Cattle Market Pulse

Ash Flat Livestock Auction Market Report

Ash Flat, Arkansas · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, October 8, 2021

1,159 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Ash Flat Livestock Auction report →

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $148.03/cwt -1.31 vs last sale · ≈ $773/hd at 522 lb · 26 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 bulls $129.58/cwt +1.26 vs last sale · ≈ $752/hd at 580 lb · 23 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 bulls $140.70/cwt +1.21 vs last sale · ≈ $727/hd at 517 lb · 18 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,159 1,852 751
Feeder cattle 1,018 1,702 672
Slaughter cattle 101 100 54
Replacement cattle 40 50 25

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder steers traded mostly uneven with lower undertones noted. Feeder heifers under 600 lbs were 2.00 to 6.00 lower, heifers over 600 lbs were not well tested. There were several offerings of unweaned and fleshy type cattle that buyers had little intersest in that pushed trends lower. Supply was good and demand was good on weaned cattle but poor on unweaned new crop cattle. Slaughter cows and bulls were both mostly steady.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
295 295 1 183.00 $183.00 $540 —
405–410 408 2 155.00–168.00 $161.54 $659 +4.25
460–495 482 5 144.00–153.00 $149.39 $720 -1.29
510 value added 510 10 154.00 $154.00 $785 -0.85
500–545 529 15 142.00–153.00 $144.91 $767 -0.08
535 535 1 135.00 $135.00 $722 +1.00
560 560 1 128.00 $128.00 $717 -17.70
550–575 562 7 135.00–146.00 $139.75 $785 -5.95
565 565 1 125.00 $125.00 $706 -20.70
600 value added 600 6 146.00 $146.00 $876 +0.68
600–645 624 12 130.00–144.00 $137.60 $859 +0.17
665 665 1 125.00 $125.00 $831 -12.12
655–695 673 5 128.00–140.00 $134.53 $905 -2.59
700 700 1 133.00 $133.00 $931 +2.55
815–823 821 5 124.00–133.00 $131.21 $1,077 +2.21
890 890 1 115.00 $115.00 $1,024 -14.87
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
290 290 1 160.00 $160.00 $464 —
315 315 1 147.50 $147.50 $465 +3.50
350–385 371 9 140.00–155.00 $145.52 $540 +1.73
410–445 427 5 126.00–145.00 $134.02 $572 +4.60
490 490 1 123.00 $123.00 $603 -10.86
510 510 1 125.00 $125.00 $638 -6.82
550–585 565 3 125.00–130.00 $128.38 $725 -1.16
595 thin fleshed 595 1 145.00 $145.00 $863 —
600–645 624 7 115.00–132.00 $124.56 $777 -0.27
698 698 2 117.00 $117.00 $817 —
810 810 1 105.00 $105.00 $850 -8.25
Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
425 425 2 121.00 $121.00 $514 —
495 495 1 115.00 $115.00 $569 —
515 515 1 115.00 $115.00 $592 —
570–580 575 2 105.00–115.00 $110.04 $633 —
600–615 608 2 105.00–110.00 $107.53 $654 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
365–392 380 8 138.00–146.00 $143.56 $546 —
425–445 437 3 130.00–136.00 $133.29 $582 -4.06
460 460 1 125.00 $125.00 $575 -12.56
450–498 478 10 125.00–138.00 $130.76 $625 +5.92
500–535 512 12 125.00–131.50 $129.91 $665 -2.69
513–530 521 6 120.00–122.00 $121.15 $631 -11.45
562–590 569 12 115.00–122.00 $120.05 $683 -12.48
570–585 578 2 125.00–131.00 $128.04 $740 -4.49
605 605 1 115.00 $115.00 $696 -10.84
615 value added 615 5 130.00 $130.00 $800 +2.97
600–645 621 12 117.00–126.00 $123.66 $768 -2.18
655–690 673 3 119.00–127.00 $122.96 $828 +2.30
715 715 1 90.00 $90.00 $644 -23.76
740 740 1 115.00 $115.00 $851 +1.24
765 765 1 90.00 $90.00 $688 -10.00
765 765 1 113.00 $113.00 $864 +13.00
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
325–345 334 7 130.00–140.00 $133.61 $446 -1.87
355–395 375 10 120.00–132.00 $124.08 $465 -3.28
405–445 424 8 115.00–130.00 $123.80 $525 +12.80
480 480 1 115.00 $115.00 $552 -9.67
450–498 481 8 115.00–124.00 $117.30 $564 +2.30
500–545 521 10 115.00–124.00 $119.72 $624 -0.66
525 525 1 125.00 $125.00 $656 +4.62
550–590 569 5 110.00–122.00 $115.45 $657 -9.78
600–645 623 2 105.00–115.00 $109.82 $684 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
418 418 5 125.00 $125.00 $522 -11.00
453 453 5 132.00 $132.00 $598 —
Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
330 330 1 105.00 $105.00 $346 -15.00
374 374 1 105.00 $105.00 $393 -11.01
410–430 420 2 101.00–115.00 $108.17 $454 +7.93
460–490 475 2 105.00–115.00 $109.84 $522 +4.55
510 510 1 105.00 $105.00 $536 +4.45
555 555 1 110.00 $110.00 $610 —
640 640 1 95.00 $95.00 $608 +15.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
330–340 335 2 152.00–168.00 $159.88 $536 —
350–388 371 9 145.00–150.00 $147.37 $547 -1.63
400–445 417 14 140.00–161.00 $148.89 $621 +0.68
450–495 475 17 140.00–152.00 $145.81 $693 +4.54
500–545 517 18 130.00–148.00 $140.70 $727 +1.21
555–585 580 23 120.00–141.00 $129.58 $752 +6.58
605–640 621 16 117.00–134.00 $125.37 $779 +2.77
660–695 679 12 119.50–133.00 $125.29 $851 —
720–730 725 2 113.00–116.00 $114.49 $830 —
750 750 3 105.00 $105.00 $788 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310–340 325 2 140.00–156.00 $147.63 $480 +7.63
375–390 382 6 140.00–144.00 $141.98 $542 +2.93
400–440 423 11 125.00–140.00 $130.89 $554 -1.16
450–490 465 7 121.00–135.00 $128.37 $597 -1.10
510–545 528 7 110.00–127.00 $120.62 $637 -4.88
550–595 577 11 115.00–130.00 $121.16 $699 +4.66
605–640 629 4 110.00–116.00 $113.98 $717 —
670–690 678 4 106.00–115.00 $109.46 $742 —
700–703 702 2 105.00–113.00 $108.99 $765 —
770 770 1 103.00 $103.00 $793 —
Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
470–480 475 2 105.00–110.00 $107.53 $511 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
775 775 85-90% 1 52.50 $52.50 $407 —
905–1035 970 85-90% 2 35.00–40.00 $37.67 $365 —
950–1000 975 85-90% 3 40.00–46.00 $43.62 $425 —
945–1275 1079 85-90% 7 48.00–58.00 $52.84 $570 +6.59
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1275–1725 1498 75-80% 11 59.00–66.50 $61.84 $926 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1005–1255 1093 80-85% 3 48.50–55.00 $51.75 $566 —
1080–1520 1338 80-85% 4 57.50–62.50 $60.72 $812 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1225–1875 1520 10 80.00–86.50 $83.91 $1,275 —
1460–1650 1548 4 86.00–92.50 $88.64 $1,372 —
1600–1865 1733 2 65.00–76.00 $70.08 $1,214 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
929 929 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 7 55.00 $55.00 $511
955 955 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 61.00 $61.00 $583

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
900 900 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 64.00 $64.00 $576
1070–1650 1340 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 7 57.50–66.50 $61.77 $828
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1000 1000 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 1 850.00 $850.00
1000 1000 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 650.00 $650.00
900–1300 1100 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 5 600.00–1,050.00 $813.18

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1100–1250 1213 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 4 1,060.00–1,200.00 $1,152.58 —

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Reading this report

What does "Medium and Large 1" mean?

USDA feeder grades describe frame size and muscle thickness, not quality of the individual animal. "Medium and Large" is the frame score; the number is muscle (1 = heaviest muscled). "Medium and Large 1–2" pens mix both muscle scores — common across the Southeast.

What is $/cwt?

Dollars per hundredweight — per 100 lb of animal. A 500-lb calf at $450/cwt brings 5 × $450 = $2,250. Lighter cattle usually bring more per cwt but less per head.

Why are some prices per head?

Bred cows, cow-calf pairs, and some replacement classes sell by the head, not by weight. We show those exactly as USDA reports them — a $/head figure is never converted into $/cwt on this site.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's Livestock Market News — federal reporters at the sale. We publish each report in full and link the official USDA document at the top of the page.