Athens Regional Stockyard market report — October 20, 2026

Athens, TN · Tuesday sale · USDA report published 10/21/2026 · Sale days

Head sold

1,088

Last week 949 (+139)
Last year 1,203

5-wt steers (500–599 lb)

$359.35 /cwt

$1,985 per head · 22 hd
vs last week −6.52

7-wt steers (700–799 lb)

$330.80 /cwt

$2,530 per head · 17 hd
vs last week +1.83

Compared to last week, Feeder Steers unevenly steady. Feeder Heifers mostly steady to 2.00 lower. Feeder Bulls 5.00 to 10.00 lower. Slaughter Cows and Bulls mostly steady. Good supply of average quality cattle. Buyer demand good.
USDA Market News reporter, October 20, 2026

Feeder steers — Oct 20

Steers, Medium and Large frame, No. 1 and 1–2 muscle, regular lots, head-weighted by 100-lb band. Last week = sale of Oct 13. Last year = sale of Oct 21. Value added = lots USDA marks as value added (weaned and vaccinated programs). 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	Value added $/cwt
300–399 lb	18	334 lb	$419.04	$1,402	+0.99	−34.09	—
400–499 lb	11	466 lb	$378.58	$1,763	−35.90	−37.31	—
500–599 lb	22	552 lb	$359.35	$1,985	−6.52	−27.98	$380.00 (2 hd)†
600–699 lb	33	655 lb	$332.76	$2,181	−2.13	−28.20	—
700–799 lb	17	765 lb	$330.80	$2,530	+1.83	+1.09	$352.25 (63 hd)
800–899 lb	5	865 lb	$318.99	$2,758	+4.38	+11.91	$326.50 (6 hd)
900–999 lb	3	928 lb	$315.00†	$2,923	—	+27.63	—

Feeder heifers — Oct 20

Heifers, Medium and Large frame, No. 1 and 1–2 muscle, regular lots, head-weighted by 100-lb band. Last week = sale of Oct 13. Last year = sale of Oct 21. Value added = lots USDA marks as value added (weaned and vaccinated programs). 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	Value added $/cwt
300–399 lb	9	349 lb	$394.21	$1,374	+4.69	−29.12	—
400–499 lb	63	445 lb	$374.93	$1,670	+8.65	−23.84	—
500–599 lb	57	554 lb	$329.10	$1,823	−0.03	−35.99	$358.45 (8 hd)
600–699 lb	41	644 lb	$312.50	$2,014	−5.60	−13.30	$361.26 (101 hd)
700–799 lb	23	747 lb	$310.53	$2,318	+7.14	+7.17	$324.02 (17 hd)
800–899 lb	3	840 lb	$292.04†	$2,453	+18.63	+12.04	—

Slaughter cows — Oct 20

Grade	Dressing	Head	Avg wt	Avg $/cwt	Range $/cwt
Boner 80-85%	High	9	1,328 lb	$147.21	$140.00–$161.00
Boner 80-85%	Average	35	1,402 lb	$131.89	$124.00–$139.00
Boner 80-85%	Low	6	1,224 lb	$118.58	$112.00–$123.00
Breaker 75-80%	Average	11	1,528 lb	$135.04	$130.00–$138.00
Lean 85-90%	Average	9	1,134 lb	$122.72	$115.00–$131.00
Lean 85-90%	Low	18	1,165 lb	$101.11	$92.50–$110.00
Lean 85-90%	Very Low	4	1,225 lb	$80.55	$72.50–$87.50

Price trends

Steers 500–599 lb Easing

Latest (week of October 19, 2026): $359.35/cwt
4-week average: $359.03
13-week average: $369.18
4-week vs 13-week: −2.7%

52-wk low $320.74high $498.70

Steers 700–799 lb Steady

Latest (week of October 19, 2026): $330.80/cwt
4-week average: $329.11
13-week average: $331.74
4-week vs 13-week: −0.8%

52-wk low $271.79high $400.00

Sales in 12 of the last 13 weeks.

Heifers 500–599 lb Falling

Latest (week of October 19, 2026): $329.10/cwt
4-week average: $335.14
13-week average: $347.58
4-week vs 13-week: −3.6%

52-wk low $291.00high $435.52

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 Mar and May and lowest in Oct 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	+3.1%	100%	3
Feb	+5.9%	100%	3
Mar	+8.4%	100%	3
Apr	+6.1%	67%	3
May	+7.7%	100%	3
Jun	+1.5%	100%	3
Jul	−0.9%	33%	3
Aug	−0.6%	75%	4
Sep	−1.1%	67%	3
Oct	−7.6%	0%	3
Nov	−7.3%	0%	4
Dec	−5.0%	0%	4

7-weight steers

For 700–799 lb steers, prices since 2019 ran highest against their yearly average in Aug and Mar and lowest in Nov 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	+2.9%	100%	3
Feb	+2.5%	67%	3
Mar	+3.9%	100%	3
Apr	+0.8%	67%	3
May	+2.1%	67%	3
Jun	+1.4%	67%	3
Jul	+1.4%	67%	3
Aug	+4.4%	75%	4
Sep	+0.3%	33%	3
Oct	−0.8%	67%	3
Nov	−6.6%	0%	4
Dec	−5.0%	0%	4

Recent sales

Last 13 weeks. † Based on fewer than 5 head; treat as a rough price. Download the weekly history as CSV.
Sale	Head sold	Steers 500–599 $/cwt	Steers 700–799 $/cwt	Heifers 500–599 $/cwt
Tue Oct 20	1,088	$359.35	$330.80	$329.10
Tue Oct 13	949	$365.87	$328.97	$329.13
Tue Oct 6	988	$355.58	$333.01	$338.14
Tue Sep 29	988	$355.35	$323.65	$344.17
Tue Sep 22	1,121	$363.28	$330.03	$342.85
Tue Sep 15	982	$363.06	$334.83	$338.79
Tue Sep 8	515	$344.99	$332.53†	$334.13
Tue Sep 1	594	$346.07	$327.73	$335.43
Tue Aug 25	760	$342.70	$316.93	$334.47
Tue Aug 18	560	$376.21	—	$361.87
Tue Aug 11	966	$400.46	$337.92	$381.78
Tue Aug 4	939	$421.81	$350.58	$373.83
Tue Jul 28	722	$404.58	$333.85	$374.88
Tue Jul 21	673	$392.10	$338.44	$385.80

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
Oct 15, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	797	$369.08	$332.93	$360.42	No
Sep 17, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	883	$383.17	$315.16	$337.25	No
Aug 20, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,238	$383.45	$326.00	$377.58	No
Jul 16, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	969	$420.52	$340.53	$386.20	No
Jun 18, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	650	$443.46	$365.00	$410.57	No
May 21, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,341	$456.67	$357.15	$403.69	No
Apr 16, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,513	$480.47	$358.01	$421.12	No
Mar 19, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,370	$433.40	$358.91	$405.13	No
Feb 19, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,523	$457.20	$360.50	$405.33	No
Jan 15, 2026	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,485	$429.70	$364.28	$386.84	No
Dec 18, 2025	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,187	$403.11	$327.10	$363.35	No
Nov 20, 2025	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,663	$371.09	$316.97	$334.90	No
Oct 16, 2025	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,395	$439.30	$356.00	$419.44	No
Sep 18, 2025	Preconditioned Salespecial	1,367	$407.46	$356.12	$385.87	No

Nearby barns this week

Straight-line distance between towns. Barns tagged unweaned show unweaned-calf prices. Every Tennessee sale this week.
Barn	Distance	Sale	Steers 500–599	Steers 700–799
East Tennessee Livestock Center, Sweetwater	13 mi	Oct 21	—	$317.50†
Crossville Stockyard, Crossville	42 mi	Oct 24	$385.42	$323.18
Knoxville Livestock Center, Knoxville	51 mi	Oct 20	$409.94	$334.26
Warren Co. Livestock Auction, McMinnville	68 mi	Oct 19	—	—
Smith County Commission Co., Carthage	93 mi	Oct 24	$386.83	$315.00
Browning Livestock Market, Lafayette	109 mi	Oct 21	$375.75	$310.40

Sale days

Sale	Latest report	Head	Sales in 52 weeks	USDA report
Tuesday	October 20, 2026	1,088	50	AMS_2060
Preconditioned Sale special	October 15, 2026	797	14	AMS_3792

Source: USDA AMS Livestock, Poultry and Grain Market News, “Athens Regional Stockyard - Athens, TN” (AMS_2060); “Athens Regional Stockyard Preconditioned Sale - Athens, TN” (AMS_3792). 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.