Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, February 1, 2024

1,097 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $302.16/cwt -9.92 vs last sale · ≈ $1,746/hd at 578 lb · 36 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $265.93/cwt -11.73 vs last sale · ≈ $1,495/hd at 562 lb · 19 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $326.86/cwt -7.62 vs last sale · ≈ $1,709/hd at 523 lb · 16 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,097	4,841	998
Feeder cattle	222	4,228	696
Slaughter cattle	672	480	214
Replacement cattle	203	133	88

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested today to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed on like quality offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average and lower than last weeks very attractive offering. Demand for all feeders was moderate to good for light offerings. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings. CME positions saw triple digit gains again today as prices continue to press higher following yesterdays cattle inventory report, which showed cattle and calves on US farms down 2% at 87.2 million head. The March contract closed at 244.875, while the April closed at 250.525, 6.70 higher and 6.60 higher than last Thursdays close. Market activity was mostly active this week. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light to moderate offerings. Slaughter cow demand was good to very good, as packer buyers bid against private feeders in an attempt to secure offerings. Slaughter cow offerings sold steady to 3.00 higher on all classes. Feeding cow buyers remain very aggressive as they push to buy as many cows as possible. Feeding cows sold generally steady to 3.00 higher as well with good demand seen for all offerings. Slaughter bulls sold steady in a narrow comparison. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were not well compared. More heifers that lost calves were seen this week making comparisons difficult. Demand for this class was very good as feeding demand continues to improve with higher live cattle contract prices. Many buyers continue to buy coming 2 and coming 3 year old heifers that haven't calved to feed as they hope to feed this class to choice.

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
402	402	3	342.50	$342.50	$1,377	-22.72
460	460	2	340.00	$340.00	$1,564	-5.67
507–531	523	16	323.00–331.00	$326.86	$1,709	-4.00
565–580	578	36	301.50–305.00	$302.16	$1,746	-9.17
650	650	1	272.00	$272.00	$1,768	+1.51
724	724	5	254.00	$254.00	$1,839	+0.25

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
330–348	341	5	350.00	$350.00	$1,194	—
442	442	3	330.00	$330.00	$1,459	-12.88
480	480	1	320.00	$320.00	$1,536	+6.26
587–590	589	15	289.00–294.00	$293.67	$1,730	+2.68
675–680	677	6	255.00–260.00	$256.67	$1,738	+7.48

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
323	323	8	310.00	$310.00	$1,001	+10.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
492	492	3	290.00	$290.00	$1,427	-0.43

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
318	318	2	320.00	$320.00	$1,018	—
466	466	10	295.00	$295.00	$1,375	-16.64
552–573	562	19	264.00–268.00	$265.93	$1,495	-12.67
650–675	661	7	244.00	$244.00	$1,613	+3.67
720–746	741	5	241.00–244.00	$241.58	$1,790	+13.27
860	860	2	215.00	$215.00	$1,849	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
443	443	2	300.00	$300.00	$1,329	+13.09
566–592	579	8	255.00–262.00	$258.58	$1,497	+3.77
648	648	2	220.00	$220.00	$1,426	-20.26
730	730	7	216.00	$216.00	$1,577	-5.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
392	392	7	292.50	$292.50	$1,147	—
548	548	2	245.00	$245.00	$1,343	-33.00

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
380	380	3	295.00	$295.00	$1,121	+28.22

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
627	627	3	255.00	$255.00	$1,599	-20.00
840	840	1	217.00	$217.00	$1,823	+1.00
1033	1033	2	180.00	$180.00	$1,859	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
945	945	2	175.00	$175.00	$1,654	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
930	930	85-90%	2	52.50	$52.50	$488	—
985	985	85-90%	1	92.00	$92.00	$906	+8.63
978–1155	1035	85-90%	6	73.00–78.00	$75.27	$779	—
1000–1345	1144	85-90%	66	79.00–93.00	$85.60	$979	-19.09
948–1285	1188	85-90%	253	93.00–100.00	$96.22	$1,143	+2.82
1038–1315	1200	85-90%	24	92.00–98.50	$95.50	$1,146	+1.95
1060–1248	1218	85-90%	18	86.00–92.00	$87.69	$1,068	-5.86
1105–1238	1229	85-90%	18	102.00–105.00	$102.23	$1,256	+8.68
1280–1295	1285	85-90%	3	102.50–104.00	$103.00	$1,324	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1085–1470	1304	80-85%	7	87.00–93.00	$90.27	$1,177	—
1320–1435	1348	80-85%	10	91.00–94.00	$93.01	$1,254	—
1235–1510	1385	80-85%	90	95.00–105.00	$100.74	$1,395	+2.61
1300–1495	1427	80-85%	11	105.00–106.50	$106.18	$1,515	-1.22
1321–1575	1444	80-85%	13	93.00–104.50	$97.10	$1,402	—
1345–1665	1505	80-85%	2	106.50–113.00	$110.10	$1,657	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1490	1490	75-80%	2	104.50	$104.50	$1,557	—
1458–1688	1557	75-80%	6	95.50–100.00	$98.31	$1,531	—
1559	1559	75-80%	4	103.00	$103.00	$1,606	—
1563	1563	75-80%	2	98.00	$98.00	$1,532	—
1540–1700	1609	75-80%	4	106.50–108.00	$107.13	$1,724	—
1525–1780	1618	75-80%	8	106.50–109.00	$107.83	$1,745	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1265–1440	1373	5	94.00–103.00	$98.48	$1,352	+5.79
1540–2110	1813	15	95.00–109.00	$103.47	$1,876	—
1820–2080	1920	4	111.00–117.00	$113.51	$2,179	+7.81
1920–2038	1979	4	119.50–122.00	$120.71	$2,389	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
812–1360	976	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	100	102.00–163.00	$139.67	$1,363
811–1215	995	(<2 yrs)	Open	35	143.00–191.50	$177.77	$1,769
1145–1320	1180	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	5	96.00–105.00	$102.99	$1,215

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
820–980	864	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	120.00–185.00	$161.37	$1,394
985	985	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	105.00	$105.00	$1,034

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1289	1289	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	24	109.00	$109.00	$1,405

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1098	1098	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,800.00	$1,800.00
1145	1145	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	2,000.00	$2,000.00
1240	1240	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	1,500.00	$1,500.00
1294–1675	1342	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	8	1,610.00–1,700.00	$1,628.88
1450	1450	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	1,710.00	$1,710.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1093 thin fleshed	1093	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	1,100.00	$1,100.00
1295	1295	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	1,575.00	$1,575.00

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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.