Denison Livestock market report — September 24, 2026

Denison, IA · Thursday sale · USDA report published 09/24/2026 · Sale days

Head sold

1,939

Last week 1,713 (+226)
Last year —

5-wt steers (500–599 lb)

$393.52 /cwt

$2,131 per head · 110 hd
vs last week —

7-wt steers (700–799 lb)

$350.62 /cwt

$2,551 per head · 33 hd
vs last week —

Special Calf & Yearling Sale. No trend applicable, as the previous sale was three weeks ago. Eleven full load lots and three half loads of yearlings along with many smaller strings in the offering today. Good demand throughout the sale.
USDA Market News reporter, September 24, 2026

Feeder steers — Sep 24

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 Sep 18. Unweaned = calves sold straight off the cow. These are kept out of the main price.
Weight	Head	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	vs last week	vs last year	Unweaned $/cwt
300–399 lb	17	372 lb	$514.73	$1,915	—	−15.27	—
400–499 lb	47	455 lb	$477.67	$2,175	—	−18.38	$460.00 (37 hd)
500–599 lb	110	541 lb	$393.52	$2,131	—	−69.70	$365.00 (7 hd)
600–699 lb	158	623 lb	$376.82	$2,349	—	−10.60	—
700–799 lb	33	728 lb	$350.62	$2,551	—	−19.26	—
800–899 lb	450	861 lb	$350.01	$3,013	—	−16.01	—
900–999 lb	305	912 lb	$348.80	$3,181	—	+0.46	—

Feeder heifers — Sep 24

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 Sep 18. Unweaned = calves sold straight off the cow. These are kept out of the main price. † Based on fewer than 5 head; treat as a rough price.
Weight	Head	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	vs last week	vs last year	Unweaned $/cwt
300–399 lb	3	358 lb	$470.00†	$1,683	—	−35.00	—
400–499 lb	53	483 lb	$396.16	$1,913	—	−114.32	—
500–599 lb	163	551 lb	$376.82	$2,075	—	−30.34	$360.00 (6 hd)
600–699 lb	36	639 lb	$343.44	$2,194	—	−21.18	—
700–799 lb	43	754 lb	$320.65	$2,419	—	−44.42	—
800–899 lb	153	832 lb	$307.87	$2,562	—	−11.37	—
900–999 lb	3	978 lb	$244.00†	$2,386	—	—	—

Slaughter cows — Sep 24

No slaughter cows reported at the latest sale.

Price trends

Steers 500–599 lb Steady

Latest (week of September 21, 2026): $393.52/cwt
4-week average: $408.36
13-week average: $407.29
4-week vs 13-week: +0.3%

52-wk low $386.50high $506.91

Sales in 4 of the last 13 weeks.

Steers 700–799 lb Easing

Latest (week of September 21, 2026): $350.62/cwt
4-week average: $355.02
13-week average: $359.04
4-week vs 13-week: −1.1%

52-wk low $339.24high $415.23

Sales in 4 of the last 13 weeks.

Heifers 500–599 lb Falling

Latest (week of September 21, 2026): $376.82/cwt
4-week average: $372.34
13-week average: $387.27
4-week vs 13-week: −3.9%

52-wk low $355.13high $494.59

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 Aug and Apr and lowest in Nov and Oct.

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	−1.0%	50%	6
Feb	+0.1%	67%	6
Mar	+1.2%	57%	7
Apr	+4.1%	100%	6
May	+3.9%	100%	6
Jun	+2.8%	71%	7
Jul	+1.1%	57%	7
Aug	+6.5%	83%	6
Sep	+3.5%	67%	6
Oct	−5.5%	0%	6
Nov	−6.2%	0%	6
Dec	−3.3%	33%	6

7-weight steers

For 700–799 lb steers, prices since 2019 ran highest against their yearly average in Aug and Jul and lowest in May and Nov.

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	−0.7%	50%	6
Feb	+0.8%	67%	6
Mar	−0.9%	29%	7
Apr	−1.6%	33%	6
May	−3.5%	17%	6
Jun	+1.4%	43%	7
Jul	+5.6%	86%	7
Aug	+7.5%	83%	6
Sep	+3.0%	83%	6
Oct	−0.9%	50%	6
Nov	−3.3%	33%	6
Dec	−1.8%	33%	6

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
Thu Sep 24	1,939	$393.52	$350.62	$376.82
Thu Sep 3	1,713	$423.20	$359.42	$367.87
Thu Aug 13	1,427	$390.00	$359.42	$402.11
Thu Jul 30	1,402	$422.43	$366.69	$402.26
Thu Jun 25	897	—	$383.55	$464.00

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
Jan 5, 2026	Feeder Cattle Specialspecial	1,786	$473.43	$383.92	$411.53	Yes
Jan 3, 2026	Feeder Cattle Specialspecial	1,587	$468.84	$384.20	$414.61	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
Dunlap Livestock, Dunlap	17 mi	Oct 23	$458.70	$350.00
Sheldon Livestock, Sheldon	84 mi	Aug 15	$284.69	$267.50
Clarinda Livestock, Clarinda	90 mi	Oct 22	$440.43	$355.41
Tama Livestock, Tama	143 mi	Sep 14	$420.73	$335.06
Bloomfield Livestock, Bloomfield	176 mi	Oct 21	$443.00	$376.96
Kalona Livestock, Kalona	192 mi	Oct 22	—	—

Sale days

Sale	Latest report	Head	Sales in 52 weeks	USDA report
Feeder Cattle	September 24, 2026	1,939	25	AMS_2150
Feeder Cattle Special special	January 5, 2026	1,786	2	AMS_3468

Source: USDA AMS Livestock, Poultry and Grain Market News, “Denison Livestock Feeder Cattle - Denison, IA” (AMS_2150); “Denison Livestock Feeder Cattle Special - Denison, IA” (AMS_3468). 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.