Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, March 4, 2021

2,819 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $144.86/cwt +3.37 vs last sale · ≈ $903/hd at 623 lb · 271 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $162.52/cwt +5.05 vs last sale · ≈ $843/hd at 519 lb · 150 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $155.01/cwt +6.48 vs last sale · ≈ $882/hd at 569 lb · 136 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,819 1,499 959
Feeder cattle 2,106 754 616
Slaughter cattle 560 455 205
Replacement cattle 153 290 138

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to two weeks ago: No sale was held last week so all comparisons are to two weeks ago. The best test for steers was for 650-699 lbs which sold mostly 5.00 higher. All other weights of steers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Feeder heifers under 650 lbs sold mostly 3.00-6.00 higher, heifers over 650 lbs sold generally steady. Quality this week was average to attractive. Demand was mostly good to very good for cattle suitable to go to grass and moderate for cattle destined for feed lots. CME feeder cattle contracts traded sharply lower today, however demand continues to be be strong. Canadian buyers competing with local ranchers continues to be the driving force behind the higher grass cattle market. Cattle continue to be very green with several consignments of calves selling with a premium for condition. Market activity this week was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. The last sale occurred in the heart of the storm market and cow prices for all other sales adjusted lower last week. Slaughter cows sold mostly 3.00-4.00 lower compared to two weeks ago. Feeding cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Packers opted to send the majority of the cow offering to feed this week as they only sent cows to slaughter that were not suitable to feed. A few sets of thin cows were purchased by feeding buyers this week. Feeding buyers pushed thin cows well beyond where packers were willing to purchase them for harvest. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to weak undertones were noticed. Young age cows suitable to rebreed sold on mostly moderate to good demand this week. Most of these offerings were average to attractive in quality and many had freshly lost calves.

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
383–397 390 6 199.00 $199.00 $776 —
400–404 404 8 201.00–202.00 $201.88 $816 +15.88
494 494 14 194.00 $194.00 $958 +6.00
516–549 536 42 178.00–187.00 $185.30 $993 +4.23
572–596 584 88 169.00–174.00 $172.49 $1,007 -6.19
607 thin fleshed 607 13 171.00 $171.00 $1,038 —
600–646 624 112 157.00–168.00 $163.97 $1,023 +6.97
660–695 671 115 147.50–154.00 $150.74 $1,011 +5.09
700–734 728 34 145.00–148.00 $145.51 $1,059 +2.51
760–778 764 29 137.00–141.00 $140.16 $1,071 —
843 843 5 135.50 $135.50 $1,142 +2.27
855–890 857 35 130.00–132.00 $131.88 $1,130 +0.25
903–905 thin fleshed 904 15 134.50–136.00 $134.90 $1,219 —
988 988 3 123.50 $123.50 $1,220 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350 350 13 181.00 $181.00 $634 -5.10
416–442 427 7 183.00–186.00 $184.33 $787 +1.83
451–479 467 30 179.00–182.00 $180.42 $843 +1.42
500–535 526 12 173.00–180.00 $175.62 $924 —
550–598 564 26 154.00–171.00 $164.15 $926 —
601–640 613 25 148.50–159.50 $153.48 $941 —
675 675 1 136.00 $136.00 $918 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
502 502 3 168.00 $168.00 $843 —
556 556 29 140.00 $140.00 $778 —
616 616 14 135.00 $135.00 $832 —
Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
478 478 10 152.50 $152.50 $729 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
432 432 5 184.00 $184.00 $795 —
528–532 530 5 171.00–173.00 $172.20 $913 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
608 608 9 157.00 $157.00 $955 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
384–399 397 25 167.00–167.50 $167.08 $663 -2.92
407–446 430 66 165.00–167.00 $165.63 $712 —
457 unweaned 457 3 161.00 $161.00 $736 —
457–498 485 108 159.00–166.75 $164.63 $798 +5.72
504–545 519 150 155.00–166.50 $162.52 $843 +5.05
555–579 569 136 153.00–159.00 $155.01 $882 +6.48
600 thin fleshed 600 14 152.00 $152.00 $912 —
601–635 624 249 139.00–146.50 $144.74 $903 +3.25
638 638 8 136.00 $136.00 $868 -5.49
673–696 690 41 132.00–136.00 $134.26 $926 -1.61
715–745 724 33 129.00–132.00 $129.95 $941 -1.37
763–778 776 32 126.00–128.00 $126.31 $980 +3.31
815 815 2 128.00 $128.00 $1,043 —
920 920 7 116.50 $116.50 $1,072 +4.50
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
336 336 8 160.00 $160.00 $538 —
405–415 409 5 155.00–164.00 $160.35 $656 +0.35
478–483 480 8 149.00–156.00 $152.38 $731 +4.71
581 581 8 143.00 $143.00 $831 +11.50
600–645 642 15 131.00–137.00 $136.63 $877 —
668 668 6 131.00 $131.00 $875 —
721 721 6 124.00 $124.00 $894 —
768 768 4 125.00 $125.00 $960 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
419–425 421 17 162.00–165.00 $164.11 $691 —
543 543 30 148.00 $148.00 $804 —
716 716 9 127.50 $127.50 $913 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
420 420 7 143.50 $143.50 $603 —
480 480 7 137.50 $137.50 $660 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
514 514 4 156.00 $156.00 $802 —
747 747 3 127.50 $127.50 $952 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
418–435 424 3 195.00–200.00 $198.29 $841 +13.29
510–547 532 5 162.00–165.00 $163.15 $868 —
560 560 2 159.00 $159.00 $890 —
610 610 4 142.00 $142.00 $866 —
656 656 25 130.00–140.00 $136.80 $897 —
830 830 2 123.50 $123.50 $1,025 —
875–885 878 3 121.00–122.00 $121.34 $1,065 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1053 1053 2 113.00 $113.00 $1,190 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
510 510 1 162.50 $162.50 $829 —
695 695 1 128.00 $128.00 $890 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
947 947 85-90% 3 46.00 $46.00 $436 —
976 976 85-90% 17 40.75 $40.75 $398 -11.25
1025–1185 1105 85-90% 2 43.00–46.00 $44.39 $491 —
1120–1201 1142 85-90% 108 54.50–56.50 $54.60 $624 —
1025–1375 1162 85-90% 101 49.50–56.50 $52.71 $612 -18.29
1090–1265 1205 85-90% 50 57.00–63.00 $57.16 $689 -0.21
1210 1210 85-90% 1 64.50 $64.50 $780 +7.13
1210–1330 1253 85-90% 10 56.75–62.50 $58.30 $730 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1330 1330 80-85% 1 66.00 $66.00 $878 —
1153–1740 1377 80-85% 42 57.00–65.00 $61.41 $846 +1.90
1350–1535 1407 80-85% 9 57.00–60.00 $59.11 $832 -4.60
1432–1490 1443 80-85% 32 54.00–57.00 $56.86 $820 -2.87
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1410–1831 1619 75-80% 14 61.00–64.50 $62.68 $1,015 +1.10
1635 1635 75-80% 2 57.00 $57.00 $932 -4.58
1612–1740 1645 75-80% 6 57.00–59.50 $58.73 $966 -2.85
1623–1990 1755 75-80% 10 60.00–63.75 $61.80 $1,085 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1385–2140 1776 15 65.00–82.00 $73.29 $1,302 —
1710–2090 1847 5 84.00–88.50 $86.37 $1,595 —
2000–2345 2129 9 90.50–94.50 $92.91 $1,978 —
YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
2000 2000 1 84.00 $84.00 $1,680 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
767–898 thin fleshed 843 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 23 61.00–79.00 $74.86 $631
830–1280 993 (<2 yrs)Open 52 91.00–115.00 $103.73 $1,030
848–1280 1113 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 28 61.00–90.00 $72.33 $805
1396 1396 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 5 62.00 $62.00 $866
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
890–940 923 (<2 yrs)Open 3 82.00–90.00 $87.43 $807

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1229 thin fleshed 1229 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 7 54.00 $54.00 $664

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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.