Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, May 27, 2021

2,703 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 $164.99/cwt ≈ $855/hd at 518 lb · 214 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $160.48/cwt +11.69 vs last sale · ≈ $913/hd at 569 lb · 181 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $178.17/cwt +13.17 vs last sale · ≈ $1,117/hd at 627 lb · 100 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,703	1,378	3,056
Feeder cattle	1,517	314	1,510
Slaughter cattle	342	559	190
Replacement cattle	844	505	1,356

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Feeder heifers under 600 lbs sold mostly 10.00 higher, while heifers over 600 lbs sold steady to weak in a narrow comparison. Quality was mostly average this week. Demand was mostly moderate to good. Several ranchers were in the stands buying grass cattle this week and provided strong competition for order buyers. More buyers were active in the market this week than in the past few sales. Market activity was moderate to active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand this week. Packers opted to feed most of the offering this week. Packers competed with feeder buyers over market share this week and pushed cows higher on a lighter offering than was seen last week. Both slaughter and feeding cows sold steady to 1.00 higher. Weigh up conditions were average to above average as most cows were emptied out and coming off grass. Weigh up conditions were better overall compared to last week. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady. Demand for high quality cow calf pairs was very good this sale as spotty rain showers have fallen across parts of the state. Limited demand was seen for average quality pairs.

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
481 unweaned	481	7	157.50	$157.50	$758	—
499	499	23	184.00	$184.00	$918	—
505–547	533	60	178.00–186.00	$183.25	$977	—
551–588	564	34	170.00–177.00	$171.35	$966	—
625–634	627	100	173.50–179.50	$178.17	$1,117	+13.17
658–674	661	27	160.00–167.50	$166.18	$1,098	—
705–728	724	26	145.00–148.00	$147.51	$1,068	-4.22
772–789	788	67	142.75–145.00	$142.91	$1,126	+3.41
825–843	829	10	135.00	$135.00	$1,119	—
861–891	874	28	128.50–134.50	$130.72	$1,142	—
905	905	4	128.00	$128.00	$1,158	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
443	443	3	160.00	$160.00	$709	—
480	480	2	177.00	$177.00	$850	+8.01
500–526	506	26	164.00–178.00	$172.27	$872	+7.27
576–590	584	12	161.00–165.00	$162.99	$952	—
628–643	639	9	157.00–163.00	$159.31	$1,018	—
650–670	662	5	139.00–145.00	$141.36	$936	+2.48
705–720	710	9	131.00–138.00	$136.22	$967	+2.22
845	845	2	125.00	$125.00	$1,056	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
409	409	7	150.00	$150.00	$614	—
675	675	2	125.00	$125.00	$844	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
593	593	4	152.00	$152.00	$901	—
615	615	4	157.50	$157.50	$969	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
500	500	4	178.00	$178.00	$890	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
475 unweaned	475	15	145.00	$145.00	$689	—
486	486	11	166.00	$166.00	$807	—
507 unweaned	507	16	151.00	$151.00	$766	—
506–548	519	198	160.00–168.00	$166.12	$862	—
563–575	569	181	155.00–163.50	$160.48	$913	+11.69
603–644	627	72	141.00–156.00	$148.83	$933	—
630	630	6	127.00	$127.00	$800	—
654–685	671	9	138.00–140.00	$138.87	$932	-3.63
678–698	692	13	123.00–127.00	$124.21	$860	-18.29
728	728	6	125.00	$125.00	$910	-3.53
729 thin fleshed	729	71	144.00	$144.00	$1,050	—
758	758	3	118.00	$118.00	$894	-4.00
771	771	6	121.00	$121.00	$933	-1.00
857	857	25	117.00	$117.00	$1,003	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
440	440	3	145.00	$145.00	$638	—
459–465	460	23	140.00	$140.00	$644	-7.00
606–638	613	14	121.00–134.00	$128.58	$788	—
795	795	6	108.00	$108.00	$859	—
799	799	4	113.00	$113.00	$903	—

Small 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
504	504	17	102.50	$102.50	$517	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
445	445	11	130.00	$130.00	$578	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
457	457	6	134.00	$134.00	$612	±0.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
541	541	6	143.00	$143.00	$774	—
645	645	14	126.00	$126.00	$813	—
702	702	3	118.00	$118.00	$828	—
787–796	793	23	112.00–118.50	$115.71	$918	—
973	973	4	102.00–110.00	$106.00	$1,031	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1040	1040	1	104.00	$104.00	$1,082	—
1053 thin fleshed	1053	2	110.00	$110.00	$1,158	—
1178	1178	3	95.00	$95.00	$1,119	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
845–975	936	85-90%	7	47.00–56.00	$52.89	$495	+2.12
965	965	85-90%	1	39.00	$39.00	$376	—
980–1188	1084	85-90%	4	56.00–58.50	$57.37	$622	+14.70
1005–1218	1115	85-90%	17	49.50–59.00	$56.18	$626	—
1040–1325	1197	85-90%	3	66.00–70.00	$68.16	$816	—
1155–1280	1202	85-90%	3	67.00–71.50	$69.08	$830	+12.24
1025–1307	1210	85-90%	41	59.00–65.00	$61.89	$749	+0.07
1050–1282	1226	85-90%	34	60.00–68.00	$63.75	$782	-7.57

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1200–1320	1280	80-85%	3	59.00	$59.00	$755	—
1265–1655	1334	80-85%	7	67.00–75.00	$71.47	$953	—
1320–1441	1375	80-85%	49	64.00–68.50	$66.27	$911	+0.69
1350–1460	1376	80-85%	7	69.00–74.50	$70.99	$977	+5.41
1305–1580	1418	80-85%	17	61.00–64.00	$62.53	$887	+7.55

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1315	1315	75-80%	1	65.00	$65.00	$855	—
1465–1673	1570	75-80%	5	66.00–70.00	$67.68	$1,063	-0.73
1635–2060	1773	75-80%	4	71.50–76.00	$73.39	$1,301	+1.22
2245	2245	75-80%	1	58.00	$58.00	$1,302	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1653	1653	65-75%	2	78.00	$78.00	$1,289	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1120–1173	1141	5	61.00–74.50	$66.55	$759	—
1160–1565	1341	4	85.00–94.00	$90.94	$1,220	—
1360–1385	1366	4	78.00–81.00	$78.76	$1,076	—
1395–1923	1652	12	73.00–82.00	$78.05	$1,289	—
1400–1955	1662	24	84.00–90.50	$87.34	$1,452	—
1590–2388	2084	23	94.00–103.00	$97.24	$2,026	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2093–2220	2114	6	86.00–88.00	$87.65	$1,853	—
2605	2605	2	86.00	$86.00	$2,240	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
755–1310	1025	(<2 yrs)	Open	49	80.00–97.00	$89.87	$921
825–1350	1077	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	40	62.00–85.00	$73.78	$795

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
925–962	958	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	70.00–74.00	$70.39	$674
920–1025	973	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	55.00–58.00	$56.58	$551

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1251	1251	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	9	925.00	$925.00
1269 thin fleshed	1269	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	5	750.00	$750.00
1273–1295	1290	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	22	1,025.00–1,035.00	$1,032.76
1338–1443	1391	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	6	1,000.00–1,050.00	$1,024.06

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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
1111	1111	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	4	1,460.00	$1,460.00	—
1158–1293	1219	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	22	1,435.00–1,450.00	$1,442.23	—
1318–1441	1390	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	27	1,200.00–1,250.00	$1,222.85	—
1361–1533	1427	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	27	1,375.00–1,460.00	$1,407.11	—
1510	1510	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	6	1,210.00	$1,210.00	—
1313–1719	1528	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	37	1,275.00–1,400.00	$1,343.93	—
1510–1540 fancy	1531	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	103	1,375.00–1,400.00	$1,382.42	—
1566 fancy	1566	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	25	1,500.00	$1,500.00	—

Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1736	1736	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	7	1,385.00	$1,385.00	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
913	913	(<2 yrs)	Open	13	1,400.00	$1,400.00	—

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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.