Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, January 7, 2021

5,867 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction report →

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $156.54/cwt +9.26 vs last sale · ≈ $824/hd at 526 lb · 530 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $179.28/cwt +7.28 vs last sale · ≈ $956/hd at 533 lb · 466 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $165.61/cwt +4.23 vs last sale · ≈ $954/hd at 576 lb · 384 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 5,867 3,469 6,757
Feeder cattle 5,646 2,355 6,601
Slaughter cattle 140 933 59
Replacement cattle 81 181 97

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last sale (Dec. 17th): Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer calves under 500 lbs sold 8.00-12.00 higher; steers 500 lbs and heavier sold 4.00-6.00 higher, except 650-699 lbs steers which sold unevenly steady. Heifers under 600 lbs sold mostly 6.00-12.00 higher, heifers over 600 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher. Demand was mostly good to very good for heavy offerings. Quality this sale was attractive to very attractive with many long strings of home raised calves on offer. Several load lots of calves were on offer this sale and these offerings were met with very good demand. The majority of calves on offer were weaned and most were weaned 60 to 90 days. Despite very mild winter weather weaned calves were in mostly light flesh, with only a few offerings carrying moderate to moderate plus flesh. The best demand was seen for calves suitable to develop into yearlings. Depending on flesh, buyers purchased calves up to 575 lbs to develop into yearlings. A large crowd was on hand today with as many as 15 order buyers actively bidding on offerings throughout the day. Market activity was mostly active to very active as a result. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand for light offerings. Packers opted to send a large portion of the offering to feed this week. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-2.00 lower on lean cows. All other classes of cows sold as feeding cows this week. Feeding cows sold steady to 2.00 higher as feeding and packer buyers competed over offerings. Cow and bull quality this week was mostly plain to average. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this sale as all cows were very full. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. 2 year old to young age cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand. These cows were of mostly average to attractive quality. Young age cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.

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
346 unweaned 346 3 210.00 $210.00 $727 —
357–398 390 30 200.50–210.00 $204.97 $799 +11.02
428 unweaned 428 19 208.00 $208.00 $890 —
405–448 431 83 190.00–205.00 $197.52 $851 +10.08
452–493 469 214 186.00–201.50 $194.59 $913 +12.92
497 unweaned 497 38 183.00 $183.00 $910 -5.50
503–549 533 466 174.00–185.00 $179.28 $956 +5.98
550–597 575 362 158.50–175.00 $166.20 $956 +4.82
580 unweaned 580 3 161.50 $161.50 $937 —
590 590 19 155.00 $155.00 $914 -6.38
600–635 616 300 151.50–161.50 $156.73 $965 +5.24
640 640 21 149.00 $149.00 $954 -2.49
651–692 671 275 143.00–152.75 $146.87 $985 -4.90
691 unweaned 691 9 137.00 $137.00 $947 —
702–738 713 259 133.25–143.50 $139.86 $997 +3.75
752–775 770 44 130.00–136.00 $131.78 $1,015 —
802–820 804 26 130.00–132.00 $130.27 $1,047 —
889 889 7 119.25 $119.25 $1,060 —
907 907 11 119.25 $119.25 $1,082 —
955 955 11 125.00 $125.00 $1,194 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
369 369 8 180.00 $180.00 $664 —
402–446 420 32 187.00–190.00 $189.50 $796 —
458–499 494 44 180.00–183.00 $182.14 $900 —
505–548 534 36 162.50–173.00 $170.66 $911 +7.66
588–599 594 32 153.00–157.00 $155.75 $925 +10.75
629–643 636 34 140.50–147.00 $145.12 $923 —
653–696 687 57 132.00–141.00 $138.84 $954 +2.84
723–740 734 17 130.00–133.00 $131.04 $962 —
816–828 823 9 128.50–129.50 $128.94 $1,061 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
669 669 48 140.50 $140.50 $940 —
1003 1003 17 120.00 $120.00 $1,204 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
318 318 2 190.00 $190.00 $604 +15.16
350–396 373 31 176.00–188.50 $181.76 $678 +7.49
380 unweaned 380 21 186.00 $186.00 $707 —
400–448 430 200 169.00–178.00 $174.73 $751 +12.67
435 unweaned 435 3 168.00 $168.00 $731 +7.09
450–499 478 257 158.00–170.00 $162.23 $775 +6.34
503 unweaned 503 33 156.25 $156.25 $786 +7.75
500–547 528 497 153.00–161.50 $156.56 $827 +9.34
550–593 563 284 143.00–156.00 $151.10 $851 +14.35
600–645 619 304 135.00–143.50 $139.78 $865 +5.33
658–695 667 143 131.50–137.50 $134.82 $899 +1.50
679 679 9 129.00 $129.00 $876 -4.32
703–720 704 56 132.00–132.25 $132.14 $930 —
708 708 8 126.00 $126.00 $892 —
750–777 765 58 131.50–134.00 $132.55 $1,014 —
849 849 5 128.00 $128.00 $1,087 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
392 392 5 172.00 $172.00 $674 +11.73
461–495 478 24 148.00–156.00 $154.63 $739 —
503–527 514 61 147.50–152.00 $150.54 $774 +10.43
579–586 583 22 138.50–141.50 $139.69 $814 +11.05
614–648 630 20 128.00–133.50 $131.90 $831 —
691 691 18 127.50 $127.50 $881 +7.00
773 773 8 120.00 $120.00 $928 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
440 440 5 145.00 $145.00 $638 —
521 521 6 138.50 $138.50 $722 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
549 549 10 146.00 $146.00 $802 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
656 656 6 134.00 $134.00 $879 +10.00
844 844 4 119.00 $119.00 $1,004 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1017 1017 8 109.50 $109.50 $1,114 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
358 358 4 185.00 $185.00 $662 —
546 546 4 146.00 $146.00 $797 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1302–1498 1350 80-85% 33 47.00–48.00 $47.78 $645 -7.83
1384–1680 1442 80-85% 23 50.00–55.75 $54.79 $790 +4.07
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
915 915 85-90% 1 39.00 $39.00 $357 -3.47
1038–1275 1158 85-90% 19 40.00–47.00 $45.36 $525 -0.57
1128–1255 1211 85-90% 9 48.00–49.50 $48.84 $591 +2.16
1235 1235 85-90% 1 53.00 $53.00 $655 +2.01
1255 1255 85-90% 1 32.00 $32.00 $402 —
1130–1370 1278 85-90% 10 40.00–47.50 $45.34 $579 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1795–1805 1800 75-80% 2 44.50–53.00 $48.74 $877 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1365–1627 1496 6 61.50–65.00 $63.40 $948 —
1640–1855 1738 3 67.50–72.25 $68.99 $1,199 —
2005 2005 1 85.50 $85.50 $1,714 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
890–1238 978 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 39 59.00–88.00 $76.26 $746
1041–1330 1117 (<2 yrs)Open 15 78.00–90.00 $80.16 $895

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1325 1325 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 5 800.00 $800.00

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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.