Bloomfield Livestock market report — October 21, 2026

Bloomfield, IA · Wednesday sale · USDA report published 10/21/2026 · Sale days

Head sold

1,025

Last week 933 (+92)
Last year —

5-wt steers (500–599 lb)

$443.00 /cwt

$2,321 per head · 10 hd
vs last week —

7-wt steers (700–799 lb)

$376.96 /cwt

$2,896 per head · 131 hd
vs last week —

Compared to the sale two weeks ago both steers and heifers were not well compared. Demand was very good today and included active internet bidding. Supply was moderate and included four consignors that brought more than 400 head of reputation cattle. Several strings of eight- and nine-weight steers coming off the grass were offered today.
USDA Market News reporter, October 21, 2026

Feeder steers — Oct 21

Steers, Medium and Large frame, No. 1 and 1–2 muscle, regular lots, head-weighted by 100-lb band. No sale last week to compare. Last year = sale of Oct 15.
Weight	Head	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	vs last week	vs last year
500–599 lb	10	524 lb	$443.00	$2,321	—	—
600–699 lb	12	643 lb	$382.50	$2,460	—	−43.71
700–799 lb	131	768 lb	$376.96	$2,896	—	−16.93
800–899 lb	343	858 lb	$347.55	$2,982	—	−23.62
900–999 lb	303	937 lb	$342.41	$3,210	—	+27.00

Feeder heifers — Oct 21

Heifers, Medium and Large frame, No. 1 and 1–2 muscle, regular lots, head-weighted by 100-lb band. No sale last week to compare. Last year = sale of Oct 15.
Weight	Head	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	vs last week	vs last year
600–699 lb	11	670 lb	$357.45	$2,395	—	−30.69
700–799 lb	84	732 lb	$345.79	$2,532	—	−31.51
800–899 lb	18	879 lb	$288.80	$2,539	—	—

Slaughter cows — Oct 21

No slaughter cows reported at the latest sale.

Price trends

Steers 500–599 lb Rising

Latest (week of October 19, 2026): $443.00/cwt
4-week average: $448.81
13-week average: $432.05
4-week vs 13-week: +3.9%

52-wk low $397.59high $511.61

Sales in 4 of the last 13 weeks.

Steers 700–799 lb Rising

Latest (week of October 19, 2026): $376.96/cwt
4-week average: $376.96
13-week average: $357.50
4-week vs 13-week: +5.4%

52-wk low $339.62high $406.04

Sales in 4 of the last 13 weeks.

Heifers 500–599 lb Rising

Latest (week of October 5, 2026): $407.12/cwt
4-week average: $395.51
13-week average: $384.61
4-week vs 13-week: +2.8%

52-wk low $345.30high $451.26

Sales in 4 of the last 13 weeks.

Direction compares the 4-week average with the 13-week average: Rising +1% or more, Steady within ±1%, Easing −1% to −3%, Falling −3% or more. Weekly prices are head-weighted averages of Medium and Large No. 1 and 1–2 feeder cattle, regular lots.

The label describes recent prices; it is not a forecast. In our backtest of every barn since 2019 (about 35,000 barn-weeks), barns labeled Falling went on to beat other barns' average move over the next 13 weeks 61% of the time, and barns labeled Rising trailed it 56% of the time.

Last 52 weeks

Weekly average $/cwt4-week average

Price history since 2019

Weekly average $/cwt

When to sell: the seasonal pattern

5-weight steers

For 500–599 lb steers, prices since 2019 ran highest against their yearly average in Apr and Jun and lowest in Oct and Dec.

Each month's head-weighted average price compared with the centered 12-month average around it, then averaged across years. Past patterns are not a forecast.
Month	vs year avg	Years above	Years
Jan	−1.4%	50%	6
Feb	+1.7%	71%	7
Mar	+1.4%	67%	6
Apr	+5.6%	100%	7
May	+2.9%	57%	7
Jun	+4.0%	83%	6
Jul	+3.4%	67%	3
Aug	+0.2%	60%	5
Sep	+1.0%	67%	6
Oct	−6.9%	0%	4
Nov	−3.3%	14%	7
Dec	−3.8%	14%	7

7-weight steers

For 700–799 lb steers, prices since 2019 ran highest against their yearly average in Sep and Jul and lowest in Dec and Mar.

Each month's head-weighted average price compared with the centered 12-month average around it, then averaged across years. Past patterns are not a forecast.
Month	vs year avg	Years above	Years
Jan	−1.5%	33%	6
Feb	−0.6%	57%	7
Mar	−1.9%	17%	6
Apr	−1.1%	29%	7
May	+0.7%	43%	7
Jun	+0.6%	33%	6
Jul	+5.0%	75%	4
Aug	+4.2%	67%	6
Sep	+5.8%	83%	6
Oct	+2.5%	60%	5
Nov	−1.1%	29%	7
Dec	−3.4%	14%	7

Recent sales

Last 13 weeks. Download the weekly history as CSV.
Sale	Head sold	Steers 500–599 $/cwt	Steers 700–799 $/cwt	Heifers 500–599 $/cwt
Wed Oct 21	1,025	$443.00	$376.96	—
Wed Oct 7	933	$454.61	—	$407.12
Wed Sep 23	844	—	$362.31	$374.98
Wed Sep 16	1,801	$431.89	$340.00	$404.43
Wed Aug 26	2,131	$398.68	$350.73	$351.92

Special and graded sales

The last 12 months of this barn's special and graded sales, $/cwt, Medium and Large No. 1 and 1–2 regular lots (value-added lots where a sale has only those). A sale counts in the weekly trend only when it is a regular feeder sale: a plain special where feeder steers and heifers are most of the head. Graded, replacement, cow-and-pair, preconditioned and Holstein sales stay out.
Sale	Type	Head	Steers 500–599	Steers 700–799	Heifers 500–599	In trend
Dec 29, 2025	Feeder Cattle Specialspecial	1,442	$450.19	$375.92	$398.09	Yes

Nearby barns this week

Straight-line distance between towns. Barns tagged unweaned show unweaned-calf prices. Every Iowa sale this week.
Barn	Distance	Sale	Steers 500–599	Steers 700–799
Kalona Livestock, Kalona	63 mi	Oct 22	—	—
Tama Livestock, Tama	84 mi	Sep 14	$420.73	$335.06
Clarinda Livestock, Clarinda	137 mi	Oct 22	$440.43	$355.41
Dunlap Livestock, Dunlap	182 mi	Oct 23	$458.70	$350.00
Sheldon Livestock, Sheldon	243 mi	Aug 15	$284.69	$267.50

Sale days

Sale	Latest report	Head	Sales in 52 weeks	USDA report
Feeder Cattle	October 21, 2026	1,025	23	AMS_2162
Feeder Cattle Special special	December 29, 2025	1,442	1	AMS_2133

Source: USDA AMS Livestock, Poultry and Grain Market News, “Bloomfield Livestock Feeder Cattle - Bloomfield, IA” (AMS_2162); “Bloomfield Livestock IMBIO Feeder Cattle Special - Bloomfield, IA” (AMS_2133). See something wrong? Report a correction. Feeder prices are Medium and Large frame No. 1 and 1–2 cattle, $/cwt, grouped into 100-lb bands by average weight and weighted by head count. Value-added, unweaned and No. 2 lots are shown in their own columns; other lot types (fancy, fleshy, thin-fleshed, spayed, replacement) are left out. $/head = $/cwt × average weight ÷ 100.