Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, May 19, 2022

1,420 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,420	1,725	1,378
Feeder cattle	167	907	314
Slaughter cattle	799	421	559
Replacement cattle	454	397	505

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were all too lightly tested today to develop any market trend. Quality was mostly plain to average. Demand for feeders was mostly moderate for todays very light offering. Several ranchers were in the stands bidding on grass cattle. Rain continues to be in the forecast and temperatures remain unseasonably cool. However grass has greened and many ranchers are in need of feeders to fill summer pastures. A good crowd was on hand for todays sale. Market activity was mostly moderate. Weigh up cows comprised most of the offering this week. Packers showed slightly stronger demand for cows this week. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows were mostly purchased to return to feed this week. Feeding cows sold fully steady this week on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows returning to feed sold 2.00-3.00 higher. Cow quality was average to attractive this week with many sets of high quality cows on offer. Slaughter bulls sold steady to firm. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this sale with many full cows on offer. Weigh up conditions were poorer this week than last. Young age cows sold on mostly good to very good demand today. Young replacement type cows sold mostly steady to 5.00 lower. 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
660	660	9	189.00	$189.00	$1,247	—
725–740	731	5	157.00–162.00	$159.98	$1,169	-7.52
770	770	2	154.00	$154.00	$1,186	—
803	803	2	148.00	$148.00	$1,188	-1.58

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
448	448	4	184.00	$184.00	$824	—
555	555	3	182.00	$182.00	$1,010	+2.00
815	815	2	140.00	$140.00	$1,141	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
579	579	4	165.00	$165.00	$955	-5.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
385	385	2	170.00	$170.00	$654	—
489	489	4	161.50	$161.50	$790	-8.50
545	545	2	155.00	$155.00	$845	-11.22
613	613	2	137.00	$137.00	$840	-19.31
653	653	2	137.00	$137.00	$895	—
770	770	2	132.00	$132.00	$1,016	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
565–570	569	5	150.00–154.00	$150.79	$858	-16.88
645	645	4	152.50	$152.50	$984	-11.00
693	693	2	153.00	$153.00	$1,060	-6.25

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1028	1028	8	120.00	$120.00	$1,234	+4.00
1270	1270	2	112.00	$112.00	$1,422	+7.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
470	470	—	—	2	179.00	$179.00	$841	—
930	930	—	—	1	121.00	$121.00	$1,125	—
1090–1435	1208	(<2 yrs)	N/A	5	102.50–140.00	$123.13	$1,487	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
665	665	4	145.00	$145.00	$964	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
890	890	—	—	1	119.00	$119.00	$1,059	—
1033	1033	(<2 yrs)	N/A	2	124.00	$124.00	$1,281	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1247–1680	1366	80-85%	38	73.50–79.00	$76.31	$1,042	+2.71
1301–1503	1385	80-85%	15	82.50–84.50	$83.79	$1,160	+10.19
1327–1585	1406	80-85%	68	65.50–73.50	$71.23	$1,001	-10.43
1325–1545	1435	80-85%	2	82.00	$82.00	$1,177	+14.66
1315–1483	1441	80-85%	46	69.00–74.00	$71.59	$1,032	-12.93
1355–1587	1452	80-85%	95	75.00–82.00	$78.23	$1,136	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
928	928	85-90%	3	51.00	$51.00	$473	-16.33
925–960	943	85-90%	2	73.00	$73.00	$688	+5.67
835–998	947	85-90%	9	62.00–69.50	$66.94	$634	-0.39
1055	1055	85-90%	1	56.00	$56.00	$591	+3.00
1042–1223	1137	85-90%	13	70.50–72.50	$71.63	$814	—
1155	1155	85-90%	1	84.00	$84.00	$970	+14.86
985–1345	1167	85-90%	48	74.00–80.50	$77.84	$908	+4.10
1015–1310	1168	85-90%	99	62.00–73.50	$68.98	$806	-4.76
1010–1350	1240	85-90%	47	73.00–79.00	$75.65	$938	-5.95
1310–1485	1398	85-90%	2	80.00–84.50	$82.11	$1,148	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1425–1702	1604	75-80%	13	79.50–83.00	$80.58	$1,293	+4.31
1505–1760	1633	75-80%	20	74.00–79.00	$75.07	$1,226	-2.71
1686	1686	75-80%	6	78.50	$78.50	$1,324	—
1870	1870	75-80%	1	80.00	$80.00	$1,496	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1225	1225	3	107.00	$107.00	$1,311	—
1250–1270	1260	2	98.50–104.50	$101.52	$1,279	+3.83
1210–1440	1363	3	76.50–87.50	$84.25	$1,148	-8.75
1318–2045	1594	30	80.00–93.50	$88.19	$1,406	+1.44
1630–2330	1891	27	94.00–103.00	$97.97	$1,853	—
1710–2285	2048	15	104.00–109.00	$105.43	$2,159	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
750–1370	1036	(<2 yrs)	Open	179	91.00–126.00	$107.90	$1,118
875–1455	1081	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	164	73.00–107.00	$89.48	$967
1160 thin fleshed	1160	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	72.00	$72.00	$835
1075–1358	1227	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	15	72.00–75.00	$72.82	$894

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
848–952	910	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	74.00–84.00	$77.73	$707
910–1125	1002	(<2 yrs)	Open	8	82.00–98.50	$94.55	$947

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
921 thin fleshed	921	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	935.00	$935.00
1193	1193	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	1,085.00	$1,085.00
1200	1200	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	8	1,185.00	$1,185.00
1195–1380	1324	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	7	1,100.00–1,250.00	$1,224.70
1378	1378	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,035.00	$1,035.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1262	1262	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	7	1,350.00	$1,350.00	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1458	1458	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	3	1,435.00	$1,435.00	—
1705	1705	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	1,400.00	$1,400.00	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
898	898	13	45.00	$45.00	$404	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1083	1083	6	56.50	$56.50	$612	—

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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.