Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, May 6, 2021

1,564 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $132.75/cwt ≈ $880/hd at 663 lb · 55 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 2 steers $123.90/cwt ≈ $808/hd at 652 lb · 55 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $149.03/cwt -2.98 vs last sale · ≈ $838/hd at 562 lb · 49 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,564	3,911	1,257
Feeder cattle	827	3,324	601
Slaughter cattle	424	385	266
Replacement cattle	313	202	390

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: The best test for feeder cattle was 550-649 lbs heifers which sold mostly 4.00-5.00 lower. All other weights of steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Quality was mostly plain to average this week. Demand was very light to moderate. Demand for feeders under 500 lbs was mostly light as these cattle are too light for most to turn out on grass and will take more feed if put in the feedlot to get to their desired weight. Demand for crossbred or plain cattle was very light as very few takers were bidding on these type offerings. Cattle suitable to run on grass sold with moderate demand this week. Market activity was slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Packers buyers showed need for cows for immediate harvest as they purchased a large portion of the offering to slaughter. The cow cutout continues to push higher as demand for ground beef is very good. The cutter cow cutout closed at 201.55 as of todays close, 1.52 higher. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady on breaking cows, while boning and lean cows sold 1.00-2.00 lower. Packers were able to buy cows lower due to heavier than usually supplies for this time of year as drought conditions continue to drive cows and bulls to market. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Weigh up conditions were average to above average this week as good weather and green grass helped with weigh conditions. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady. Several sets of fancy three year old cows sold on very good demand. Quality this week was average to attractive.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
425	425	6	187.00	$187.00	$795	-6.75
459–460	460	12	182.00	$182.00	$837	-6.86
513 thin fleshed	513	15	190.00	$190.00	$975	-5.00
609–610	609	12	154.00–164.00	$155.67	$948	-8.92
700 thin fleshed	700	3	150.00	$150.00	$1,050	—
761–768	765	18	132.00–138.00	$134.99	$1,033	-0.95

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
580	580	8	140.00	$140.00	$812	—
650–657	652	55	121.00–125.00	$123.90	$808	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	2	180.00	$180.00	$603	—
490–495	491	12	170.00–175.00	$170.84	$839	-5.42
505–518	514	3	163.00–167.50	$164.47	$845	-6.37
555–580	568	2	160.00	$160.00	$909	-6.64
650	650	14	135.00	$135.00	$878	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
463–479	473	14	146.00	$146.00	$691	-14.33
515–539	526	30	144.00–151.00	$146.54	$771	-11.33
554–579	562	49	148.00–149.50	$149.03	$838	+11.03
632–635	632	40	139.00–140.50	$140.35	$887	-4.75
707	707	3	128.00	$128.00	$905	+7.36

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
398	398	4	150.00	$150.00	$597	-8.05
433–448	437	15	149.00–150.00	$149.27	$652	-0.73
450–496	485	16	131.00–134.00	$133.30	$647	-19.89
569	569	11	135.00	$135.00	$768	-0.80
600–645	628	21	132.00–137.50	$136.71	$859	-0.79
663	663	55	132.75	$132.75	$880	—
710	710	1	122.00	$122.00	$866	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
324	324	10	146.00	$146.00	$473	—
376	376	18	147.50	$147.50	$555	—
425	425	20	147.00	$147.00	$625	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
550–587	556	18	120.00–132.00	$122.11	$679	—
713	713	19	112.00	$112.00	$799	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
571	571	17	100.00	$100.00	$571	-27.28
648	648	15	101.00	$101.00	$654	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
518	518	12	134.00	$134.00	$694	-14.68

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
426	426	4	138.00	$138.00	$588	—
492	492	5	130.00	$130.00	$640	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1125	1125	5	92.00–98.00	$95.60	$1,076	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
555	555	3	137.00	$137.00	$760	—
688	688	2	119.00	$119.00	$819	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
902	902	3	109.00	$109.00	$983	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
808	808	2	106.00	$106.00	$856	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
755–980	860	85-90%	3	56.00–58.00	$56.66	$487	—
890	890	85-90%	1	61.00	$61.00	$543	—
1080	1080	85-90%	1	50.00	$50.00	$540	—
1108–1163	1145	85-90%	6	67.50–69.75	$69.02	$790	—
1040–1348	1190	85-90%	56	51.00–59.00	$56.32	$670	-9.99
1020–1330	1201	85-90%	50	58.50–65.50	$61.27	$736	-1.58
1055–1335	1212	85-90%	11	57.00–62.00	$59.17	$717	-3.68
1168–1290	1220	85-90%	19	63.00–66.50	$64.62	$788	+1.77
1166–1300	1224	85-90%	8	69.00–72.00	$70.30	$860	+7.45

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1265–1410	1338	80-85%	2	58.00–60.00	$59.05	$790	—
1244–1495	1346	80-85%	46	62.50–68.00	$65.70	$884	—
1263–1565	1372	80-85%	23	62.00–67.00	$62.96	$864	-1.23
1100–1615	1388	80-85%	44	56.00–62.00	$58.62	$814	-5.57
1305–1525	1424	80-85%	15	67.00–73.50	$71.25	$1,015	+5.39
1493	1493	80-85%	4	53.00	$53.00	$791	-19.65

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1548	1548	75-80%	2	73.50	$73.50	$1,138	—
1525–1627	1577	75-80%	11	61.00–64.00	$62.98	$993	-6.02
1541–1720	1583	75-80%	19	65.00–68.50	$66.87	$1,059	-2.13
1694–1865	1735	75-80%	9	72.50–73.50	$72.61	$1,260	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1125	1125	1	65.00	$65.00	$731	-22.77
1125–1385	1255	2	84.00–88.00	$85.79	$1,077	—
1230–1300	1277	3	72.00–82.00	$75.39	$963	—
1420–1940	1571	11	72.00–83.00	$78.85	$1,239	—
1470–2355	1807	22	84.50–92.50	$88.18	$1,593	—
1800–2445	2036	20	93.00–102.00	$95.71	$1,949	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
845 thin fleshed	845	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	65.00	$65.00	$549
718–1265	1013	(<2 yrs)	Open	93	80.00–107.00	$89.93	$911
750–1585	1129	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	108	61.00–96.00	$77.74	$878

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1000	1000	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	65.00	$65.00	$650
890–1060	1022	(<2 yrs)	Open	23	81.00–85.00	$81.15	$829

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1055	1055	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	14	850.00	$850.00
1111	1111	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	8	900.00	$900.00
1219–1432	1307	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	8	1,000.00–1,050.00	$1,023.31

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
987–1320	1043	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	12	1,025.00–1,050.00	$1,030.28

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1186	1186	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	4	800.00	$800.00	—
1100–1520	1326	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	7	1,085.00–1,150.00	$1,100.98	—

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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.