Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, July 13, 2023

780 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $268.00/cwt +13.00 vs last sale · ≈ $1,702/hd at 635 lb · 16 head
heavy 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $235.75/cwt -1.01 vs last sale · ≈ $1,841/hd at 781 lb · 15 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1 steers $250.58/cwt ≈ $1,719/hd at 686 lb · 12 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 780 741 1,120
Feeder cattle 165 165 236
Slaughter cattle 519 140 526
Replacement cattle 96 436 358

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers and heifers were too lightly tested this week and last week to develop any market trend. 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 to very good. Market activity was mostly active this week with several order buyers looking to fill orders for local feedlots. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand for moderate offerings. Packers showed very good demand for slaughter cows today. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher on breaking and boning cows, lean cows sold 1.00-3.00 higher. Packers only purchased cows for immediate harvest this week. Many sets of cows which packers would have normally fed were purchased for harvest this week. Order buyers purchased feeding cows on good to very good demand this week as they pushed to buy cows away from packers. Feeding cows sold 2.00-3.00 higher than last week. Slaughter bulls sold unevenly steady. Demand for high quality high dressing bulls was very good as these offerings sold up to 4.00 higher. Average to low dressing bulls sold steady to weak compared to last week. Weigh up conditions were mixed. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly teste to develop an accurate market trend, steady undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mostly average.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
550–560 559 7 277.50–278.00 $277.57 $1,552 -1.43
635 635 16 268.00 $268.00 $1,702 +13.00
696 696 3 232.50 $232.50 $1,618 -17.07
750–799 781 15 231.00–239.00 $235.75 $1,841 -1.01
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
570 570 4 286.00 $286.00 $1,630 —
668–698 686 12 247.00–257.00 $250.58 $1,719 —
747 747 3 244.00 $244.00 $1,823 —
755 755 5 241.00 $241.00 $1,820 -6.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
753–775 759 4 219.00–227.00 $224.96 $1,707 —
818–844 836 11 208.00–217.00 $215.03 $1,798 +7.03
911 911 8 210.00 $210.00 $1,913 +12.00
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
690 690 3 232.50 $232.50 $1,604 +17.50
718 718 5 215.00–217.00 $216.20 $1,552 +8.20
780 780 2 204.00 $204.00 $1,591 —
900 900 5 186.00 $186.00 $1,674 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1010–1043 1032 3 187.00–190.00 $187.98 $1,940 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
565 565 2 232.00 $232.00 $1,311 —

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1111 1111 5 156.00 $156.00 $1,733 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1080 1080 5 159.00 $159.00 $1,717 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
853 853 5 192.00 $192.00 $1,638 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
783 783 2 219.00 $219.00 $1,715 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
960–1545 1253 80-85% 2 93.00–94.00 $93.62 $1,173 —
1162–1650 1293 80-85% 54 104.00–109.50 $107.78 $1,394 —
1238–1665 1372 80-85% 61 102.00–109.50 $106.79 $1,465 —
1220–1538 1389 80-85% 41 110.00–117.00 $112.40 $1,561 —
1265–1680 1412 80-85% 71 110.00–115.00 $112.62 $1,590 +3.93
1270–1579 1427 80-85% 15 96.00–100.00 $98.44 $1,405 -10.25
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
910 910 85-90% 1 108.00 $108.00 $983 —
895–950 923 85-90% 2 87.50–89.00 $88.27 $815 —
1035–1243 1132 85-90% 10 107.00–115.50 $109.71 $1,242 —
1045–1215 1152 85-90% 19 100.00–108.00 $105.30 $1,213 -2.62
1100–1316 1229 85-90% 23 96.00–106.00 $101.95 $1,253 —
1040–1340 1241 85-90% 15 80.00–95.00 $92.48 $1,148 —
1050–1500 1249 85-90% 11 107.00–110.00 $108.05 $1,350 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1395–1600 1499 75-80% 8 114.00–116.00 $114.64 $1,718 —
1318–1750 1529 75-80% 24 109.00–110.50 $109.56 $1,675 -2.02
1555–1562 1560 75-80% 3 110.00–113.00 $111.00 $1,732 —
1665 1665 75-80% 1 116.50 $116.50 $1,940 +13.49
1615–1780 1698 75-80% 2 102.00–106.00 $103.90 $1,764 -2.92

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
745–1343 1200 9 81.00–112.00 $103.27 $1,239 —
1235 1235 1 125.00 $125.00 $1,544 —
1257 1257 3 107.00 $107.00 $1,345 -5.68
1407–1880 1561 19 104.00–116.00 $109.73 $1,713 —
1600–2160 1840 31 118.00–140.00 $130.42 $2,400 —
1265–2410 1925 31 141.00–164.00 $151.05 $2,908 —
YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
2510 2510 1 119.00 $119.00 $2,987 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
909–1300 1023 (<2 yrs)Open 31 135.00–178.00 $159.69 $1,634
935–1310 1149 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 23 108.00–134.00 $117.27 $1,347
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
880 880 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 110.00 $110.00 $968
935 935 (<2 yrs)Open 1 131.00 $131.00 $1,225

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1249 1249 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 1,350.00 $1,350.00

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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.