Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, August 24, 2023

732 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $252.32/cwt ≈ $2,031/hd at 805 lb · 46 head

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $219.65/cwt +7.73 vs last sale · ≈ $1,926/hd at 877 lb · 41 head

light 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $227.47/cwt +13.58 vs last sale · ≈ $1,843/hd at 810 lb · 27 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	732	852	1,468
Feeder cattle	303	316	948
Slaughter cattle	401	494	411
Replacement cattle	28	42	109

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last sale(8/10/23): The best comparison today was for 800-899 lbs heifers which sold mostly 10.00 higher in a narrow comparison. All other weights of feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality today was mostly plain to average. Most cattle were in light flesh and as they were coming off grass. Cattle were mostly offered in small packages or as singles. Market activity was mostly active this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packers showed very good demand for slaughter cows today and opted to send all cows purchased to immediate harvest. Slaughter cows sold steady on breaking cows. Boning cows sold steady to 1.00 higher. Lean cows sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher as this class saw good demand from feeding cow buyers. Feeding cows sold on very good demand this sale as several order-buyers were very competitive as they bid on attractive offerings. Feeding cows sold mostly steady. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady to weak. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average this week. Many cows and bulls were full as warm weather had most offerings pushing heavy amounts of fill. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality this week was mostly average. Demand for young age cows remains good as both feeding and rebreed buyers continue to show good demand for young cows.

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
275 unweaned	275	2	355.00	$355.00	$976	—
363–395 unweaned	373	13	325.00–345.00	$338.11	$1,261	—
490 unweaned	490	2	285.00	$285.00	$1,396	—
705–723	714	4	267.00	$267.00	$1,906	—
800–836	805	46	252.00–254.00	$252.32	$2,031	—
915	915	2	226.00	$226.00	$2,068	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
388 unweaned	388	5	315.00	$315.00	$1,222	—
449 unweaned	449	4	280.00	$280.00	$1,257	—
661–688	671	8	270.00–273.00	$271.85	$1,824	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
694	694	16	267.00	$267.00	$1,853	-1.07

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1150	1150	2	190.50	$190.50	$2,191	—
1335	1335	12	171.00	$171.00	$2,283	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
559	559	7	271.00	$271.00	$1,515	+26.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
269 unweaned	269	7	315.00	$315.00	$847	—
407 unweaned	407	7	285.00	$285.00	$1,160	—
800–842	810	27	225.00–228.50	$227.47	$1,843	+13.58
863–899	868	27	216.00–225.00	$223.62	$1,941	+11.70
894	894	14	212.00	$212.00	$1,895	+0.08
918	918	4	212.00	$212.00	$1,946	+1.98
959–983	969	7	209.00–210.50	$209.85	$2,033	+3.80

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
838–848	845	6	220.00–224.00	$221.32	$1,870	—
865	865	2	207.50	$207.50	$1,795	—
943	943	2	208.00	$208.00	$1,961	—
990	990	2	201.00	$201.00	$1,990	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1008	1008	4	192.50	$192.50	$1,940	—
1060	1060	1	195.00	$195.00	$2,067	+0.02
1106–1140	1116	10	177.50–185.00	$182.70	$2,039	+4.02
1155–1195	1174	7	175.00–182.50	$178.19	$2,092	+9.44
1320	1320	1	146.00	$146.00	$1,927	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
855	855	2	228.00	$228.00	$1,949	-4.50
930–945	938	2	212.50–217.50	$214.98	$2,017	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1215–1650	1367	80-85%	18	106.00–114.00	$109.09	$1,491	-2.20
1230–1675	1410	80-85%	23	114.50–122.00	$116.63	$1,644	—
1391–1535	1415	80-85%	6	98.00–103.00	$102.10	$1,445	—
1255–1715	1428	80-85%	32	86.50–105.00	$99.69	$1,424	—
1335–1565	1452	80-85%	31	107.00–114.00	$111.57	$1,620	-8.14
1540–1625	1562	80-85%	5	115.00–117.00	$116.01	$1,812	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
895	895	85-90%	1	91.00	$91.00	$814	+21.00
1043–1241	1150	85-90%	22	106.00–109.00	$107.45	$1,236	—
825–1243	1155	85-90%	5	93.00–104.00	$96.32	$1,112	—
1035–1330	1204	85-90%	38	90.00–104.00	$100.58	$1,211	+6.96
1105–1286	1248	85-90%	17	104.50–109.00	$107.79	$1,345	+4.53
1275	1275	85-90%	1	116.00	$116.00	$1,479	+35.00

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1563	1563	75-80%	4	104.00	$104.00	$1,626	-14.87
1465–1710	1578	75-80%	4	112.00–114.50	$112.66	$1,778	-6.21
1385–1790	1580	75-80%	20	101.00–110.50	$106.29	$1,679	-12.58

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1250–1370	1337	6	90.00–111.00	$106.13	$1,419	—
1435	1435	1	118.00	$118.00	$1,693	+11.55
1215–1900	1478	18	95.00–114.00	$110.89	$1,639	—
1275–1880	1647	29	114.50–123.00	$116.96	$1,926	+6.38
1360–2200	1689	17	95.00–115.00	$107.76	$1,820	—
1413–2435	1898	38	115.00–125.00	$119.80	$2,274	-9.30
1825–2185	2010	8	125.00–132.00	$128.70	$2,587	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2145	2145	1	115.00	$115.00	$2,467	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
928–1020	973	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	107.00–135.00	$123.76	$1,204
755–1350	1129	(<2 yrs)	Open	15	125.00–200.00	$149.60	$1,689

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
930	930	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	152.50	$152.50	$1,418
1070	1070	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	100.00	$100.00	$1,070

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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.