Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, September 30, 2021

3,603 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $149.00/cwt -4.38 vs last sale · ≈ $1,077/hd at 723 lb · 65 head

light 7-weight M 1 steers $155.00/cwt ≈ $1,110/hd at 716 lb · 35 head

light 6-weight M 1-2 heifers $146.00/cwt -3.50 vs last sale · ≈ $940/hd at 644 lb · 23 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,603	5,488	4,120
Feeder cattle	432	4,513	3,394
Slaughter cattle	1,826	773	571
Replacement cattle	1,345	202	155

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and all calves were scarcely traded this week thus no trend is available. Yearling heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Demand for yearlings was mostly light for very light offerings. Market activity was slow. Weigh up cows sold on light to moderate demand for heavy offerings. Todays sale was comprised mostly of cows, with around 3,000 on offer. A large portion of the cows on offer were bred today. Many were tested at the yards with some selling as ranch tested bred. Cow quality this sale was mixed from plain to very attractive. Demand for cows was mixed today. Packers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows to start the sale, however demand diminished as heavy offerings were seen. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 lower on boning and lean cows, breaking cows sold steady to firm. Feeding cows sold very uneven today as buyers filled orders and traded loads as the sale progressed. Feeding cows sold uneven from 2.00 higher to 4.00 lower, however the bulk of the trade was steady to 3.00 lower. A large portion of the cow offering was destined for feed today as packers and other feeding buyers put many bred or exposed cows on feed. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Bred cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand. Demand for young cows was very good this sale and most of these offerings were purchased by buyers out of the state. All cows were very full this sale as many filled up on fresh, clean water and good hay while in the yards. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average today. Many cows continue to sell in very thin body condition as drought conditions are widespread. Young age cows sold on good to very good demand today. Several buyers were looking for this class of cow. Young age open cows sold mostly 2.00-5.00 higher on a very attractive offering.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
716	716	35	155.00	$155.00	$1,110	—
835	835	5	144.50	$144.50	$1,207	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
780	780	11	145.00	$145.00	$1,131	-11.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
961	961	5	135.00	$135.00	$1,297	-9.50

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1060	1060	2	133.00	$133.00	$1,410	+0.50

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
723	723	65	149.00	$149.00	$1,077	-4.38
958–990	969	6	128.00–133.00	$131.30	$1,272	-2.48

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
644	644	23	146.00	$146.00	$940	-3.50
783	783	6	133.00	$133.00	$1,041	-9.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
985	985	5	125.50	$125.50	$1,236	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1170–1175	1173	9	99.00–103.00	$101.67	$1,193	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
765–930	872	85-90%	10	33.00–41.00	$38.80	$338	—
895–980	919	85-90%	4	44.00–52.00	$49.79	$458	—
1020–1343	1160	85-90%	96	41.00–47.00	$43.15	$501	-13.31
1010–1423	1192	85-90%	331	47.50–53.50	$51.56	$615	-4.90
1173–1275	1211	85-90%	5	67.50–70.00	$68.13	$825	+11.31
940–1312	1229	85-90%	124	51.00–54.50	$52.89	$650	-3.93
1160–1285	1263	85-90%	48	54.00–57.00	$54.73	$691	—
1159–1340	1264	85-90%	72	56.00–63.00	$59.22	$749	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1305	1305	80-85%	2	47.00	$47.00	$613	—
1300–1503	1379	80-85%	171	53.00–58.00	$55.25	$762	—
1290–1743	1394	80-85%	34	57.00–64.00	$59.53	$830	—
1258–1545	1405	80-85%	61	50.50–57.00	$52.92	$744	-1.26
1305–1620	1423	80-85%	149	58.00–69.50	$62.47	$889	+2.68
1322–1687	1487	80-85%	76	73.00–78.00	$74.20	$1,103	+8.29
1590	1590	80-85%	2	71.00	$71.00	$1,129	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1470	1470	75-80%	1	74.00	$74.00	$1,088	—
1565	1565	75-80%	1	80.00	$80.00	$1,252	-1.40
1590–1770	1692	75-80%	10	64.00–71.00	$68.72	$1,163	-7.16
1680–1715	1698	75-80%	2	79.50–81.00	$80.26	$1,363	+4.38
1608–1880	1700	75-80%	10	74.00–78.00	$75.50	$1,284	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1485–1660	1620	6	79.50–81.50	$81.01	$1,312	+2.01
1455–1865	1627	7	69.00–79.50	$75.83	$1,234	-3.17
1285–1836	1635	14	72.00–79.50	$76.99	$1,259	-2.01
1685–2150	1874	13	80.00–88.00	$83.74	$1,569	-9.76
1630–2075	1919	10	88.50–93.00	$90.08	$1,729	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
784–1460	973	(<2 yrs)	Open	161	76.50–109.00	$96.08	$935
945–1370	1067	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	126	56.00–95.00	$80.92	$863
1102	1102	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	15	69.00	$69.00	$760
1170 thin fleshed	1170	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	55.00	$55.00	$644

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1052–1180	1103	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	68.00–79.00	$74.29	$819

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1035	1035	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	86.00	$86.00	$890

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1015–1367	1179	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	144	1,275.00–1,610.00	$1,554.24
1214 thin fleshed	1214	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	40	685.00	$685.00
961–1398	1218	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	85	1,100.00–1,500.00	$1,394.02
1155–1313	1259	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	61	700.00–775.00	$742.35
1177–1376	1261	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	93	875.00–1,175.00	$1,054.49
1180–1404	1294	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	139	825.00–950.00	$881.87
1298	1298	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	8	800.00	$800.00
1428	1428	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	13	1,175.00	$1,175.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1196–1223 thin fleshed	1207	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	27	50.00–52.00	$51.17	$618
1235–1309	1281	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	34	54.50–56.00	$55.07	$705
1419	1419	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	12	55.50	$55.50	$788

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1015–1144	1055	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	18	985.00–1,175.00	$1,107.84
1096	1096	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	6	1,000.00	$1,000.00
1385	1385	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	14	900.00	$900.00

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
952–963	956	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	9	1,150.00–1,160.00	$1,156.64

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1383	1383	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	4	55.00	$55.00	$761

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
999–1014	1008	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	44	1,160.00–1,385.00	$1,333.56
1015	1015	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	1,225.00	$1,225.00
1047	1047	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	13	1,385.00	$1,385.00

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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.