Market Monday · Oct 26, 2026
Free weekly practice for ag classes and FFA chapters: real Panhandle sale barn prices from USDA, worked into three problems and one drought map question, with answer keys and a printable worksheet.
Practice problems built from past sale prices USDA reported; not a price quote and not financial advice. Program questions are for learning only: FSA decides eligibility.
Print the worksheet (PDF, answer key on the last page) From the weekly report of Oct 23, 2026.
1. Dollars per head
At Cattlemen's Livestock Auction (Dalhart, TX) on Oct 22, 2026, 500–599 lb steers averaged $413.50 per hundredweight (cwt). What would a 550-lb steer bring at that price?
Hint: $/head = weight (lb) × $/cwt ÷ 100.
Answer key
- 550 × $413.50 ÷ 100 = $2,274.25
$2,274.25 per head
2. Value of gain
Same sale: 700–799 lb steers averaged $356.01/cwt. If a 550-lb steer is grown to 750 lb, what is each added pound worth (value of gain)?
Hint: Value of gain = (heavy $/head − light $/head) ÷ pounds added.
Answer key
- Heavy: 750 × $356.01 ÷ 100 = $2,670.07
- Light: 550 × $413.50 ÷ 100 = $2,274.25
- ($2,670.07 − $2,274.25) ÷ 200 lb = $1.98 per lb
$1.98 per lb of gain
If it costs less than this to put on a pound, adding weight paid this week; if it costs more, selling lighter paid.
3. Hay cost per cow-day
USDA's Texas Panhandle hay report for the week ending Oct 16, 2026 quoted premium bermuda grass in large round bales at $135.00–$140.00 a bale. Use $137.50 (the middle). Assume a 1,200-lb bale that is 88% dry matter, a 1,200-lb cow eating 2.5% of her weight in dry matter a day, and 10% waste in a ring feeder. What does hay cost per cow per day?
Hint: Dry matter needed → pounds of hay to put out → × price per pound.
Answer key
- Dry matter: 1,200 × 2.5% = 30.0 lb
- Hay to put out: 30.0 ÷ 0.88 ÷ 0.90 = 37.9 lb
- Price per lb: $137.50 ÷ 1,200 = $0.1146
- 37.9 × $0.1146 = $4.34
$4.34 per cow per day
4. Drought map
On the U.S. Drought Monitor map dated Oct 20, 2026, how many of the 49 counties Cownty tracks around the Panhandle had any severe drought (D2) or worse? How many were on FSA's Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) list?
Hint: Open each county page, or the weekly report's drought section.
Answer key
32 of 49 had D2 or worse; 49 were on the LFP list.
Roger Mills County, OK had the most: 100% of the county in D2 or worse.
Read the barn report in two minutes
Open the USDA report for Cattlemen's Livestock Auction (PDF) and walk through it:
- Find the receipts: the total head USDA counted at the sale (2,308 head at Dalhart on Oct 22, 2026).
- Find the class: Feeder Steers, Medium and Large 1–2 (the usual calf grade).
- Read across the weight row: 500–599 lb steers sold from $362.00 to $440.00/cwt.
- The weighted average ($413.50/cwt) counts every head, so big lots count more.
- Prices are per hundredweight (100 lb). Multiply by weight ÷ 100 to get dollars per head.
- Compare: the Cownty 5-wt Index (all local barns) was $408.45/cwt that week.
For teachers
A new page posts every Friday afternoon for Monday class. Bookmark cownty.com/learn or follow the RSS feed. A Monday email for teachers isn't on yet.
Students whose families ranch can get their county's prices and drought changes by text: sign up free.