Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, April 13, 2023

1,151 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $257.41/cwt +19.41 vs last sale · ≈ $1,351/hd at 525 lb · 17 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $253.48/cwt +8.48 vs last sale · ≈ $1,587/hd at 626 lb · 13 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $232.04/cwt ≈ $1,188/hd at 512 lb · 10 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,151	1,090	641
Feeder cattle	229	310	414
Slaughter cattle	577	410	122
Replacement cattle	345	370	105

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers and heifers were too lightly tested today to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on all offerings. Quality this sale was mostly plain to average. Most lots were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand was good to very good, despite light offerings. Higher CME live and feeder cattle contract prices continue to add support to the market. Demand for cattle suitable to run on grass was very good as order buyers and ranchers competed over offerings. Market activity was active to very active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for moderate offerings. Packers showed good demand for both feeding and slaughter cows this sale. Slaughter cows sold generally steady to firm on breaking and boning cows, lean cows sold unevenly steady. Feeding cows sold 1.00-2.00 higher on very good demand from packer buyers. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00-4.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Weigh up conditions were mixed today as both full and empty offerings were seen. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold 5.00-10.00 higher. Quality this week was average to very attractive. Most open rebreed type offerings sold for $1550-1750 per head, few fancy offerings up to $1800 per head.

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
389	389	10	325.00	$325.00	$1,264	—
430	430	1	315.00	$315.00	$1,354	—
479–488	481	8	285.00–291.00	$289.48	$1,392	—
530	530	1	282.50	$282.50	$1,497	—
585–595	591	8	265.00–274.00	$268.34	$1,586	—
624–630	626	13	250.00–259.00	$253.48	$1,587	+8.48
688	688	2	228.00	$228.00	$1,569	—
710	710	5	217.00	$217.00	$1,541	+7.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	1	295.00	$295.00	$1,106	—
415–435	428	3	270.00–280.00	$273.23	$1,169	—
465	465	1	285.00	$285.00	$1,325	—
520	520	3	260.00–272.50	$264.17	$1,374	—
565	565	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,328	±0.00
870	870	4	170.00–177.00	$171.75	$1,494	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505–530	525	17	244.00–260.00	$257.41	$1,351	+19.41
556–588	563	9	225.00–239.50	$236.14	$1,329	+4.14
625	625	4	218.50	$218.50	$1,366	-5.50
650–695	673	8	204.00–213.00	$206.30	$1,388	—
724	724	4	199.00	$199.00	$1,441	+7.54
768	768	2	190.00	$190.00	$1,459	+18.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
440	440	1	255.00	$255.00	$1,122	—
500–520	512	10	220.00–240.00	$232.04	$1,188	—
605–623	619	4	212.00	$212.00	$1,312	-2.00

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
643	643	6	204.00	$204.00	$1,312	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
600	600	6	171.00	$171.00	$1,026	—

Medium 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
621	621	4	140.00	$140.00	$869	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
795	795	1	172.00	$172.00	$1,367	—
1000–1028	1025	9	155.00–167.00	$165.70	$1,698	—
1140	1140	2	143.00	$143.00	$1,630	—
1220–1230	1225	2	139.00–140.00	$139.50	$1,709	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
612	612	3	236.00	$236.00	$1,444	—
726	726	4	193.00	$193.00	$1,401	—
783	783	2	188.00	$188.00	$1,472	+10.00
910–925	919	5	164.00–171.00	$168.23	$1,546	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505	505	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,187	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
810–935	875	85-90%	3	74.00–82.00	$77.47	$678	—
925	925	85-90%	1	86.00	$86.00	$796	—
930–1285	1113	85-90%	14	81.00–87.50	$84.30	$938	+2.39
1015–1300	1116	85-90%	50	74.00–85.50	$81.31	$907	-0.60
1005–1325	1215	85-90%	69	86.00–95.50	$92.07	$1,119	+3.56
1023–1336	1220	85-90%	42	85.00–94.00	$90.24	$1,101	+1.73
1205–1301	1273	85-90%	12	97.00–104.50	$101.96	$1,298	—
1211–1443	1377	85-90%	14	96.00–108.00	$104.98	$1,446	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1335–1720	1395	80-85%	19	86.00–91.00	$87.76	$1,224	-15.24
1293–1550	1397	80-85%	72	90.00–99.00	$95.42	$1,333	-7.58
1245–1620	1407	80-85%	84	88.00–99.25	$94.50	$1,330	—
1369–1580	1425	80-85%	11	87.00–90.00	$88.39	$1,260	-2.43
1320–1600	1428	80-85%	8	100.00–103.00	$101.50	$1,449	+10.68
1430–1455	1440	80-85%	3	100.00–104.00	$101.99	$1,469	+11.17

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1488	1488	75-80%	2	102.00	$102.00	$1,518	—
1530	1530	75-80%	1	92.00	$92.00	$1,408	—
1500–1780	1594	75-80%	32	96.00–100.50	$98.40	$1,568	+5.58
1515–1713	1637	75-80%	12	89.00–94.00	$92.48	$1,514	—
1620–1710	1678	75-80%	3	101.50–103.00	$102.17	$1,714	+6.00
2037	2037	75-80%	3	98.50	$98.50	$2,006	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1305	1305	1	124.00	$124.00	$1,618	+13.00
1200–1415	1308	2	112.00–113.00	$112.46	$1,471	+1.46
1125–1415	1312	8	96.00–108.00	$103.57	$1,359	-7.43
1552	1552	3	111.00	$111.00	$1,723	—
1430–2130	1724	16	94.00–111.00	$103.39	$1,782	—
1500–2205	1859	7	114.00–119.00	$115.45	$2,146	—
1803–2130	1864	8	131.00–144.00	$142.00	$2,647	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2090–2350	2178	3	123.00–131.00	$125.88	$2,742	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
814–964 fancy	893	(<2 yrs)	Open	42	190.00–205.00	$195.62	$1,747
830–1385	1031	(<2 yrs)	Open	141	120.00–187.00	$159.92	$1,649
855–1390	1135	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	93	93.50–160.00	$118.24	$1,342

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
721–1080	884	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	12	87.00–116.00	$96.89	$857
888–1140	1009	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	119.00–156.00	$134.03	$1,352

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1208	1208	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	1,785.00	$1,785.00
1285–1323	1310	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,975.00	$1,975.00

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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.