Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, October 19, 2023

4,289 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 $270.95/cwt -0.39 vs last sale · ≈ $1,678/hd at 619 lb · 238 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $303.78/cwt +16.99 vs last sale · ≈ $1,577/hd at 519 lb · 232 head
light 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $295.00/cwt +0.32 vs last sale · ≈ $1,277/hd at 433 lb · 188 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 4,289 2,078 4,049
Feeder cattle 3,906 1,812 3,604
Slaughter cattle 221 148 303
Replacement cattle 162 118 142

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer calves under 500 lbs sold generally steady in a narrow comparison; steer calves 500-650 lbs sold mostly 5.00-8.00 higher; steer calves over 650 lbs not well compared. Yearling heifers were too lightly tested either this sale or last sale to develop a full market trend however lower undertones were noticed on a poorer quality offering. Heifer calves all sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Quality today was mostly average to attractive, and overall mush higher than last week. Most cattle were offered in small packages this sale, with no load lots seen. Large packages sold on good demand as not load lots were seen. Demand was good to very good for light weight calves suitable to develop into yearlings. Demand for calves over 500 lbs and yearlings was mostly moderate. CME positions sold off sharply today with the near-by October contract down 3.55 to settle at 243.575. The November through May contracts all closed over 5.00 lower. Despite this all buyers continued to show strong demand for calves. Market activity was mostly active today with a larger buyer pool noted. Weigh up cows were all too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate trend, however lower undertones were noticed on both feeding and slaughter cows. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any accurate market trend. Weigh up conditions were mixed. 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 sold mostly 5.00-8.00 in a narrow comparison. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive.

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Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
288–289 unweaned 288 15 400.00–405.00 $401.34 $1,156 —
305–348 unweaned 330 72 385.00–416.00 $391.10 $1,291 -2.46
357–394 unweaned 383 107 384.00–401.00 $392.75 $1,504 -1.38
408–447 unweaned 428 132 357.50–388.00 $373.05 $1,597 +1.35
450–474 unweaned 464 162 320.00–356.00 $337.05 $1,564 +0.74
500–549 unweaned 519 232 290.00–316.00 $303.78 $1,577 +16.99
552–592 unweaned 562 99 271.00–294.00 $284.66 $1,600 +7.41
601–645 unweaned 618 215 260.00–278.50 $272.37 $1,683 +7.66
631–645 633 23 254.00–258.50 $257.70 $1,631 -18.30
650–695 unweaned 663 120 245.00–266.00 $259.13 $1,718 +1.63
725 unweaned 725 6 248.00 $248.00 $1,798 —
751 fancy 751 10 258.00 $258.00 $1,938 —
866–870 866 26 234.00–235.00 $234.12 $2,027 —
948 948 2 226.00 $226.00 $2,142 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
256–294 unweaned 279 15 390.00 $390.00 $1,088 —
308–330 unweaned 327 16 370.00–380.00 $371.18 $1,214 -1.78
370–398 unweaned 379 38 349.00–370.00 $363.80 $1,379 -15.20
455–499 unweaned 483 68 278.00–302.50 $287.45 $1,388 -15.47
503–546 unweaned 533 60 270.00–287.00 $283.19 $1,509 +25.19
553–574 unweaned 563 29 259.00–279.00 $264.05 $1,487 +0.26
651–655 unweaned 653 8 233.00–241.00 $236.01 $1,541 —
747 747 8 254.00 $254.00 $1,897 -6.00
861 861 17 220.50 $220.50 $1,899 -16.38
910 910 9 223.50 $223.50 $2,034 —
960–965 964 5 210.00–221.00 $212.19 $2,046 -1.81
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
283 unweaned 283 4 365.00 $365.00 $1,033 —
303 unweaned 303 22 354.00 $354.00 $1,073 —
356 unweaned 356 15 330.00 $330.00 $1,175 —
502–518 unweaned 509 18 240.00–250.00 $244.52 $1,245 +22.53
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
601–643 unweaned 619 31 251.00–257.00 $253.21 $1,567 —
858 858 12 220.00 $220.00 $1,888 —
928 928 8 197.00 $197.00 $1,828 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
649 649 8 238.00 $238.00 $1,545 -21.50

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
281–290 unweaned 282 12 355.00–360.00 $359.57 $1,014 —
309–341 unweaned 319 88 325.00–345.00 $335.19 $1,069 +5.19
373–399 unweaned 389 135 307.50–327.00 $319.01 $1,241 -0.20
403–449 unweaned 433 188 280.00–316.00 $295.00 $1,277 +0.32
458–494 unweaned 483 172 267.00–280.00 $271.90 $1,313 -4.61
514–524 fancy 518 45 277.50–279.00 $278.43 $1,442 —
501–536 unweaned 526 70 262.00–268.00 $265.67 $1,397 -1.12
553–595 unweaned 569 86 247.50–262.00 $255.66 $1,455 +0.25
604–643 unweaned 631 58 247.50–250.00 $249.26 $1,573 +0.31
656–673 unweaned 665 14 240.00–240.50 $240.25 $1,598 —
670–684 681 39 246.00–247.50 $247.16 $1,683 —
701–735 710 95 235.00–244.75 $242.82 $1,724 -2.68
765–797 789 23 229.00–232.00 $230.37 $1,818 -11.41
803–808 807 16 224.50–227.50 $224.87 $1,815 -12.34
873–897 892 37 215.50–222.00 $217.18 $1,937 -9.01
904–921 912 24 216.50–220.00 $218.38 $1,992 -6.12
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
270 unweaned 270 6 320.00 $320.00 $864 —
330 unweaned 330 7 301.00 $301.00 $993 -12.74
371 unweaned 371 7 306.00 $306.00 $1,135 +8.08
479–499 unweaned 489 103 248.00–265.00 $260.83 $1,275 -6.98
525 unweaned 525 7 256.00 $256.00 $1,344 +5.00
628–631 631 32 234.00–246.00 $244.13 $1,540 —
663 663 2 235.00 $235.00 $1,558 —
809 809 7 220.00 $220.00 $1,780 -5.21
935–944 942 8 200.00–208.00 $201.99 $1,903 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
554 unweaned 554 5 236.00 $236.00 $1,307 —
610–641 615 34 221.00–243.00 $224.37 $1,380 —
663 663 4 236.00 $236.00 $1,565 -10.00
763 763 6 221.00 $221.00 $1,686 —
890 890 4 215.00 $215.00 $1,914 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
622 unweaned 622 21 240.50 $240.50 $1,496 —
753 753 3 224.00 $224.00 $1,687 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
322 unweaned 322 10 255.00 $255.00 $821 —
780 780 2 209.00 $209.00 $1,630 +6.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
385 unweaned 385 1 380.00 $380.00 $1,463 +5.00
410 unweaned 410 1 337.50 $337.50 $1,384 —
475 unweaned 475 21 287.00 $287.00 $1,363 -3.00
500 unweaned 500 2 275.00 $275.00 $1,375 —
643 unweaned 643 6 225.00 $225.00 $1,447 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1043 1043 17 190.00 $190.00 $1,982 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1195 1195 9 150.50 $150.50 $1,798 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
995 995 85-90% 1 75.00 $75.00 $746 —
1095 1095 85-90% 1 75.00 $75.00 $821 —
1162 1162 85-90% 6 97.00 $97.00 $1,127 +11.74
1084–1263 1163 85-90% 21 88.00–97.00 $91.30 $1,062 +6.04
998–1307 1164 85-90% 74 75.00–88.00 $83.11 $967 -2.15
1095–1360 1207 85-90% 24 77.00–86.00 $81.65 $986 -13.86
1240 1240 85-90% 1 97.00 $97.00 $1,203 +1.49
1225–1275 1246 85-90% 8 89.00–91.00 $89.64 $1,117 -5.87
1315 1315 85-90% 3 71.00 $71.00 $934 -23.00
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1366–1575 1401 80-85% 6 82.00–85.00 $84.44 $1,183 -12.06
1420 1420 80-85% 1 74.00 $74.00 $1,051 -29.13
1365–1469 1421 80-85% 10 107.00–108.00 $107.19 $1,523 +4.06
1435 1435 80-85% 7 93.00 $93.00 $1,335 -10.13
1278–1598 1441 80-85% 15 94.00–105.00 $100.34 $1,446 -2.79
1305–1480 1468 80-85% 20 90.00–93.75 $93.54 $1,373 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1509–1708 1553 75-80% 9 100.00–104.00 $100.98 $1,568 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1215 1215 1 83.00 $83.00 $1,008 —
1415 1415 1 90.00 $90.00 $1,274 —
1240–1750 1468 5 98.00–107.50 $101.23 $1,486 —
1730 1730 1 116.00 $116.00 $2,007 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
800–1200 932 (<2 yrs)Open 109 144.00–181.00 $167.62 $1,562
885–1155 1057 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 21 125.00–145.00 $136.31 $1,441
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
773–1130 908 (<2 yrs)Open 5 120.00–127.50 $124.42 $1,130
1020–1240 1114 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 10 100.00–115.00 $102.75 $1,145

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1361 1361 Young (2-4 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 9 2,000.00 $2,000.00

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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.