Cattle Market Pulse

Ash Flat Livestock Auction Market Report

Ash Flat, Arkansas · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, October 15, 2021

1,155 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $149.56/cwt +12.76 vs last sale · ≈ $838/hd at 560 lb · 21 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $132.52/cwt +5.53 vs last sale · ≈ $679/hd at 512 lb · 19 head
light 3-weight M&L 1 heifers $158.33/cwt ≈ $521/hd at 329 lb · 18 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,155 1,159 880
Feeder cattle 1,014 1,018 730
Slaughter cattle 111 101 110
Replacement cattle 30 40 40

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder steers were 5.00 to 10.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 600 lbs were 2.00 to 6.00 higher, heifers over 600 trended lower on a light test. Just as the previous week, new crop unweaned cattle and fleshy cattle were not desireable to buyers and were discounted heavily. Supply was good and demand strong on the weaned and lighter fleshed cattle. Slaughter cows were mostly steady to 4.00 higher and slaughter bulls traded 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
290 290 1 173.00 $173.00 $502 -10.00
300 300 2 180.00 $180.00 $540 —
350–395 370 5 160.00–169.00 $163.46 $605 —
400–445 420 11 152.00–164.00 $156.70 $658 -4.84
455–490 474 10 140.00–162.00 $153.98 $730 +4.59
490 490 1 135.00 $135.00 $662 -14.39
505–545 529 5 148.00–166.00 $154.47 $817 +9.56
530–540 535 2 144.00 $144.00 $770 +9.00
555 value added 555 4 157.00 $157.00 $871 —
550–575 559 14 145.00–154.00 $150.86 $843 +22.86
550–590 573 3 126.00–140.00 $133.60 $766 +8.60
610 610 1 143.00 $143.00 $872 +5.40
650–655 653 3 136.00–148.00 $139.98 $914 +14.98
700–735 716 8 130.00–144.50 $141.20 $1,011 +8.20
768–770 768 5 128.00–131.00 $128.60 $988 —
800–822 817 4 127.00–137.00 $129.45 $1,058 -1.76
985 985 1 110.00 $110.00 $1,084 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
313 313 2 150.00 $150.00 $470 +2.50
355–395 375 3 140.00–144.00 $141.40 $530 -4.12
405–440 423 5 130.00–144.00 $135.64 $574 +1.62
450 thin fleshed 450 1 140.00 $140.00 $630 —
450–490 475 4 125.00–140.00 $136.45 $648 +13.45
500–545 528 12 130.00–140.00 $131.00 $692 +6.00
550–590 570 4 129.00–135.00 $131.52 $750 +3.14
600–648 635 9 120.00–133.00 $126.59 $804 +2.03
660–685 667 9 125.00–136.00 $130.90 $873 +13.90
700 700 1 129.00 $129.00 $903 —
775 775 1 120.00 $120.00 $930 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
370 thin fleshed 370 15 165.00 $165.00 $610 —
479 value added 479 13 153.00 $153.00 $733 —
561 value added 561 15 143.00 $143.00 $802 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
689 689 16 110.00 $110.00 $758 —
Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
400 400 1 120.00 $120.00 $480 -1.00
495 495 1 120.00 $120.00 $594 +5.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
329 value added 329 17 160.00 $160.00 $526 —
335 335 1 130.00 $130.00 $436 —
380 380 1 144.00 $144.00 $547 +0.44
388 value added 388 5 157.00 $157.00 $609 —
390 390 1 126.00 $126.00 $491 -17.56
405–435 421 8 133.00–145.00 $139.30 $586 +6.01
420–445 433 3 120.00–133.00 $126.46 $548 -6.83
450–490 469 12 130.00–140.00 $135.54 $636 +4.78
470 470 1 125.00 $125.00 $588 -5.76
500–545 511 17 127.00–137.00 $133.70 $683 +3.79
520–530 525 2 120.00–125.00 $122.48 $643 +1.33
550–580 572 6 120.00–127.00 $124.69 $713 +4.64
585–590 588 2 120.00–125.00 $122.51 $720 -5.53
598 value added 598 9 136.00 $136.00 $813 —
600–610 605 2 115.00 $115.00 $696 ±0.00
610 610 1 120.00 $120.00 $732 +5.00
650 650 1 115.00 $115.00 $748 -7.96
660–690 670 3 115.00–124.00 $118.94 $797 -4.02
728 728 4 110.00 $110.00 $801 -5.00
784 784 5 113.00 $113.00 $886 +23.00
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
270 270 2 136.00 $136.00 $367 —
330–340 334 6 125.00–145.00 $134.02 $448 +0.41
355–390 376 5 120.00–137.00 $127.93 $481 +3.85
405–445 426 14 120.00–131.00 $124.06 $528 +0.26
455–495 477 13 115.00–125.00 $120.00 $572 +5.00
505–545 524 13 110.00–125.00 $116.36 $610 -8.64
560–595 581 6 110.00–120.00 $115.78 $673 +0.33
620–645 638 4 115.00 $115.00 $734 +5.18
665–690 669 10 110.00–115.00 $114.08 $763 —
Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
375 375 4 90.00–105.00 $93.75 $352 -11.25
410–438 427 4 115.00 $115.00 $491 +6.83
455 455 1 90.00 $90.00 $410 -19.84
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
520 520 7 128.00 $128.00 $666 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355–380 365 3 158.00–164.00 $160.67 $586 +13.30
400–445 427 12 140.00–159.00 $150.58 $643 +1.69
455–475 465 5 142.00–154.00 $149.65 $696 +3.84
475 475 1 135.00 $135.00 $641 -10.81
505–540 518 7 129.00–140.00 $136.61 $708 -4.09
550–595 565 4 129.00–136.00 $132.80 $750 +3.22
615–625 620 2 122.00–129.00 $125.53 $778 +0.16
650–680 671 7 117.00–127.00 $122.42 $821 -2.87
705–710 708 2 110.00–115.00 $112.51 $797 -1.98
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 2 147.00–153.00 $150.00 $510 +2.37
350–390 376 5 128.00–145.00 $138.48 $521 -3.50
425 thin fleshed 425 1 139.00 $139.00 $591 —
430–445 435 6 124.00–130.00 $128.19 $558 -2.70
460–495 473 8 125.00–138.00 $129.50 $613 +1.13
510–535 522 5 115.00–130.00 $122.54 $640 +1.92
555–585 572 3 110.00–125.00 $119.12 $681 -2.04
625–635 630 2 116.00–117.00 $116.50 $734 +2.52
725 725 1 105.00 $105.00 $761 -3.99
810 810 1 100.00 $100.00 $810 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
650–680 667 85-90% 3 20.00–25.00 $23.33 $156 —
740–875 808 85-90% 3 30.00–32.50 $31.74 $256 —
905–1050 961 85-90% 6 30.00–38.00 $34.55 $332 -3.12
940–1150 1026 85-90% 6 43.00–50.00 $46.17 $474 —
965–1275 1140 85-90% 6 48.00–58.00 $52.29 $596 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1085–1405 1218 80-85% 6 53.00–58.00 $56.08 $683 —
1180–1285 1228 80-85% 7 58.00–64.00 $61.41 $754 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1490 1490 75-80% 1 63.00 $63.00 $939 +1.16

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1125–1620 1434 4 76.00–79.00 $77.28 $1,108 —
1100–1830 1465 2 80.50–82.50 $81.75 $1,198 —
1545–1830 1657 6 88.50–90.50 $89.90 $1,490 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
680–940 773 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 61.00–82.00 $69.27 $535

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1100–1150 1125 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 2 1,100.00–1,150.00 $1,125.56
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1210 1210 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 1 55.00 $55.00 $666
1260 1260 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 1 59.00 $59.00 $743

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
950 950 (<2 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 1 850.00 $850.00
900–1000 963 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 4 850.00–960.00 $923.05

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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
950–1000 975 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 2 1,075.00–1,125.00 $1,099.36 —
900–1100 1000 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 3 650.00–900.00 $741.67 —
1050 1050 Aged (>8 yrs)Open 1 800.00 $800.00 —
1200 1200 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 750.00 $750.00 -402.58

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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.