heifers under 450 sold 1.00 to 3.00 lower with instances of sharply lower. Feeder heifers over 450 sold mostly sharply higher.
Winter - La Junta · Colorado

Compared to last Monday; steer and heifer calves carrying spring and fall shots traded 3.00 to 7.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves just carrying spring shots traded 5.00 to 7.00 lower. Buyers putting a premium on calves this week that have been double vaccinated.
Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Compared to last week: Feeder steers had limited sales to compare to. Feeder heifers mostly steady to 5.00 higher on limited comparisons as well. Higher undertones seen on the few comparable trades throughout the day. Bulk of sale came from a handful of consignors with one having 750 head on offer.
Sioux Falls Regional Livestock · South Dakota

Compared to last sale (10-12-26): All feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend, however higher undertones were noted. Demand for feeder cattle was mostly moderate for light offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average.
Billings Livestock Commission · Montana

Compared to last week's sale, Slaughter Steers traded $1.00-$2.00 lower and Slaughter Bulls traded $10.00-$15.00 lower. Feeder Dairy Calves were higher, with Holsteins trading $30.00-$40.00 higher and Beef Cross Calves trading $70.00-$85.00 higher.
New Holland Sale Stables · Pennsylvania

Compared to last sale; Steer calves 400-500 lbs sold higher while 300-350 lbs and 500-600 lbs were lower. Feeder steers 600-700 lbs sold lower with 750-800 lbs being higher.Heifer calves 300-350 lbs and 450-550 lbs sold lower with 400-450 lbs and 550-600 lbs being higher.
Roswell Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA

Class	Price	Direction	Head
Breaker (75% lean)	253.23/cwt	$7.83 higher	607
Boner (85% lean)	257.45/cwt	$0.90 lower	2,166
Cutter (90% lean)	258.95/cwt	$0.59 lower	4,122
Premium White	268.75/cwt	$5.43 lower	1,221
Bull (92% lean)	319.76/cwt	$2.27 higher	390

Reports published

See every report →

149 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.