Work · Beef prices

Chuck primal

The composite value of the beef chuck primal: what the day’s negotiated sales of its cuts add up to, per hundredweight of the primal, from USDA’s daily boxed beef report. The latest Choice value, for Oct 29, 2026, is $3.27 per hundredweight.

Choice
$3.27 −$3.87
Select
$3.17 −$7.35

Is today’s price high or low? · About average

Higher than on 110 of the other 254 business days in the past year.

Lowest of the yearHighest of the year

A year earlier (Oct 29, 2025) it was $3.12 per hundredweight; today’s price is +5.0% against that. Over the past year’s 255 reports it averaged $3.26, from a low of $2.87 (Dec 4, 2025) to a high of $3.53 (Jan 23, 2026). In a usual year (2020–2025) it runs highest in September (+5.3% against its own year’s average) and lowest in February (−8.3%).

GradeLatestPer cwtChange
ChoiceThu, Oct 29$3.27−$3.87 since Wed, Oct 28
SelectThu, Oct 29$3.17−$7.35 since Wed, Oct 28

Every week on record Jan 2, 2020 to Oct 29, 2026

$4.59$1.57
  • Choice
  • Select
  • Weekly average, dollars per hundredweight

Each point is the average of the week’s daily prices. Gaps are stretches of three weeks or more with no sales. On record since Jan 2, 2020: 1,740 days with a price.

Average Choice price by month $ per cwt

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
2026343329335323333337324326329332··331
2025297276266261278311312344345303302301300
2024252259258249250259265271271282250253260
2023223221226241242258250257258259244231242
2022245238209207204217221212203210219205216
2021192202193206234250226264256231233219225
2020174168202251389185164171176172189178201

Each month is weighted by the pounds sold on each day (primal values are a plain average). A dot is a month with no sales on record.

Its usual year Each month against its own year’s average, the median over 2020–2025

  1. Jan−5.5%
  2. Feb−8.3%
  3. Mar−5.0%
  4. Apr−4.1%
  5. May−1.9%
  6. Jun+2.2%
  7. Jul+2.2%
  8. Aug+5.1%
  9. Sep+5.3%
  10. Oct+1.8%
  11. Nov+0.6%
  12. Dec−3.9%

Day by day The last 20 days it traded

DayChoice, per cwtSelect, per cwt
Oct 29, 2026$3.27$3.17
Oct 28, 2026$3.31$3.25
Oct 27, 2026$3.34$3.29
Oct 26, 2026$3.32$3.27
Oct 23, 2026$3.26$3.24
Oct 22, 2026$3.31$3.29
Oct 21, 2026$3.31$3.33
Oct 20, 2026$3.30$3.29
Oct 19, 2026$3.32$3.25
Oct 16, 2026$3.38$3.22
Oct 15, 2026$3.37$3.26
Oct 14, 2026$3.39$3.42
Oct 13, 2026$3.29$3.23
Oct 12, 2026$3.32$3.21
Oct 9, 2026$3.33$3.23
Oct 8, 2026$3.33$3.33
Oct 7, 2026$3.31$3.38
Oct 6, 2026$3.36$3.31
Oct 5, 2026$3.35$3.24
Oct 2, 2026$3.25$3.22

Every day is in the CSV downloads, with the day’s low and high and the number of trades.

Cuts from the chuck today Dearest first, per pound

CutPer lbGrade
Chuck flap$7.99Choice
Clod tender$7.60Choice
Top blade$6.14Choice
Chuck short rib$5.87Choice
Chuck roll, neck off$5.69Choice
Clod arm roast$4.97Choice
Shoulder clod, trimmed$4.24Choice
Shoulder clod$4.22Choice
Chuck tender$3.90Choice

About these numbers

Prices are USDA’s, from the National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout and Boxed Beef Cuts, Negotiated Sales afternoon report (LM_XB403): the weighted average of the day’s negotiated sales of boxed beef, FOB the packing plant, for delivery within 0 to 21 days, in dollars per hundredweight (100 lb). Divide by 100 for the price per pound. These are wholesale prices for whole cuts in boxes, well below what the same cut costs at a store. USDA lists this item as “Primal Chuck”. The latest report is for Oct 29, 2026; the next is due Fri, Oct 30, 2026.

The beef price board has every cut for today, the cutout, how the data is collected, and the whole history as CSV downloads. Source: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Livestock, Poultry and Grain Market News.