Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, September 14, 2023

850 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 steers $249.12/cwt +5.45 vs last sale · ≈ $2,156/hd at 865 lb · 131 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $248.13/cwt +16.42 vs last sale · ≈ $1,903/hd at 767 lb · 41 head

heavy 7-weight M 1 steers $252.01/cwt ≈ $1,973/hd at 783 lb · 28 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	850	1,611	815
Feeder cattle	517	1,134	506
Slaughter cattle	245	462	270
Replacement cattle	88	15	39

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: The majority of feeder offerings last week were heifers, while this week the majority of feeder offerings were steers. Not enough comparable sales were seen to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed on all offerings. Demand for all feeder offerings was mostly good to very good. Quality this week was average to attractive, with several sets of home raised offerings seen. Most offerings were sold in small packages this week however demand was good for all packages sizes as buyers pieced together loads. Market activity was mostly active this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand for light offerings. Packers showed very good demand for feeding cows again today. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to firm. Slaughter cows sold generally steady on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows sold with the best demand today as several buyers bid aggressively over attractive offerings. Breaking cows sold mostly 1.00-2.00 higher. Quality today was mostly average to attractive and similar to last week. Slaughter and feeding bulls sold fully steady. Weigh up conditions were mixed with some cows offering buyers good weigh conditions, while others were pushing fill. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on very good demand today as rebreed buyers and feeding buyers both competed over offerings. Young age cows were too lightly tested last week to develop any market trend. 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
268 unweaned	268	4	345.00	$345.00	$925	—
517 unweaned	517	7	299.00	$299.00	$1,546	+19.00
703–726	723	23	264.50–267.00	$266.74	$1,929	+4.74
776	776	4	256.00	$256.00	$1,987	-4.50
827	827	5	251.50	$251.50	$2,080	-0.62
850–879	865	129	247.50–252.50	$249.23	$2,156	+5.56
893	893	2	242.00	$242.00	$2,161	-1.67
900–911	907	6	240.00–245.50	$243.68	$2,210	+8.68

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
696	696	6	272.00	$272.00	$1,893	+0.03
776–785	783	28	249.00–253.00	$252.01	$1,973	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
413 unweaned	413	2	305.00	$305.00	$1,260	+32.54
765–770	768	2	245.00–255.00	$249.98	$1,920	-0.02
911	911	4	235.00	$235.00	$2,141	+20.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1055	1055	4	210.00–220.00	$217.13	$2,291	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
263 unweaned	263	3	325.00	$325.00	$855	—
421 unweaned	421	5	272.50	$272.50	$1,147	+3.47
493 unweaned	493	5	265.00	$265.00	$1,306	—
526 unweaned	526	5	269.00	$269.00	$1,415	+21.00
713–719	716	17	249.00–254.00	$251.64	$1,802	+1.13
755–775	767	41	241.00–252.00	$248.13	$1,903	+16.42
863–882	867	13	230.00	$230.00	$1,994	+7.55
918	918	16	220.00	$220.00	$2,020	+6.45
960	960	2	211.00	$211.00	$2,026	-3.93
968	968	2	213.00	$213.00	$2,062	-1.93
1005	1005	2	212.00	$212.00	$2,131	+4.01

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
771	771	5	243.00	$243.00	$1,874	+22.00
838–848	844	17	228.00–230.00	$228.82	$1,931	—
878	878	4	210.00	$210.00	$1,844	-2.50
988	988	3	207.00	$207.00	$2,045	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
637	637	11	257.50	$257.50	$1,640	+5.50
783	783	13	241.00	$241.00	$1,887	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1084	1084	7	190.00	$190.00	$2,060	-17.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
718	718	5	225.00	$225.00	$1,616	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1110	1110	1	187.00	$187.00	$2,076	+9.27
1268	1268	4	156.00	$156.00	$1,978	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1314–1547	1405	80-85%	24	97.00–104.00	$100.98	$1,419	-2.20
1258–1535	1449	80-85%	24	96.00–102.00	$99.42	$1,441	-3.76
1275–1575	1458	80-85%	47	105.00–114.00	$111.85	$1,631	-4.97
1423–1473	1462	80-85%	15	115.50–118.50	$115.96	$1,695	-0.86
1421–1623	1466	80-85%	9	106.00–113.50	$107.85	$1,581	-8.97
1410–1605	1514	80-85%	4	116.00–119.50	$118.55	$1,795	+20.63

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1576–1695	1585	75-80%	13	116.00–117.50	$116.12	$1,841	+1.63
1438–1795	1637	75-80%	10	113.00–116.00	$114.19	$1,869	—
1510–1805	1644	75-80%	23	117.00–120.00	$117.56	$1,933	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1010–1395	1166	85-90%	8	83.00–95.00	$88.58	$1,033	-17.46
1215–1242	1229	85-90%	6	101.00–103.00	$101.99	$1,253	+10.31
1100–1380	1244	85-90%	6	91.00–98.00	$95.46	$1,188	+3.78
1248–1280	1260	85-90%	11	100.00–103.50	$101.91	$1,284	+25.36

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1481–1695	1524	5	114.00–117.00	$116.33	$1,773	—
1440–1890	1610	8	106.00–113.50	$110.27	$1,775	+2.24
1365–1870	1622	6	92.50–113.00	$108.32	$1,757	+0.29
1585–2410	1912	16	115.00–123.50	$118.88	$2,273	—
1870–1960	1915	2	124.00–129.00	$126.56	$2,424	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
818–1358	1072	(<2 yrs)	Open	29	128.00–191.00	$157.84	$1,692
1168–1390	1223	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	9	105.00–126.00	$120.27	$1,471
1392	1392	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	15	118.50	$118.50	$1,650

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
980 thin fleshed	980	(<2 yrs)	Open	7	137.00	$137.00	$1,343
1120–1135	1128	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	130.00	$130.00	$1,466
970–1290	1137	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	105.00–113.00	$109.92	$1,250

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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.