Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, March 10, 2022

1,314 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 steers $179.43/cwt -1.38 vs last sale · ≈ $1,138/hd at 634 lb · 175 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $184.06/cwt -0.75 vs last sale · ≈ $972/hd at 528 lb · 99 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $194.97/cwt +2.48 vs last sale · ≈ $883/hd at 453 lb · 94 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,314	3,033	4,354
Feeder cattle	1,005	1,698	2,505
Slaughter cattle	141	736	345
Replacement cattle	168	599	1,504

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers all sold steady to 5.00 lower on all weights in a narrow comparison. Heifers sold generally steady on all weights. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Outside of the consigned groups of cattle quality was mostly plain this week. Demand for feeder cattle was mostly moderate to good today despite light offerings. Grass cattle buyers continue to show good demand for cattle suitable to run as yearlings. Recent snowfall has moisture totals on par with historical averages which has created some optimism for yearlings. Bigger feedlot ready cattle sold with the lightest demand this week as grain prices have seen huge price increases in the last 3 weeks. Market activity was mostly moderate to active this week with a strong pool of buyers actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand. Packer buyers showed very good demand for cows for immediate harvest. Lean cows sold with the strongest demand as packers are searching for lean product to blend down all the fed cows currently hitting the market. Slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00-3.00 higher on all classes of cows. Feeding cows sold mostly 3.00-4.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Packers purchased mostly very high quality cows to feed this week. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Young age cows sold on good to very good demand. These offerings were purchased for both feeding and rebreeding purposes. Steady undertones were noticed on all offerings.

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
373–375	374	5	215.00–221.00	$217.41	$813	—
431	431	8	217.50	$217.50	$937	-0.27
477–492	480	54	211.00–213.00	$212.47	$1,020	-6.09
510–542	539	89	200.00–207.50	$206.74	$1,114	-5.64
568–570	568	7	184.00–194.00	$192.57	$1,094	-10.70
610–647	634	175	175.00–180.50	$179.43	$1,138	-1.38
683–688	684	15	165.00–167.00	$166.60	$1,140	-6.96
705–742	729	14	158.00–163.00	$159.73	$1,164	-8.01
763–791	783	11	149.00–149.50	$149.37	$1,170	-6.31

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
376–389	381	22	202.00–214.00	$207.93	$792	—
510–527	523	4	184.00–195.00	$186.68	$976	-10.36
603	603	3	170.00	$170.00	$1,025	—
690	690	4	160.00	$160.00	$1,104	-6.00
796	796	4	145.00	$145.00	$1,154	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
412	412	3	187.00	$187.00	$770	-0.76
450–472	453	94	186.00–196.50	$194.97	$883	+2.48
500–546	528	99	180.00–186.00	$184.06	$972	-0.75
555–597	578	9	167.00–175.50	$170.63	$986	+2.01
604–636	621	29	161.00–162.00	$161.56	$1,003	-4.73
654–676	664	15	152.00–165.50	$159.09	$1,056	-0.82
716	716	54	154.50	$154.50	$1,106	+4.38
813	813	17	145.00	$145.00	$1,179	-0.25
913	913	2	135.00	$135.00	$1,233	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
386	386	7	182.00	$182.00	$703	-2.51
405–445	431	31	170.00–180.00	$178.12	$768	—
471–494	482	10	170.00–180.00	$172.77	$833	-8.66
570	570	2	161.00	$161.00	$918	+10.43
603	603	6	154.00	$154.00	$929	—
696	696	8	142.00	$142.00	$988	+4.00
728	728	3	142.50	$142.50	$1,037	+5.50
753	753	3	142.00	$142.00	$1,069	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
427	427	9	185.50	$185.50	$792	—
491	491	9	180.50	$180.50	$886	—
546	546	4	169.00	$169.00	$923	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
452	452	19	150.00	$150.00	$678	-21.00

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
403	403	12	162.50	$162.50	$655	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1190	1190	1	109.00	$109.00	$1,297	—
1202–1225	1207	5	101.00–102.00	$101.80	$1,229	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
848	848	3	134.00	$134.00	$1,136	+4.00
933	933	2	133.50	$133.50	$1,246	+4.50

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
920	920	85-90%	1	78.00	$78.00	$718	—
965	965	85-90%	1	72.00	$72.00	$695	+8.03
1025–1338	1166	85-90%	19	63.00–74.00	$69.51	$810	+15.26
990–1275	1185	85-90%	35	75.00–79.50	$76.98	$912	+22.73
1135–1197	1188	85-90%	7	68.00–72.00	$71.45	$849	+17.20
1180–1230	1205	85-90%	2	81.00	$81.00	$976	-0.88
1170–1280	1225	85-90%	2	79.00–81.00	$80.04	$980	+6.21
1214–1250	1229	85-90%	7	58.00–60.00	$59.13	$727	-14.70

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1345	1345	80-85%	1	85.00	$85.00	$1,143	—
1313–1520	1400	80-85%	4	85.00–85.50	$85.23	$1,193	+2.03
1380–1468	1420	80-85%	5	77.50–83.00	$80.69	$1,146	+3.15
1455	1455	80-85%	1	71.00	$71.00	$1,033	—
1420–1570	1509	80-85%	4	70.50–74.50	$72.78	$1,098	—
1360–1613	1513	80-85%	14	77.00–83.50	$79.08	$1,196	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1740–1750	1745	75-80%	2	82.00–84.00	$83.00	$1,448	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1235	1235	1	80.00	$80.00	$988	—
1290	1290	1	94.00	$94.00	$1,213	—
1340	1340	1	84.00	$84.00	$1,126	—
1395–1605	1493	3	89.00–96.00	$92.50	$1,381	—
1630–2005	1911	5	97.00–102.00	$100.63	$1,923	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
810–1308	1063	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	38	77.00–115.00	$93.88	$998
865–1300	1065	(<2 yrs)	Open	46	117.00–136.00	$125.90	$1,341

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
847–990	885	(<2 yrs)	Open	8	113.00–120.00	$115.51	$1,022

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
967	967	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	14	1,035.00	$1,035.00
1233–1352	1319	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	29	935.00–1,075.00	$1,038.90

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1361	1361	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	9	79.00	$79.00	$1,075
1580	1580	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	78.00	$78.00	$1,232

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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.