Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, June 15, 2023

914 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 heifers $239.50/cwt -4.58 vs last sale · ≈ $1,516/hd at 633 lb · 31 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $240.00/cwt ≈ $1,121/hd at 467 lb · 12 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 steers $257.01/cwt ≈ $1,879/hd at 731 lb · 10 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	914	1,483	1,030
Feeder cattle	182	550	425
Slaughter cattle	468	439	441
Replacement cattle	264	494	164

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers and heifers were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Quality this sale was mostly plain to average. No load lots were seen today. Cattle were mostly offered in small packages or as singles. Demand for limited feeder cattle remains good. A good crowd was on hand for todays sale, with several ranchers in the stands buying grass feeders and pair offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand and offerings. Packers showed moderate demand for slaughter cows today. Slaughter cows sold steady to 3.00 lower on all classes. Feeding cows sold steady to 2.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 1.00-2.00 lower. Weigh up conditions were mixed. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold steady to firm. 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
650–675	663	3	265.00–275.00	$268.27	$1,779	-10.01
710–744	731	10	255.00–265.00	$257.01	$1,879	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
565	565	6	265.00	$265.00	$1,497	-12.50
840	840	4	212.50	$212.50	$1,785	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
785	785	1	227.00	$227.00	$1,782	—

↑ Back to top

Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
580	580	4	246.00	$246.00	$1,427	-12.26
633	633	31	239.50	$239.50	$1,516	-4.58
652	652	3	230.00	$230.00	$1,500	-0.25
705	705	1	219.00	$219.00	$1,544	+7.21
755	755	1	211.00	$211.00	$1,593	+1.00
813	813	2	194.00	$194.00	$1,577	-5.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
467	467	12	240.00	$240.00	$1,121	—
608	608	2	235.00	$235.00	$1,429	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
454–470	459	6	200.00–220.00	$206.82	$949	-27.18
503	503	3	217.50	$217.50	$1,094	+7.50

↑ Back to top

Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
475	475	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,116	-10.00
508–528	518	4	240.00–245.00	$242.45	$1,256	—
570–585	579	5	220.00–232.50	$228.47	$1,323	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1068–1095	1077	6	156.00–157.00	$156.34	$1,684	—
1153	1153	2	144.00	$144.00	$1,660	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
965	965	2	169.00	$169.00	$1,631	—
1033	1033	4	165.00	$165.00	$1,704	—
1060	1060	1	161.00	$161.00	$1,707	+2.50

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
702–715	705	4	202.00–215.00	$211.71	$1,493	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
403	403	3	220.00	$220.00	$887	—

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
975	975	85-90%	2	79.00	$79.00	$770	—
985	985	85-90%	2	75.00	$75.00	$739	—
1000	1000	85-90%	1	62.50	$62.50	$625	—
1020	1020	85-90%	1	81.00	$81.00	$826	—
900–1295	1123	85-90%	23	85.00–91.00	$88.69	$996	-14.81
1045–1270	1191	85-90%	37	100.00–116.50	$104.95	$1,250	—
1170–1295	1210	85-90%	4	99.00–104.00	$100.23	$1,213	+12.78
1080–1295	1212	85-90%	55	89.00–97.50	$94.35	$1,144	+0.54
995–1303	1232	85-90%	45	91.00–99.00	$96.42	$1,188	+2.61

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1239–1434	1338	80-85%	65	94.00–103.00	$97.78	$1,308	—
1288–1395	1341	80-85%	8	85.00–93.00	$89.61	$1,202	—
1260–1505	1383	80-85%	16	94.00–99.50	$96.12	$1,329	-2.38
1235–1695	1426	80-85%	34	104.00–111.00	$106.79	$1,523	+16.76
1410–1540	1468	80-85%	3	90.00–93.00	$90.96	$1,335	-17.80
1470	1470	80-85%	1	102.00	$102.00	$1,499	-6.76

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1515	1515	75-80%	2	103.50	$103.50	$1,568	-3.75
1541	1541	75-80%	15	110.00	$110.00	$1,695	+2.75
1505–1780	1628	75-80%	6	103.00–108.00	$105.44	$1,717	—
1555–1835	1654	75-80%	7	95.00–99.00	$97.60	$1,614	-12.40
1655	1655	75-80%	1	104.50	$104.50	$1,729	-5.50

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1213	1213	2	141.00	$141.00	$1,710	+33.81
1365	1365	1	119.00	$119.00	$1,624	—
1375	1375	2	103.00	$103.00	$1,416	—
1515–2003	1710	19	97.00–113.00	$108.13	$1,849	—
1555–2115	1787	30	112.00–125.00	$119.40	$2,134	—
1780–2105	1940	18	125.00–130.00	$127.22	$2,468	—

↑ Back to top

Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
695–1285	977	(<2 yrs)	Open	84	129.00–200.00	$161.93	$1,582
887–1480	1080	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	74	100.00–160.00	$125.96	$1,360
1139–1303	1202	(<2 yrs)	Open	26	129.00–137.50	$132.54	$1,593
1160–1490	1257	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	29	90.00–102.50	$97.96	$1,231

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
815–1041	924	(<2 yrs)	Open	16	120.00–158.00	$140.17	$1,295
880–1205	1012	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	8	92.00–120.00	$106.07	$1,073

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1123	1123	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	109.00	$109.00	$1,224

↑ Back to top

Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1315	1315	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,675.00	$1,675.00
1525	1525	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,450.00	$1,450.00
1555	1555	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,650.00	$1,650.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1155	1155	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,650.00	$1,650.00
1176	1176	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,425.00	$1,425.00

↑ Back to top

Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1285	1285	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,700.00	$1,700.00

↑ Back to top

Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1255	1255	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	2	1,800.00	$1,800.00	—
1315	1315	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	1,500.00	$1,500.00	—

↑ Back to top

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.