East Tennessee Livestock Center market report — October 21, 2026

Sweetwater, TN · Wednesday sale · USDA report published 10/21/2026 · Sale days

Head sold

100

Last week 65 (+35)
Last year —

5-wt steers (500–599 lb)

— /cwt

None sold in this weight at the latest sale

7-wt steers (700–799 lb)

$317.50† /cwt

$2,461 per head · 1 hd
vs last week —

Compared to last week, slaughter cows and bulls sold mostly steady with no comparisons available for feeder cattle due to limited comparable receipts.
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. Last week = sale of Oct 14. Last year = sale of Oct 15. No. 2 = lighter-muscled cattle, a separate grade line in the USDA report. 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	No. 2 $/cwt
300–399 lb	—	—	—	—	—	—	$430.00 (1 hd)†
600–699 lb	2	638 lb	$334.97†	$2,137	+14.97	+3.97	—
700–799 lb	1	775 lb	$317.50†	$2,461	—	—	—

Feeder heifers — Oct 21

Heifers, Medium and Large frame, No. 1 and 1–2 muscle, regular lots, head-weighted by 100-lb band. Last week = sale of Oct 14. Last year = sale of Oct 15. † Based on fewer than 5 head; treat as a rough price.
Weight	Head	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	vs last week	vs last year
300–399 lb	2	380 lb	$347.04†	$1,319	−0.46	−4.63
400–499 lb	9	437 lb	$354.25	$1,547	−0.26	+3.00
500–599 lb	6	543 lb	$315.36	$1,711	−0.58	−23.40
600–699 lb	4	646 lb	$308.11†	$1,992	+3.10	+1.44
700–799 lb	1	740 lb	$295.00†	$2,183	—	—
800–899 lb	1	890 lb	$287.50†	$2,559	—	—

Slaughter cows — Oct 21

Grade	Dressing	Head	Avg wt	Avg $/cwt	Range $/cwt
Boner 80-85%	Average	7	1,253 lb	$133.31	$123.00–$140.00
Breaker 75-80%	Average	4	1,618 lb	$126.44	$122.00–$136.00
Breaker 75-80%	Low	1	1,495 lb	$119.00	$119.00–$119.00
Lean 85-90%	Average	5	1,152 lb	$118.42	$115.00–$122.00

Price trends

Steers 500–599 lb Easing

Latest (week of October 12, 2026): $361.25/cwt
4-week average: $357.60
13-week average: $366.55
4-week vs 13-week: −2.4%

52-wk low $312.50high $488.79

Sales in 11 of the last 13 weeks.

Steers 700–799 lb Easing

Latest (week of October 19, 2026): $317.50/cwt
4-week average: $318.75
13-week average: $323.88
4-week vs 13-week: −1.6%

52-wk low $295.00high $359.00

Sales in 8 of the last 13 weeks.

Heifers 500–599 lb Falling

Latest (week of October 19, 2026): $315.36/cwt
4-week average: $317.25
13-week average: $327.74
4-week vs 13-week: −3.2%

52-wk low $288.77high $423.30

Sales in 12 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 Mar and Apr 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	−0.9%	29%	7
Feb	+4.1%	86%	7
Mar	+9.4%	86%	7
Apr	+6.4%	86%	7
May	+6.3%	100%	7
Jun	+4.0%	86%	7
Jul	+1.4%	71%	7
Aug	+1.0%	75%	8
Sep	−2.7%	29%	7
Oct	−6.6%	0%	7
Nov	−9.3%	0%	7
Dec	−7.1%	0%	6

7-weight steers

For 700–799 lb steers, prices since 2019 ran highest against their yearly average in Aug and Feb and lowest in Oct and Apr.

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
Feb	+3.1%	67%	3
Mar	—	—	2
Apr	−1.6%	25%	4
May	−0.6%	75%	4
Jun	—	—	2
Jul	—	—	2
Aug	+5.9%	100%	3
Sep	+2.6%	100%	4
Oct	−4.0%	0%	3
Nov	—	—	2
Dec	—	—	2

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
Wed Oct 21	100	—	$317.50†	$315.36
Wed Oct 14	85	$361.25†	—	$315.94
Wed Oct 7	116	$355.45	$320.00†	$314.30†
Wed Sep 30	107	$353.69†	—	$323.41
Wed Sep 23	201	$360.00†	$322.00†	$328.11
Wed Sep 16	111	$333.33†	—	$317.51
Wed Sep 9	65	$330.00†	$318.04	$317.00†
Wed Sep 2	125	—	$310.00†	$310.00†
Wed Aug 19	133	$363.35†	$337.23	$349.45
Wed Aug 12	100	$412.50†	$337.50†	$349.29
Wed Aug 5	84	$400.00†	$328.75†	$340.00†
Wed Jul 29	93	$360.00†	—	$352.57†
Wed Jul 22	110	$402.50†	—	$341.11

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 16, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	667	$379.60	$328.32	$331.50	No
Oct 9, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	206	—	—	—	No
Sep 18, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	629	$364.47	$314.00	$334.56	No
Sep 11, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	240	—	—	—	No
Aug 28, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	204	$346.50	$311.42	$313.67	No
Aug 14, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	237	—	—	—	No
Aug 7, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	1,209	$424.24	$344.00	$376.54	No
Jul 17, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	373	—	—	—	No
Jun 19, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	319	—	—	—	No
Jun 5, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	353	$432.09	$346.16	$360.67	No
May 15, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	342	—	—	—	No
May 8, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	406	$466.24	$355.00	$377.50	No
Apr 24, 2026	Replacement Cattle Salespecial	163	—	—	—	No
Apr 10, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	419	—	—	—	No
Apr 3, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	322	$460.00	$345.00	$400.00	No
Mar 13, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	205	—	—	—	No
Mar 6, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	447	$450.37	$372.47	$374.62	No
Feb 27, 2026	Replacement Cattle Salespecial	53	—	—	—	No
Feb 13, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	207	—	—	—	No
Feb 6, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	179	$460.00	$357.50	$402.00	No
Jan 16, 2026	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	173	—	—	—	No
Jan 9, 2026	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	421	$411.00	$337.50	$368.57	No
Dec 12, 2025	Replacement Cattle Salespecial	88	—	—	—	No
Dec 5, 2025	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	352	—	—	—	No
Nov 21, 2025	Replacement Cattle Salespecial	133	—	—	—	No
Nov 14, 2025	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	473	$333.47	$292.00	$287.68	No
Nov 7, 2025	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	223	—	—	—	No
Oct 17, 2025	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	647	$373.22	$329.38	$350.55	No
Oct 10, 2025	Graded Holstein Steer Salegraded	439	—	—	—	No
Sep 19, 2025	Graded Feeder Cattle Salegraded	670	$346.56	$315.82	$332.70	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
Athens Regional Stockyard, Athens	13 mi	Oct 20	$359.35	$330.80
Crossville Stockyard, Crossville	39 mi	Oct 24	$385.42	$323.18
Knoxville Livestock Center, Knoxville	39 mi	Oct 20	$409.94	$334.26
Warren Co. Livestock Auction, McMinnville	74 mi	Oct 19	—	—
Smith County Commission Co., Carthage	94 mi	Oct 24	$386.83	$315.00
Volunteer Stockyards, Greeneville	100 mi	Oct 24	—	—

Sale days

Sale	Latest report	Head	Sales in 52 weeks	USDA report
Wednesday	October 21, 2026	100	45	AMS_2067
Graded Feeder Cattle Sale graded	October 16, 2026	667	13	AMS_2073
Graded Holstein Steer Sale graded	October 9, 2026	206	13	AMS_2072
Replacement Cattle Sale special	April 24, 2026	163	4	AMS_3893

Source: USDA AMS Livestock, Poultry and Grain Market News, “East Tennessee Livestock Center - Sweetwater, TN” (AMS_2067); “East Tennessee Livestock Center Graded Feeder Cattle Sale - Sweetwater, TN” (AMS_2073); “East Tennessee Livestock Center Graded Holstein Steer Sale - Sweetwater, TN” (AMS_2072); “East Tennessee Livestock Center Replacement Cattle Sale (Seasonal) - Sweetwater TN” (AMS_3893). 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.