Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, January 19, 2023

906 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M 1 heifers $193.20/cwt +18.20 vs last sale · ≈ $873/hd at 452 lb · 37 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $187.86/cwt +4.37 vs last sale · ≈ $1,025/hd at 546 lb · 32 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $221.48/cwt +5.03 vs last sale · ≈ $1,189/hd at 537 lb · 27 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	906	1,463	3,228
Feeder cattle	498	746	2,897
Slaughter cattle	307	505	201
Replacement cattle	101	212	130

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: All feeder cattle were too lighly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noted on all steer calves. Heifer calves sold with steady to weak undertones on calves under 550 lbs, heifers over 550 lbs sold sold with higher undertones. Quality today was plain to average, with a limited offering of attravtive cattle on offer. Demand was mostly moderate for light to moderate offerings. Package sizes were mostly small this week, with lots of singles in the offering. Most calves were long weaned from 50-90 days. A small buyer pool was on hand this sale. Market activity was mostly moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light offerings. Slaughter cows sold on moderate to good demand as competition between eastern and western packers was strong this week. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-2.00 higher on all offerings. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Demand for bulls was mostly good for very light offerings. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady in a very narrow compairson.

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
460–468	467	19	233.00–254.00	$236.27	$1,103	-1.99
503–541	537	27	214.00–226.00	$221.48	$1,189	+5.03
573–598	581	27	197.00–201.00	$198.73	$1,155	+8.73
606–623	610	13	191.00–195.50	$194.17	$1,184	+5.53
659–673	660	20	191.00	$191.00	$1,261	—
705	705	16	180.00	$180.00	$1,269	—
763–768	767	10	170.50–171.50	$170.80	$1,310	—
824	824	9	169.00	$169.00	$1,393	—
858	858	9	168.50	$168.50	$1,446	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
383	383	2	252.50	$252.50	$967	+12.50
450–460	453	4	220.00–232.50	$229.32	$1,039	—
513–530	515	15	202.00–214.00	$212.77	$1,096	+8.67
617–628	625	11	168.00–187.00	$173.12	$1,082	—
658–687	669	8	169.00–173.50	$170.73	$1,142	+2.73

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
756 unweaned	756	8	162.50	$162.50	$1,228	—
766	766	7	168.50	$168.50	$1,291	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
424	424	8	240.00	$240.00	$1,018	—
453	453	3	223.00	$223.00	$1,010	—
598	598	3	169.00	$169.00	$1,011	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
438 unweaned	438	2	194.00	$194.00	$850	-18.06
490	490	4	196.00	$196.00	$960	-2.48
543 unweaned	543	4	191.50	$191.50	$1,040	+9.89
518–549	546	28	187.00–191.00	$187.34	$1,023	-3.66
565–574	568	22	183.00–184.50	$184.02	$1,045	+11.95
603–635	614	25	178.00–179.00	$178.25	$1,094	+7.25
650–694	689	9	168.50–170.00	$168.66	$1,162	—
713	713	9	163.00	$163.00	$1,162	—
760–781	766	17	157.50–161.00	$159.95	$1,225	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
448	448	23	194.00	$194.00	$869	—
451–453	452	37	187.00–195.50	$193.20	$873	+18.20

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
444	444	4	195.50	$195.50	$868	-6.13
453–469	465	9	190.00–191.00	$190.78	$887	+8.28
524	524	4	175.00	$175.00	$917	-12.00
574–581	578	10	174.00–175.50	$174.75	$1,010	+10.75

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
540	540	3	177.00–179.00	$178.33	$963	—
583 unweaned	583	2	173.00	$173.00	$1,009	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
572	572	6	150.00	$150.00	$858	—
960	960	2	115.00	$115.00	$1,104	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
482	482	3	192.50	$192.50	$928	—
1105	1105	1	106.00	$106.00	$1,171	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
750–970	839	85-90%	4	45.50–58.00	$51.79	$435	+8.79
900–1248	1095	85-90%	5	71.50–77.00	$73.20	$802	—
1040–1195	1146	85-90%	12	62.00–68.00	$64.39	$738	—
1000–1260	1183	85-90%	13	63.00–68.00	$65.05	$770	+17.05
1020–1344	1188	85-90%	49	54.00–62.50	$57.83	$687	+9.83
1213	1213	85-90%	2	54.50	$54.50	$661	-3.03

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1247–1577	1382	80-85%	23	67.50–75.00	$70.33	$972	-6.67
1265–1715	1399	80-85%	13	57.00–63.00	$61.32	$858	-15.68
1428–1505	1437	80-85%	9	68.50–73.75	$73.14	$1,051	+12.88
1419–1655	1484	80-85%	12	59.50–67.50	$62.96	$934	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1520	1520	75-80%	3	74.00	$74.00	$1,125	—
1635	1635	75-80%	2	73.00	$73.00	$1,194	+3.59
1550–1860	1681	75-80%	4	66.50–73.50	$69.73	$1,172	—
2010	2010	75-80%	1	70.50	$70.50	$1,417	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1670	1670	1	99.50	$99.50	$1,662	+1.67
1980	1980	1	83.00	$83.00	$1,643	—
1995	1995	2	97.00	$97.00	$1,935	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
844–1158	916	(<2 yrs)	Open	11	127.00–153.00	$143.07	$1,311
748–1280	982	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	29	69.00–123.00	$88.74	$871

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
740	740	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	127.00	$127.00	$940
900–1276	1155	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	6	73.00–90.00	$85.91	$992

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1158	1158	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	1,200.00	$1,200.00
1276	1276	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	1,400.00	$1,400.00
1483	1483	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	1,010.00	$1,010.00
1515	1515	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	1,135.00	$1,135.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1235	1235	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	800.00	$800.00
1253 thin fleshed	1253	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	5	700.00	$700.00
1267	1267	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	810.00	$810.00

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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.