Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, December 9, 2021

4,492 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 $157.93/cwt -2.96 vs last sale · ≈ $838/hd at 531 lb · 360 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $163.56/cwt +5.96 vs last sale · ≈ $788/hd at 482 lb · 342 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $198.65/cwt +9.09 vs last sale · ≈ $1,014/hd at 511 lb · 306 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 4,492 4,214 5,120
Feeder cattle 3,607 3,923 3,949
Slaughter cattle 588 192 832
Replacement cattle 297 99 339

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers sold with steady undertones in a narrow comparison. Quality this week was average to attractive and similar to last week. Demand for yearlings remains good to very good. Feeder steers less than 500 lbs sold generally steady. Steer calves over 500 lbs sold mostly 5.00 higher. Heifer calves under 450 lbs sold generally steady heifers over 450 lbs sold 3.00-6.00 higher. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Calves varied more in quality this week and buyers were more selective due to large quality variation. Demand for calves was mostly moderate to good. The best demand continues to be seen for light weight calves suitable to develop into yearlings. Calves were offered in a variety of package sizes this week with several load lots of calves on offer as well. Market activity this week was mostly active with a big buyer pool actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Packers were less aggressive in buying slaughter cows this week, opting to send most cows to feed. Slaughter cows sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Demand for feeding cows was mostly good this week as a large pool of feeding buyers were active in buying cows. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher, with the biggest increase in price coming from boning flesh cows which buyers were purchasing to feed to premium white. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Quality was mostly plain to average this week.

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
373–387 unweaned 378 40 220.00–229.50 $227.51 $860 +4.47
365–394 388 15 221.50–224.00 $221.97 $861 -6.09
400–446 unweaned 421 96 209.00–225.00 $219.46 $924 +9.29
436–443 438 22 203.50–210.00 $207.04 $907 +0.68
451–499 473 54 195.00–220.00 $206.46 $977 —
457–497 unweaned 480 64 199.00–205.00 $201.81 $969 +5.52
501–530 unweaned 508 233 186.00–204.00 $200.99 $1,021 +11.45
504–548 519 73 183.00–198.50 $191.18 $992 +1.18
567 567 10 174.00 $174.00 $987 +5.67
566–591 unweaned 584 294 171.00–181.00 $176.92 $1,033 +6.41
604–628 unweaned 607 62 164.00–176.00 $174.80 $1,061 +7.18
609–626 624 60 163.00–170.00 $167.27 $1,044 +2.98
673–688 unweaned 680 24 157.00–166.50 $162.99 $1,108 +1.53
673–683 680 12 160.00–163.50 $162.34 $1,104 +1.13
715 715 8 160.00 $160.00 $1,144 -1.93
769 769 4 164.50 $164.50 $1,265 —
825–837 836 53 162.00–170.00 $162.45 $1,358 —
852–883 857 12 165.00–168.00 $167.48 $1,435 +2.81
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
303–317 unweaned 314 27 200.00–213.50 $208.14 $654 —
349 349 18 212.00 $212.00 $740 —
408 408 3 203.00 $203.00 $828 —
402–446 unweaned 424 34 197.00–208.50 $203.89 $864 +7.89
486 486 4 191.00 $191.00 $928 +16.00
489 unweaned 489 10 187.00 $187.00 $914 -4.89
525–530 unweaned 528 2 170.00–176.00 $172.99 $913 +4.09
528–549 540 30 164.00–179.00 $172.79 $933 -3.84
565 565 10 160.50 $160.50 $907 +6.50
585–589 unweaned 587 9 148.00–155.00 $151.90 $892 —
670 670 3 151.00 $151.00 $1,012 +2.75
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
317–326 unweaned 321 21 216.00–217.50 $216.72 $696 —
451 451 10 174.00 $174.00 $785 +19.00
508 508 23 178.00–183.00 $179.74 $913 —
552–570 562 55 159.00–170.50 $165.23 $929 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
462 462 9 155.00 $155.00 $716 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1042 1042 3 139.50 $139.50 $1,454 —
1144 1144 5 132.00 $132.00 $1,510 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
349 349 6 177.00 $177.00 $618 -10.50
355–388 unweaned 375 47 181.00–189.00 $184.68 $693 -4.65
366–398 384 47 172.00–181.00 $176.20 $677 -5.01
417 fancy 417 37 190.00 $190.00 $792 —
403–444 435 63 168.00–183.00 $171.15 $745 +3.81
436 unweaned 436 52 179.00 $179.00 $780 +2.66
452–489 480 181 152.00–169.00 $163.08 $783 +4.85
450–499 unweaned 484 161 153.00–170.00 $164.10 $794 +4.00
526 fancy 526 4 170.00 $170.00 $894 +3.75
505–544 unweaned 531 112 155.50–158.50 $157.53 $836 +6.63
510–549 531 244 151.50–166.00 $157.91 $839 +4.89
554–590 559 58 146.00–158.75 $155.07 $867 +3.50
551–598 unweaned 560 204 146.00–158.25 $156.13 $874 +7.70
601 fancy 601 17 156.50 $156.50 $941 —
616–640 unweaned 626 26 144.00–150.00 $146.88 $919 +0.23
630 630 29 147.00 $147.00 $926 +3.34
762 762 6 158.00 $158.00 $1,204 +7.26
851 851 18 155.50 $155.50 $1,323 +7.01
948 948 14 145.50 $145.50 $1,379 —
997 997 11 147.50 $147.50 $1,471 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
311 unweaned 311 10 160.00 $160.00 $498 —
366–390 unweaned 379 23 162.00–170.00 $166.08 $629 —
418–428 unweaned 419 33 152.00–160.00 $152.99 $641 —
401–444 435 24 161.00–162.00 $161.83 $704 —
465–466 unweaned 466 10 148.00–151.00 $148.90 $694 +5.76
485 485 3 149.50 $149.50 $725 +4.50
506 506 5 139.00 $139.00 $703 -6.00
584 584 13 140.00 $140.00 $818 +5.00
702–724 717 10 145.00 $145.00 $1,040 —
989 989 8 134.00 $134.00 $1,325 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
308–347 333 14 152.50–155.00 $153.33 $511 -1.67
352 352 6 163.00 $163.00 $574 —
395 unweaned 395 3 152.50 $152.50 $602 -22.50
421 421 19 152.00 $152.00 $640 -4.28
494 494 35 151.00 $151.00 $746 +9.00
507–517 unweaned 512 17 130.00–132.00 $130.93 $670 -11.57
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
304 unweaned 304 14 130.00 $130.00 $395 —
467 unweaned 467 7 120.00 $120.00 $560 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1033 1033 8 125.00 $125.00 $1,291 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
345 unweaned 345 1 228.00 $228.00 $787 —
435 435 69 201.00 $201.00 $874 —
598 unweaned 598 13 151.00 $151.00 $903 -5.00
654 654 7 137.00 $137.00 $896 —
805 unweaned 805 3 133.00 $133.00 $1,071 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
343 343 11 180.00 $180.00 $617 —
564 unweaned 564 4 147.00 $147.00 $829 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1132 1132 10 100.00 $100.00 $1,132 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
825–955 877 85-90% 3 27.00–31.00 $29.34 $257 —
860–975 903 85-90% 3 38.50–42.00 $40.57 $366 —
1050–1310 1138 85-90% 77 36.25–44.50 $39.71 $452 +5.71
1085–1315 1159 85-90% 23 41.00–47.00 $45.04 $522 -8.13
1158–1210 1175 85-90% 3 46.00 $46.00 $540 -7.17
1065–1293 1217 85-90% 80 48.00–55.00 $51.57 $628 +4.22
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1200–1485 1379 80-85% 24 65.00–70.00 $67.26 $928 —
1325–1650 1391 80-85% 67 54.50–62.50 $57.41 $799 —
1345–1528 1425 80-85% 12 50.75–53.50 $52.12 $743 -12.74
1330–1770 1484 80-85% 5 44.00–52.50 $47.77 $709 +1.66
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1590 1590 75-80% 1 64.50 $64.50 $1,026 —
1603 1603 75-80% 3 58.00 $58.00 $930 -7.82
1640–1695 1668 75-80% 2 54.00–54.50 $54.25 $905 -8.75
1746 1746 75-80% 5 64.50 $64.50 $1,126 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1250–1795 1528 8 84.00–87.50 $85.35 $1,304 —
1605–1898 1763 4 84.00–87.00 $84.93 $1,497 —
2245 2245 1 76.00 $76.00 $1,706 —
2325 2325 1 94.00 $94.00 $2,186 —
2500 2500 1 80.00 $80.00 $2,000 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
850–1403 899 (<2 yrs)Open 85 61.00–95.00 $85.95 $773
965–1020 thin fleshed 983 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 3 43.00 $43.00 $423
822–1315 1035 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 64 51.00–84.00 $70.40 $729
1040–1160 1074 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 7 44.00–50.00 $45.85 $492
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
887 887 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 51.00 $51.00 $452

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
952–1167 1029 Young (2-4 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 14 1,000.00–1,050.00 $1,020.26
965–1255 1073 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 10 800.00–850.00 $821.18
1042–1316 1143 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 28 1,100.00–1,125.00 $1,112.21

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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.