The question came up in one of my email lists of where to find archived USDA livestock reports, and I did a little searching to find the answer. Then I thought our readers here might also be interested.
Here’s how to find them! First, find the URL of the auction or the prices you want from this page:
ams.usda.gov/market-news/feeder-and-replacement-cattle-auctions
This will lead you to a page with a URL similar to this one for the Missouri Weighed Avg page:
ams.usda.gov/mnreports/jc_ls795.txt
You will need to note down the last part of this URL. In this case, we will use the part: jc_ls795
Now, navigate to this page:
ams.usda.gov/market-news/search-market-news
The search options will look like this below:
You can see that I’ve copied the code for the specific report I wanted (the MO Avg report) into the “Filename like:” field. Then I chose “text” for the document type (you can also choose pdf), and then I entered the date range I wanted into the “Custom Date Range” field. Be sure you use the proper formatting for the date.
After you click “Go” you will see this:
This will show you the dates of the reports within your date range. Click the link on the left beside the date you want, and it will take you to the report you want.