Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, August 18, 2022

1,468 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $174.01/cwt +10.42 vs last sale · ≈ $1,611/hd at 926 lb · 149 head

light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $187.57/cwt ≈ $1,527/hd at 814 lb · 68 head

light 9-weight M&L 1 steers $185.15/cwt +19.15 vs last sale · ≈ $1,672/hd at 903 lb · 67 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,468	928	3,419
Feeder cattle	948	299	2,216
Slaughter cattle	411	567	759
Replacement cattle	109	62	444

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last sale(8-04-22): Feeder steers were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. The best test for for feeder heifers was 900-949 lbs which sold 8.00-10.00 higher. All other weights of heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Demand today was mostly good to very good. Quality was mostly average to attractive this week. A good crowd was on hand for todays sale. Market activity was mostly active, with buyers both in the stands and on the internet actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packers showed mostly good demand for all cows on offer. Most cows were purchased to send to immediate harvest this sale. Slaughter cows sold 3.00-6.00 higher than two weeks ago. Feeding cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average today as most cows and bulls were very full. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 2.00 higher. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light offerings. Quality this week was mostly average. Young cow offerings were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed.

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
397 unweaned	397	20	211.00	$211.00	$838	—
488–492 unweaned	491	17	205.50–211.00	$209.07	$1,027	—
502 unweaned	502	29	209.00	$209.00	$1,049	—
731	731	9	187.50	$187.50	$1,371	—
812–815	814	68	185.00–189.25	$187.57	$1,527	—
903–918	903	67	173.50–185.50	$185.15	$1,672	+19.15
953	953	3	172.50	$172.50	$1,644	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1114	1114	7	152.00	$152.00	$1,693	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
679–680	679	7	191.00–191.50	$191.21	$1,298	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
680	680	7	178.00	$178.00	$1,210	+13.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
674	674	5	178.00	$178.00	$1,200	—
810	810	1	183.50	$183.50	$1,486	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
377 unweaned	377	8	182.50	$182.50	$688	—
452 unweaned	452	35	180.00	$180.00	$814	—
573 unweaned	573	3	169.00	$169.00	$968	—
631	631	11	183.50	$183.50	$1,158	+7.50
745	745	53	178.50	$178.50	$1,330	—
768	768	3	177.00	$177.00	$1,359	+6.00
818	818	16	178.50	$178.50	$1,460	+6.00
870–878	873	6	168.50–170.00	$169.00	$1,475	+2.28
903–945	926	149	166.00–175.25	$174.01	$1,611	+10.42
955	955	5	159.00–166.00	$163.60	$1,562	+1.80

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
459 unweaned	459	4	169.00	$169.00	$776	—
598	598	18	171.50	$171.50	$1,026	—
600–622	607	27	166.00–168.00	$166.68	$1,012	—
786	786	18	159.50	$159.50	$1,254	+0.50

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
777–798	788	8	161.00–165.00	$163.24	$1,286	—
895	895	1	161.00	$161.00	$1,441	—
900–938	904	29	158.00–161.00	$158.32	$1,431	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1021	1021	5	149.50	$149.50	$1,526	—
1066–1099	1083	14	149.50–156.00	$152.70	$1,654	+11.20
1100	1100	4	146.50	$146.50	$1,612	+5.50
1170	1170	2	134.00	$134.00	$1,568	+3.50
1245	1245	3	124.00	$124.00	$1,544	—
1283	1283	4	136.50	$136.50	$1,751	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1023	1023	6	144.00	$144.00	$1,473	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
663 unweaned	663	8	180.00	$180.00	$1,193	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
831	831	4	155.00	$155.00	$1,288	—
890	890	2	146.00	$146.00	$1,299	-1.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1183	1183	2	131.00	$131.00	$1,550	—
1247	1247	3	121.00	$121.00	$1,509	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1256–1460	1338	80-85%	7	93.50–94.75	$93.85	$1,256	+13.85
1396	1396	80-85%	6	95.75	$95.75	$1,337	+1.50
1465	1465	80-85%	1	65.00	$65.00	$952	-19.93
1295–1693	1467	80-85%	79	86.50–93.50	$91.43	$1,341	+6.50
1375–1573	1503	80-85%	17	94.25–96.50	$94.71	$1,423	—
1246–1793	1534	80-85%	25	76.50–86.00	$83.04	$1,274	-9.86

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
652–778	715	85-90%	6	50.00–55.00	$52.72	$377	—
754–910	806	85-90%	8	70.00–78.00	$73.17	$590	—
805–980	863	85-90%	3	80.00–82.50	$80.95	$699	+4.95
1005	1005	85-90%	2	61.00	$61.00	$613	—
1122	1122	85-90%	3	86.00	$86.00	$965	+8.75
1075–1348	1244	85-90%	18	84.50–91.25	$87.73	$1,091	+4.33
1001–1547	1283	85-90%	49	74.00–84.50	$79.37	$1,018	-4.98

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1513–1835	1632	75-80%	8	88.00–91.00	$89.60	$1,462	-1.07
1490–1928	1669	75-80%	23	91.25–96.00	$93.31	$1,557	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1283	1283	2	97.00	$97.00	$1,245	—
1300–1399	1357	10	111.50–115.00	$113.78	$1,544	—
1215–1570	1414	4	92.00–97.00	$94.99	$1,343	-0.34
1235–1865	1564	22	102.00–110.00	$106.32	$1,663	—
1455–2015	1648	9	92.00–100.50	$95.95	$1,581	—
1410–2465	1831	52	102.00–109.00	$105.94	$1,940	—
1515–2145	1906	11	109.00–115.50	$111.22	$2,120	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
820–1290	1134	(<2 yrs)	Open	20	101.00–114.00	$104.89	$1,189
1135–1280	1260	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	8	90.00–95.50	$93.61	$1,179

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
930–1195	1063	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	93.00–107.00	$100.87	$1,072

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1034	1034	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	10	1,575.00	$1,575.00
1502	1502	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	1,450.00	$1,450.00
1405–1593	1555	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	10	1,500.00–1,550.00	$1,540.97
1437–1663	1566	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	7	1,525.00–1,535.00	$1,528.93

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Dairy Heifers

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
653	653	9	165.00	$165.00	$1,077	—
772	772	21	158.00	$158.00	$1,220	—
890	890	6	158.00	$158.00	$1,406	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
709	709	8	185.00	$185.00	$1,312	—
753	753	10	180.00	$180.00	$1,355	—
872	872	10	179.50	$179.50	$1,565	—
994	994	4	163.00	$163.00	$1,620	—

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
794	794	4	132.00	$132.00	$1,048	—
1087	1087	12	96.50	$96.50	$1,049	—

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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.