The pectoral muscle primal off the front of the carcass, roughly 5 to 7 percent of weight. One major sub-primal (deckle-off boneless), one massive demand driver (BBQ). Live USDA AMS prices for every brisket sub-primal, updated every business day.
576.84¢/lbBrisket Composite. Choiceas of 2026-08-28
Source: USDA AMS National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout, Negotiated Sales (LM_XB403). Click any row for the full chart, multi-year history, and seasonal context.
About the beef brisket
The brisket is the pectoral muscle primal off the front of the carcass, sitting low and forward of the chuck. Yield share is small, roughly 5 to 7 percent of carcass weight, and the primal is fabricated almost entirely into one dominant sub-primal: the deckle-off boneless brisket (IMPS 120), with a secondary point-off boneless variant (IMPS 120A). Most other brisket trim flows into the grind program rather than into named sub-primals.
Brisket pricing is driven by BBQ demand. Texas-style smoked brisket programs, both at retail and in dedicated BBQ foodservice, anchor the demand side of this primal, and brisket consistently runs as one of the more seasonal beef cuts with summer grilling-season pulls firming the price into May and June. Brisket also trades closely with packer fabrication economics: when the packer can earn more grinding the brisket than fabricating it, fabrication slows and the boneless line tightens.
Brisket prints daily in the USDA AMS National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout report (LM_XB403), generally as a single Choice line plus a Select line. Volume on brisket runs more concentrated than other primals because of how few sub-primal lines the primal carries.
Frequently asked
What is the most valuable cut from the beef brisket?
Brisket, Point/off, Bnls is the highest-priced brisket sub-primal at $8.21/lb Choice as of 2026-08-28, from the USDA AMS National Daily Boxed Beef Cutout report (LM_XB403).
What's driving beef brisket prices today?
Average $5.77/lb across 3 Choice sub-primals Composite is down 0.8% week over week and running 16.0% above its usual level for this time of year.
How do Choice and Select brisket prices differ?
Choice brisket cuts trade at a premium to Select that reflects the marbling preference of steak and premium retail programs. The Choice/Select spread varies by sub-primal: it runs widest on the demand-driven steak cuts and narrows on the value-end cuts that move on supply. Both grades print daily on the USDA AMS LM_XB403 report.
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