Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, May 11, 2023

1,327 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $182.05/cwt +8.05 vs last sale · ≈ $1,560/hd at 857 lb · 29 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $237.50/cwt +7.50 vs last sale · ≈ $1,481/hd at 624 lb · 22 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $218.62/cwt -3.38 vs last sale · ≈ $1,257/hd at 575 lb · 22 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,327	1,298	1,725
Feeder cattle	482	303	907
Slaughter cattle	523	593	421
Replacement cattle	322	402	397

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers and heifers were too lightly tested today to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Quality this sale was mostly plain. Most lots were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand remains good to very good. With only one feeder sale in billings this week several buyers were looking for cattle to finish filling loads and were aggressive as they did so. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to run on grass. Market activity was active to very active, despite light offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for moderate offerings. Packers and order buyers both showed the best demand for feeding quality cows this week. Slaughter cows sold generally steady. Feeding cows sold steady to firm. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 1.00-2.00 higher. Feeding bull buyers continue to push packer buyers as they try to purchase bulls, however packers purchased most of the bulls away from feeding buyers this week despite having to pay higher prices for bulls. Weigh up conditions were average to below average today with many full offerings noted. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold 2.00-4.00 higher. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
458–487	479	7	267.50–290.00	$273.65	$1,311	+15.38
546	546	4	267.50	$267.50	$1,461	—
565–585	575	2	240.00–250.00	$245.09	$1,409	+12.59
743	743	2	225.00	$225.00	$1,672	+15.00
771	771	5	202.00	$202.00	$1,557	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
501	501	4	295.00	$295.00	$1,478	+20.00
579 unweaned	579	5	271.00	$271.00	$1,569	—
633–640	635	3	260.00	$260.00	$1,651	+6.38
650	650	1	255.00	$255.00	$1,658	+20.00
710–730	716	4	230.00–239.00	$234.71	$1,681	+3.71
870	870	2	190.00	$190.00	$1,653	±0.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
515	515	5	215.00	$215.00	$1,107	—
585	585	5	195.00	$195.00	$1,141	—
785	785	7	180.00	$180.00	$1,413	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
671	671	7	198.00	$198.00	$1,329	—
742	742	3	190.00	$190.00	$1,410	-8.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
830	830	4	193.00	$193.00	$1,602	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
424 unweaned	424	4	280.00	$280.00	$1,187	—
475–482	480	4	242.50–250.00	$248.15	$1,191	-2.48
529	529	8	237.50	$237.50	$1,256	+0.50
583 unweaned	583	2	227.00	$227.00	$1,323	—
622 unweaned	622	13	236.00	$236.00	$1,468	—
611–641	626	9	237.00–243.00	$239.66	$1,500	+9.66
655–678	673	21	215.00–230.00	$224.96	$1,514	+6.96
708–738	723	10	192.00–207.00	$197.21	$1,426	—
857–860	857	29	176.00–182.50	$182.05	$1,560	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
430–448	437	14	230.00–237.50	$231.65	$1,012	—
470	470	4	210.00	$210.00	$987	-29.32
523–545	532	10	222.50–235.00	$227.18	$1,209	+8.80
541 unweaned	541	8	219.00	$219.00	$1,185	—
550–590	575	22	195.00–227.50	$218.62	$1,257	-3.38
602–625	608	10	210.00–225.00	$218.76	$1,330	—
713–725	717	4	179.00–183.00	$182.00	$1,305	—
765–788	781	6	173.00–177.00	$175.85	$1,373	—
810	810	2	178.00	$178.00	$1,442	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
566	566	7	150.00	$150.00	$849	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
800	800	2	170.00	$170.00	$1,360	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
380 unweaned	380	3	200.00	$200.00	$760	—
439	439	14	220.00	$220.00	$966	—
571	571	9	197.50	$197.50	$1,128	—
727	727	3	173.00	$173.00	$1,258	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
733	733	2	205.00	$205.00	$1,503	—
808	808	3	185.00	$185.00	$1,495	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
540	540	1	225.00	$225.00	$1,215	-16.82
930	930	2	152.50	$152.50	$1,418	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1218	1218	2	144.00	$144.00	$1,754	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
815–995	949	85-90%	10	77.00–83.00	$81.23	$771	+8.19
955	955	85-90%	1	64.00	$64.00	$611	-21.00
968	968	85-90%	2	91.00	$91.00	$881	+6.00
1003–1320	1118	85-90%	4	82.00–86.00	$84.37	$943	+2.24
1003–1420	1148	85-90%	67	71.00–86.00	$82.04	$942	-0.09
1025–1288	1163	85-90%	75	86.00–94.00	$89.33	$1,039	—
1210	1210	85-90%	1	65.00	$65.00	$786	-24.16
1003–1340	1214	85-90%	61	86.00–92.50	$88.67	$1,076	-0.49
1140–1305	1250	85-90%	3	99.00–100.50	$100.04	$1,251	+5.04
1275	1275	85-90%	1	96.00	$96.00	$1,224	+1.00

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
895	895	80-85%	1	88.00	$88.00	$788	—
1250–1550	1381	80-85%	86	90.00–99.00	$93.06	$1,285	+7.48
1400	1400	80-85%	5	100.50	$100.50	$1,407	+7.89
1290–1535	1408	80-85%	40	84.00–89.00	$86.19	$1,214	-6.42
1300–1495	1409	80-85%	6	84.00–87.00	$86.47	$1,218	-6.14
1348–1775	1441	80-85%	32	90.00–96.00	$91.87	$1,324	-0.74
1690	1690	80-85%	1	103.50	$103.50	$1,749	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1305–1448	1428	75-80%	7	106.50–107.50	$106.63	$1,523	—
1460–1935	1623	75-80%	8	104.00–107.50	$105.74	$1,716	—
1535–1700	1632	75-80%	3	97.00–101.00	$99.41	$1,622	—
1600–1750	1696	75-80%	10	85.00–94.00	$90.35	$1,532	-8.10
1630–1985	1763	75-80%	3	96.00–98.00	$97.01	$1,710	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1195	1195	1	84.00	$84.00	$1,004	—
1313	1313	2	112.00	$112.00	$1,471	-6.62
1435–1755	1591	14	96.00–109.00	$101.84	$1,620	—
1370–2160	1791	19	111.00–124.00	$115.95	$2,077	—
1688–2378	2029	13	124.00–128.00	$125.90	$2,555	±0.00
2500	2500	6	127.00	$127.00	$3,175	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
805–1180	965	(<2 yrs)	Open	76	130.50–189.00	$166.74	$1,609
768–1400	1055	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	129	92.00–173.00	$125.55	$1,325
1185	1185	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	92.00	$92.00	$1,090
1385	1385	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	122.00	$122.00	$1,690

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
744 thin fleshed	744	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	122.50	$122.50	$911
828–1270	1055	(<2 yrs)	Open	26	120.50–158.00	$129.27	$1,364
950–1195	1093	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	6	91.00–110.00	$98.66	$1,078

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
695–710	703	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	105.00–145.00	$124.79	$877
783–795	785	(<2 yrs)	Open	6	131.00–140.00	$138.48	$1,087

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1118–1250	1184	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	2,050.00–2,100.00	$2,076.39
1550	1550	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,600.00	$1,600.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1041	1041	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	5	2,000.00	$2,000.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1325	1325	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	2	1,800.00	$1,800.00	-250.00
1542	1542	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	3	1,710.00	$1,710.00	-290.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1400–1598	1499	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	4	1,710.00–1,750.00	$1,731.32	—

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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.