Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, June 16, 2022

1,030 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $166.17/cwt +7.94 vs last sale · ≈ $1,105/hd at 665 lb · 49 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $174.00/cwt +1.26 vs last sale · ≈ $1,006/hd at 578 lb · 20 head

light 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $135.25/cwt -8.75 vs last sale · ≈ $1,219/hd at 901 lb · 17 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,030	1,605	1,313
Feeder cattle	425	753	614
Slaughter cattle	441	425	501
Replacement cattle	164	427	198

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were all too lightly tested either this week or last week to develop any market trend. Quality was mostly plain to average this week. Cattle were offered in mostly small size packages with many singles on offer as well. One consignment of beef on dairy steers and heifers sold today and these offerings were very attractive and sold on good to very good demand. Several sets of fall calves continue to be seen and most of these offerings were met with light to moderate demand. Demand overall was mostly moderate for light offerings. Market activity this week was mostly moderate to active. Market activity today was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows again today pushing all offerings higher. Slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00-3.00 higher on all classes. Demand from western packers continues to drive cow prices higher as western packers are short cows for immediate harvest. Feeding cows sold steady to 3.00 higher. Packers purchased a few sets of cows to put on short term feed for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. Most of these offerings were of plain to average quality. Quality today was mostly average to attractive. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher. Bull quality was mostly attractive again this week. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average today and significantly lower than last weeks offering. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold 5.00 lower on a lower quality offering. Demand for high quality offerings remains good to very good, however high quality offerings were limited this week.

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
499 unweaned	499	4	190.00	$190.00	$948	+3.34
564 unweaned	564	6	185.50	$185.50	$1,046	—
632	632	10	187.00	$187.00	$1,182	—
815–845	823	7	147.00–154.50	$153.22	$1,261	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
524–533	527	6	185.00–186.00	$185.66	$978	—
607	607	3	180.00	$180.00	$1,093	+1.00
770	770	1	149.00	$149.00	$1,147	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
663	663	8	142.00	$142.00	$941	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
434	434	3	191.00	$191.00	$829	—
512–525 unweaned	521	9	173.00–174.00	$173.33	$903	+6.83
576–579	578	20	171.00–175.00	$174.00	$1,006	+1.26
650–675	665	49	163.50–172.00	$166.17	$1,105	+7.94
710	710	1	151.00	$151.00	$1,072	-5.54
758	758	15	148.00	$148.00	$1,122	-4.22
816	816	5	142.50	$142.50	$1,163	-4.50
850	850	2	146.00	$146.00	$1,241	-2.78
901	901	17	135.25	$135.25	$1,219	-8.75

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
448	448	5	177.50	$177.50	$795	—
488	488	2	170.00	$170.00	$830	—
541 unweaned	541	5	151.00	$151.00	$817	-19.50
582–585	583	11	162.50–169.00	$163.69	$954	+13.69
608	608	10	161.50	$161.50	$982	+11.50
685	685	2	149.00	$149.00	$1,021	—
760	760	2	144.00	$144.00	$1,094	-4.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
675	675	4	141.00	$141.00	$952	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
690	690	3	159.00	$159.00	$1,097	—
779	779	7	151.00	$151.00	$1,176	—
865	865	12	148.00	$148.00	$1,280	—
925	925	1	143.00	$143.00	$1,323	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
935	935	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,216	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1229–1483	1347	80-85%	46	83.00–88.00	$85.26	$1,148	—
1268–1625	1356	80-85%	52	77.00–84.50	$79.58	$1,079	-0.16
1265–1475	1357	80-85%	15	68.00–76.00	$74.21	$1,007	-5.53
1305–1565	1396	80-85%	37	84.00–88.50	$86.42	$1,206	+14.36
1281–1508	1401	80-85%	40	75.00–83.00	$80.64	$1,130	-2.73

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
820–985	911	85-90%	5	62.00–73.00	$66.12	$602	+0.90
925	925	85-90%	1	78.50	$78.50	$726	+13.28
948	948	85-90%	2	85.00	$85.00	$806	+6.00
1010–1270	1140	85-90%	26	63.00–75.00	$72.38	$825	+13.87
1140	1140	85-90%	1	84.50	$84.50	$963	+25.99
1099–1280	1174	85-90%	41	75.00–83.00	$79.27	$931	+3.76
1095–1272	1198	85-90%	12	81.00–83.00	$82.18	$985	+10.27
1150–1240	1227	85-90%	20	83.00–86.00	$83.73	$1,027	—
1230–1281	1275	85-90%	8	68.00–69.00	$68.12	$869	-14.08

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1504–1610	1534	75-80%	7	86.50–89.00	$87.25	$1,338	—
1581–1605	1583	75-80%	20	76.00–79.75	$79.37	$1,256	-5.49
1649	1649	75-80%	4	82.00	$82.00	$1,352	-1.89
1465–1913	1665	75-80%	19	82.00–86.50	$83.95	$1,398	+5.95
1630–1905	1722	75-80%	3	87.00–88.50	$87.95	$1,514	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1360	1360	1	96.50	$96.50	$1,312	+7.50
1220–1565	1399	8	87.00–95.00	$91.64	$1,282	+2.64
1420	1420	1	94.50	$94.50	$1,342	—
1450–2135	1785	19	97.00–109.00	$104.22	$1,860	—
1585–2480	1993	35	108.00–122.00	$113.72	$2,266	+2.64
1835–2265	2050	2	115.00–120.00	$117.24	$2,403	—
2520	2520	1	111.00	$111.00	$2,797	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
720–1335	1071	(<2 yrs)	Open	41	90.00–123.00	$109.22	$1,170
903–1320	1117	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	51	80.00–107.00	$90.32	$1,009
1219–1280	1224	(<2 yrs)	Open	12	89.50–90.00	$89.54	$1,096

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
873–1175	973	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	80.00–92.00	$86.85	$845

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1088	1088	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	111.00	$111.00	$1,208

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1245	1245	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,050.00	$1,050.00
1275	1275	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,200.00	$1,200.00

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Dairy Heifers

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
715	715	6	141.00	$141.00	$1,008	—
835	835	35	137.75	$137.75	$1,150	—
885	885	4	138.00	$138.00	$1,221	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
851	851	30	149.00	$149.00	$1,268	—
978	978	9	137.00	$137.00	$1,340	—

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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.