The Morning Wire / Wed Oct 28, 2026

The Morning Wire

The trading day in one page — Wed, Oct 28
● Written from USDA reportsEvery figure as filed
← Oct 27Oct 28Oct 29 →

Summary

Wed, Oct 28
Choice cutout closed $3.22 lower at $369.00. 58 barns across 25 states reported 3,941 priced lots.

Feeder steers

National, week of Oct 26 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.
WeightPricevs prior weekHeadBarns
300-399 lb538.32/cwt$6.24 lower4,944171
400-499 lb489.99/cwt$1.53 higher17,603187
500-599 lb435.85/cwt$3.20 lower34,086189
600-699 lb390.54/cwt$1.39 lower22,135186
700-799 lb354.36/cwt$3.76 higher10,035167
800-899 lb342.66/cwt$2.47 higher9,879122

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 28, weighted by head. Spread of $75.83 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.
BarnStateAverageHead
St. Onge LivestockSD466.74/cwt226
Ft. Pierre Livestock AuctionSD464.96/cwt684
Philip Livestock AuctionSD464.53/cwt1,730
BassettNE461.04/cwt516
Torrington Livestock Commission CompanyWY454.91/cwt828
Hub City Livestock AuctionSD453.69/cwt617
Huss LivestockNE450.86/cwt183
Kist Livestock AuctionND449.63/cwt842
South Central Regional StockyardsMO444.48/cwt126
SterlingCO424.09/cwt241
Russell Springs Livestock AuctionKY420.65/cwt39
Windsor Livestock AuctionMO417.57/cwt141
Winter Livestock - Dodge CityKS408.84/cwt57
Albany Livestock AuctionKY406.85/cwt36
Southern Oklahoma Livestock AuctionOK404.26/cwt344
'R' Livestock ConnectionUT403.66/cwt223
La JuntaCO402.89/cwt418
Mount Sterling Livestock AuctionKY395.87/cwt62
Farmington Regional StockyardsMO393.00/cwt24
McMinnville Livestock AuctionTN390.91/cwt115

Boxed beef

PM close · Oct 28 USDA
Choice $369.00, $3.22 lower. Select $355.25, $3.60 lower. The Choice–Select spread stands at $13.75. 107 loads traded.

Fed cattle

Negotiated cash, week to date USDA
11,551 head traded Oct 22–Oct 28.
RegionBasisPriceHead
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed Delivered357.121,980
Iowa-MinnesotaDressed FOB355.00256
Iowa-MinnesotaLive FOB224.234,381
NebraskaDressed Delivered351.193,735
NebraskaDressed FOB353.00885
NebraskaLive FOB224.36314

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: best test on yearling steers 900 to 949 lbs mostly steady. Best test on yearling heifers 850 to 949 lbs mostly steady with instances up to 4.00 higher on 850 to 899 lbs. Steer and heifer calves not well compared this week.

Hub City Livestock Auction · South Dakota

Compared to last week; no test again on yearling steers but yearling heifers traded steady to 3.00 higher. Steer calves traded 3.00 to 7.00 lower and heifer calves mostly steady to 2.00 lower. Overall a nice offering with most of the calves right off the cow carrying both spring and fall shots.

Torrington Livestock Commission Company · Wyoming

Compared to last week feeder steers 500 to 600 lbs. were 6.00 to 8.00 higher today. Feeder heifers 500 to 550 lbs. were 1.00 higher today. Other weights of steers and heifers did not have the numbers for a comparison this week.

Kist Livestock Auction · North Dakota

Compared with two weeks ago 500 to 600 lbs steers calves traded steady to as much as 25.0 higher and 900 to 950 lbs yearling steers traded 4.0 to 10.0 higher. A limited number of comparable offerings for heifers with 450 to 500 lbs offerings trading steady.

Bassett · Nebraska

Compared to last sale; Steer calves 300-450 lbs and 500-600 lbs sold 8.00-15.00 lower while 450-500 lbs were 15.00 higher. Feeder steers were 14.00-20.00 higher. Heifer calves 300-350 lbs and 400-500 lbs sold 5.00-12.00 higher with 350-400 lbs and 500-550 lbs being 15.00 lower.

Clovis Livestock Auction · New Mexico

Compared to last week, steers over 750 lbs sold steady, strong undertone. Heifers 750 to 850 lbs sold steady to 6.50 higher, over 850 lbs not enough for market test. Steer and heifer calves sold steady. Breaker and Boning utility slaughter cows sold steady.

Winter Livestock - Dodge City · Kansas

Trade activity and demand was good. Feeder steers sold mostly sharply higher across all weight classes. Feeder heifers under 600 sold 3.00 to 7.00 higher with instances of sharply higher. Feeder heifers over 600 sold unevenly steady. The next feeder calf sale will be next Wednesday November 4, 2026.

La Junta · Colorado

Compared to last week. Steers steady to 10.00 higher. Heifers steady to 10.00 lower. Quality was plain to average with an uneven trend.

Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction · Oklahoma

Cows and bulls

National direct, dressed USDA
ClassPriceDirectionHead
Breaker (75% lean)244.29/cwt$3.13 higher558
Boner (85% lean)251.31/cwt$2.50 higher1,757
Cutter (90% lean)254.76/cwt$2.00 higher3,900
Premium White264.63/cwt$0.12 lower1,586
Bull (92% lean)309.89/cwt$2.03 lower428

Reports published

See every report →
103 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.