by Andrew Griffith, Livestock Marketing Specialist
September 18, 2026
FED CATTLE
Fed cattle traded steady compared to last week. Prices on a live basis were mainly $220 to $224 and $348 to $351 on a dressed basis.
The 5-area weighted average prices through Thursday were $222.17 live, up $4.17 from last week and $350.22 dressed, down $0.14 from last week. A year ago, prices were $237.02 live and $370.92 dressed.
Very little change week-over-week as cattle feeders and packers waited for the cattle on feed report to be released to make most of their cattle trading decisions. Packers have been successful in gaining a small amount of leverage, but fundamentals remain the same as far as cattle supply. The market will continue to see heavier cattle on the kill floor despite increasing feed costs, but cattle feeders will be trying to keep cattle flowing through the system. As cliché as it sounds, cattle feeding is still a volume business to some degree as is the packing industry. Both sectors have substantial fixed costs that can only be offset with volume, and it will be necessary to keep cattle moving.
BEEF CUTOUT
At midday Friday, the Choice cutout was $371.33 down $0.82 from Thursday and down $4.63 from a week ago. The Select cutout was $353.70 up $1.82 from Thursday and up $0.03 from last week. The Choice Select spread was $17.63 compared to $22.29 a week ago.
With significant talk about high retail beef prices, it may be useful to discuss all meat prices before any announcements really impacted the market. The all fresh retail price of beef for August was $9.64 per pound, which was 11 cents lower than July and 35 cents lower than the record high in April. The retail price of pork in August was $4.89 per pound, which was the same as July and only six cents lower than the 2026 high in January. The retail price of broil meat in August was $2.01 per pound, which was one cent higher than July and four cents lower than the 2026 high in February. There is no doubt high beef prices have pulled port and poultry prices higher. They have essentially been riding the coattails of beef and will continue to do so. However, relative prices are important to consumers and beef is nearly five times more expensive than broiler meat and twice as expensive as pork. This has and will continue to result in some shifting consumption patterns, but beef eaters will eat beef as long as they can afford it.
OUTLOOK
Based on Tennessee weekly auction market average prices, steer prices were $3 to $16 higher compared to last week, while heifer prices were $3 to $13 higher compared to the previous week. Slaughter cow prices were steady to $7 lower this week compared to a week ago while slaughter bull prices were $5 lower compared to last week. Feeder cattle futures spent the first half of September trying to recover from the $30 per hundredweight loss that defined the August market. September Feeder cattle futures were able to recapture $24 of the lower August trade before losing some steam late this week. Despite the slight recovery, the September contract is still trading $40 per hundredweight lower than the contract highs that were close to $375 per hundredweight. This lower trade for feeder cattle will influence what stocker and backgrounding operations can afford to pay for calves the next several months. The fall run of calves will begin coming to market sooner rather than later. There have been a few producers who moved calves early and at lighter weights to take advantage of strong prices, but most producers will be moving cattle the next ten weeks. The market may be front loaded this year in drought-stricken regions in order to preserve some of the forage resources for the breeding herd. This will likely mean the movement of lighter calves. Current market prices have most five weight steers trading between $2,000 and $2,100 per head. This is about a 20 percent decline in value compared to the spring price peak, but it remains a profitable price for cow-calf operations. The biggest question for the fall cattle run is if the marker will experience the typical seasonal price decline that is present in October and November. If the seasonal price decline does occur then freshly weaned steer values will likely fall below $2,000 per head. However, prices are unlikely to soften as much as is typical due to the decline that has already dominated the market the past several weeks.
The September cattle on feed report for feedlots with a 1000 head or more capacity indicated cattle and calves on feed as of September 1, 2026 totaled 11.16 million head, up 0.7% compared to a year ago, with the pre-report estimate average expecting an increase of 1.8%. August placements in feedlots totaled 1.62 million head, down 3.2% from a year ago with the pre-report estimate average expecting placements down 3.2%. August marketing’s totaled 1.52 million head down 3.9% from 2025 with pre-report estimates expecting marketings down 3.9%. Placements on feed by weight: under 700 pounds down 9.7%, 700 to 899 pounds down 8.4%, 900 pounds and over down 10.0%.
ASK ANDREW, TN THINK TANK
This week, a question concerning fuel prices impact on farmers was asked by a television reporter in Knoxville. This led to a good discussion on how the timing of fuel price changes impact operations differently due to when fuel is demanded. For instance, in late summer and fall, row crop farmers are in their highest demand for fuel while hay producers typically have their highest demand in late spring and through the summer. Another factor is availability of on farm fuel storage. Many row crop operations would have had bulk storage tanks full heading into harvest, which means they probably paid less for the fuel they are using today than if they had to purchase it today. However, those tanks will have to be refilled following harvest or maybe during harvest, and what fuel prices do between now and when tanks are refilled can have a large impact on an operation. Some producers may choose a wait and see approach to refilling bulk tanks after harvest since fuel usage will be low until next spring.
Please send questions and comments to agriff14@utk.edu.
FRIDAY’S FUTURES MARKET CLOSING PRICES
Friday’s closing prices were as follows: Live/fed cattle –October $215.93 +0.28; December $216.63 +0.38; February $217.35 +0.08; Feeder cattle –September $333.58 -1.25; October $323.50 -0.88; November $318.00 -0.65; January $308.93 -0.83; December corn closed at $5.28 down 3 cents from Thursday.