Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, June 8, 2023

1,483 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $301.67/cwt +15.67 vs last sale · ≈ $1,885/hd at 625 lb · 105 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $258.26/cwt ≈ $1,526/hd at 591 lb · 71 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $244.08/cwt ≈ $1,533/hd at 628 lb · 37 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,483	1,313	1,605
Feeder cattle	550	437	753
Slaughter cattle	439	641	425
Replacement cattle	494	235	427

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers and heifers were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed on all feeder cattle on offer. Quality this sale was mixed from plain to attractive, with lots of variation seen. No load lots were seen today, however demand for packages was mostly good to very good. A few sets of weaned fall calves were seen this week and these were met with very good demand. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to run on grass. Several ranchers were in the stands this week and market activity was mostly active as both ranchers and order buyers bid aggressively over offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Packers showed moderate demand for slaughter cows today, however feeding cows sold on mostly good demand. Slaughter cows sold 2.00-3.00 lower on all classes. Feeding cows sold unevenly steady from 1.00 higher to 2.00 lower. Very attractive cows sold higher, while average quality cows sold lower. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady to weak. Weigh up conditions were mixed. Most offerings started the day offering very good weigh conditions, however as the day progressed and warmed many cows tanked up on water and weigh conditions deteriorated. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold 3.00-6.00 higher. Several buyers looking for turn out cows showed stronger demand this week and pushed this class higher. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive.

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
533–535	535	33	300.00–302.00	$301.88	$1,615	+11.88
564	564	5	291.00	$291.00	$1,641	+0.73
607–629 thin fleshed	625	105	300.00–302.00	$301.67	$1,885	—
654–662	657	9	265.00–285.00	$278.28	$1,828	+28.39
658 thin fleshed	658	5	302.00	$302.00	$1,987	—
775	775	4	231.00	$231.00	$1,790	—
810–835	816	4	222.00–223.00	$222.74	$1,818	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
527	527	6	280.00	$280.00	$1,476	±0.00
583	583	5	262.50–287.50	$277.50	$1,618	—
618	618	3	283.00	$283.00	$1,749	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
477–498	493	30	264.00–273.00	$270.97	$1,336	+2.97
500–538	523	30	262.00–273.00	$271.11	$1,418	+10.11
579–592	591	71	244.50–260.00	$258.26	$1,526	—
610–630	628	37	244.00–245.00	$244.08	$1,533	—
653–693	671	21	226.50–240.00	$230.25	$1,545	+0.25
720–728	723	5	210.00–213.00	$211.79	$1,531	+8.79
758	758	10	210.00	$210.00	$1,592	—
830	830	5	199.00	$199.00	$1,652	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
383	383	5	247.50	$247.50	$948	—
548	548	3	252.00	$252.00	$1,381	—
587	587	6	239.50	$239.50	$1,406	-0.96
720	720	2	195.00	$195.00	$1,404	+11.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
469	469	9	234.00	$234.00	$1,097	—
530	530	2	210.00	$210.00	$1,113	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
488	488	5	225.00	$225.00	$1,098	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
408	408	2	271.00	$271.00	$1,106	—
450	450	8	245.00	$245.00	$1,102	—
800	800	2	182.50	$182.50	$1,460	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1094	1094	7	158.50	$158.50	$1,734	+7.50
1100	1100	2	162.00	$162.00	$1,782	+21.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
100	100	2	275.00	$275.00	—
198	198	3	500.00	$500.00	±0.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
645	645	2	265.00	$265.00	$1,709	—
840	840	1	212.00	$212.00	$1,781	—
900	900	1	190.00	$190.00	$1,710	+20.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
70	70	1	100.00	$100.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1300	1300	80-85%	1	92.00	$92.00	$1,196	—
1155–1570	1365	80-85%	17	94.00–101.00	$95.96	$1,310	-4.59
1300–1510	1397	80-85%	36	95.00–104.00	$98.50	$1,376	-1.03
1305–1655	1418	80-85%	38	85.00–94.00	$90.03	$1,277	-17.37
1305–1659	1471	80-85%	42	104.00–112.50	$108.76	$1,600	—
1385–1563	1504	80-85%	3	108.00–116.50	$113.89	$1,713	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
850–995	931	85-90%	4	75.00–84.00	$78.74	$733	-14.26
1058	1058	85-90%	2	111.00	$111.00	$1,174	+30.00
1070–1135	1103	85-90%	2	89.00–92.00	$90.54	$999	-10.46
1140–1143	1142	85-90%	4	101.00–106.00	$103.50	$1,182	+2.50
1058–1318	1200	85-90%	44	80.00–91.00	$87.45	$1,049	-16.58
1085–1313	1220	85-90%	68	90.00–97.50	$93.81	$1,144	+4.09
1224–1335	1274	85-90%	10	92.00–98.00	$96.86	$1,234	+1.66

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1512–1535	1518	75-80%	4	107.00–108.00	$107.25	$1,628	+4.94
1550–1573	1557	75-80%	7	111.00–112.00	$111.71	$1,739	+0.47
1660	1660	75-80%	1	110.00	$110.00	$1,826	+2.27
1495–1845	1661	75-80%	11	94.00–102.00	$97.54	$1,620	-10.19
1475–1699	1665	75-80%	7	105.00–107.00	$105.62	$1,759	-2.11

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1195	1195	1	137.00	$137.00	$1,637	—
1188–1260	1212	3	100.00–111.00	$107.19	$1,299	—
1510–1900	1676	9	105.00–115.00	$109.14	$1,829	-2.49
1590–2120	1850	24	114.00–125.00	$120.39	$2,227	—
1833–2303	2052	14	127.50–138.00	$131.65	$2,701	-0.01
2540	2540	1	129.00	$129.00	$3,277	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
875–1355	1028	(<2 yrs)	Open	28	135.00–183.00	$160.08	$1,646
835–1430	1143	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	70	92.50–155.00	$116.63	$1,333
1325	1325	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	91.00	$91.00	$1,206

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
823–1265	974	(<2 yrs)	Open	6	113.00–157.00	$128.04	$1,247
990–1133	1085	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	110.00–117.00	$114.87	$1,246

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
915	915	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	135.00	$135.00	$1,235

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1308	1308	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,675.00	$1,675.00
1445	1445	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,750.00	$1,750.00

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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
1175–1313	1226	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	38	2,700.00–2,775.00	$2,739.77	—
1294–1598	1428	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	29	1,950.00–1,975.00	$1,957.03	—
1182–1627	1449	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	10	2,300.00–2,650.00	$2,422.02	—
1451–1828	1583	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	21	2,100.00–2,425.00	$2,271.54	—

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1051	1051	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	18	2,375.00	$2,375.00	—
1080	1080	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	16	2,535.00	$2,535.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1296	1296	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	4	1,975.00	$1,975.00	—
1368	1368	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	2,400.00	$2,400.00	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
901	901	(<2 yrs)	Open	18	2,150.00	$2,150.00	—
992	992	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	2,275.00	$2,275.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1148	1148	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	2,385.00	$2,385.00	—

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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.