Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, February 15, 2024

2,204 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $318.30/cwt +8.45 vs last sale · ≈ $1,525/hd at 479 lb · 156 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $301.22/cwt -6.17 vs last sale · ≈ $1,578/hd at 524 lb · 149 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 steers $261.24/cwt -0.04 vs last sale · ≈ $1,891/hd at 724 lb · 134 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,204	3,665	701
Feeder cattle	1,780	3,375	375
Slaughter cattle	235	131	201
Replacement cattle	189	159	125

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: 500-599 and 700-749 lbs feeder steers offered the best test this week. These offerings sold fully steady. All other weights of feeder steers were too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, however steady undertones were noticed on a lower quality offering. Feeder heifers under 550 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher, all other weights of heifers were too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, however steady to weak undertones were noticed on a lower quality offering. Quality this week was mostly plain to average with a limited offering of attractive cattle seen. Quality was lower compared to last weeks sale. Most offerings sold in small to moderate size packages. Small lots and singles sold with a discount to larger packages this week. Demand for all feeders was good for light to moderate offerings. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings. CME positions continue to see upward momentum. The March feeder cattle contract closed today at 247.10, while the April closed at 250.225, 0.25 higher and 1.70 lower respectfully, than last Thursdays close. Market activity was mostly moderate to active this week. A smaller buyer pool was noticed this week as well. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light offerings. Too few cows were seen this week to make an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed on slaughter cows, feeding cows and slaughter bulls. Packer buyers continue to be aggressive as they bid for both feeding cows and slaughter cows. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady to 10.00 higher on a very attractive offering. Demand for this class was very good as feeding demand continues to improve with higher live cattle contract prices. Demand from rebreed buyers was strong as quality this week was attractive, with several sets offerings off reputation ranches noted.

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
363	363	8	360.00	$360.00	$1,307	-10.90
445	445	1	360.00	$360.00	$1,602	-10.04
453 thin fleshed	453	12	375.00	$375.00	$1,699	—
450–494	462	19	346.00–350.00	$348.87	$1,612	-9.91
509 thin fleshed	509	13	362.50	$362.50	$1,845	—
506–549	531	78	333.00–349.00	$342.33	$1,818	-2.68
552–585	566	102	316.50–333.00	$327.11	$1,851	+2.16
589	589	5	294.00	$294.00	$1,732	-30.95
600–624	607	38	293.00–314.00	$307.52	$1,867	+0.27
618 thin fleshed	618	60	325.00	$325.00	$2,008	+2.20
653 thin fleshed	653	30	293.50	$293.50	$1,917	—
658	658	4	272.00	$272.00	$1,790	-9.13
707–733	724	134	251.00–264.75	$261.24	$1,891	-0.04
753–788	774	5	243.00–245.00	$244.22	$1,890	-3.25
819	819	21	239.00	$239.00	$1,957	-2.28
854	854	5	222.00	$222.00	$1,896	-19.28

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
386	386	7	355.00	$355.00	$1,370	-8.00
403–440	412	16	332.50–343.00	$340.45	$1,403	-14.20
451–483	474	32	325.00–341.00	$334.85	$1,587	+4.61
513–515	515	11	322.50–327.50	$326.59	$1,682	+6.59
558–573	569	23	300.50–308.50	$301.85	$1,718	+8.32
605–633	625	30	280.00–298.00	$288.36	$1,802	+2.57
655–692	678	33	244.50–274.00	$255.70	$1,734	-11.32
748	748	5	244.00	$244.00	$1,825	-3.46
750–785	774	8	232.50–240.50	$239.21	$1,851	+3.21
829–838	835	17	226.00–230.00	$227.40	$1,899	-9.08

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
345	345	3	351.00	$351.00	$1,211	-9.00
395	395	3	342.50	$342.50	$1,353	—
425	425	2	340.00	$340.00	$1,445	—
494	494	4	312.50	$312.50	$1,544	—
514–523	516	9	290.00–312.50	$307.43	$1,586	-20.57
606	606	5	276.00	$276.00	$1,673	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
596	596	5	288.00	$288.00	$1,716	—
685	685	3	222.50	$222.50	$1,524	-0.50
837	837	6	222.00	$222.00	$1,858	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
394–398	396	31	330.00–343.00	$336.74	$1,333	+5.74
400–430	421	26	317.50–336.00	$324.82	$1,367	+3.98
462–498	479	156	306.00–323.00	$318.30	$1,525	+8.45
502–542	524	149	285.00–310.00	$301.22	$1,578	-6.17
565–599	575	27	279.50–286.00	$283.99	$1,633	-0.52
603–645	625	73	251.00–276.00	$263.37	$1,646	-11.31
655–678	673	37	240.00–254.00	$249.25	$1,677	-0.07
708–724	718	22	227.00–238.00	$233.33	$1,675	-4.13
755–765	763	4	221.00	$221.00	$1,686	+1.44
804	804	7	211.00	$211.00	$1,696	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
360	360	3	300.00	$300.00	$1,080	±0.00
404–443	432	15	300.00–328.00	$316.32	$1,367	+21.32
478–482	480	5	282.50–284.50	$283.30	$1,360	-13.17
553–593	566	16	259.00–273.00	$268.51	$1,520	-5.71
608–620	614	9	240.00–251.00	$246.14	$1,511	-17.68
652–678	663	12	230.00–242.00	$237.74	$1,576	+5.73
714	714	4	223.00	$223.00	$1,592	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	3	320.00	$320.00	$1,200	—
494	494	15	290.00	$290.00	$1,433	+4.00
508–525	516	22	275.00–286.00	$282.82	$1,459	+11.82
564	564	8	272.50	$272.50	$1,537	+10.50
656–685	666	6	239.00–243.00	$241.63	$1,609	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
455	455	2	247.50	$247.50	$1,126	-28.50
505–531	512	19	252.50–272.00	$262.75	$1,345	—
553	553	6	240.00	$240.00	$1,327	+10.00
646	646	8	229.00	$229.00	$1,479	—
671	671	8	223.00	$223.00	$1,496	-18.00

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
298	298	12	290.00	$290.00	$864	—
341	341	8	305.00	$305.00	$1,040	—
351	351	6	285.00	$285.00	$1,000	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
585–588	587	3	299.00–310.00	$306.35	$1,798	—
678	678	2	260.00	$260.00	$1,763	-17.00
730	730	3	232.00	$232.00	$1,694	+2.00
910	910	1	210.00	$210.00	$1,911	—
1040	1040	1	192.00	$192.00	$1,997	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
680	680	6	237.50	$237.50	$1,615	+17.50
730	730	2	221.00	$221.00	$1,613	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1101–1270	1103	85-90%	94	106.00–114.00	$110.24	$1,216	+9.92
1035–1250	1143	85-90%	2	71.00–76.00	$73.74	$843	-13.36
1093–1370	1156	85-90%	56	97.00–104.50	$99.88	$1,155	-7.36
1135–1225	1177	85-90%	5	95.00–103.00	$98.14	$1,155	+0.41
1035–1335	1191	85-90%	16	81.00–94.00	$87.42	$1,041	-10.31
1215–1220	1218	85-90%	2	106.00–106.50	$106.25	$1,294	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1235–1450	1321	80-85%	4	85.00–95.00	$90.77	$1,199	-14.06
1350	1350	80-85%	1	97.00	$97.00	$1,310	+7.46
1410	1410	80-85%	1	112.00	$112.00	$1,579	—
1310–1570	1416	80-85%	20	96.00–107.00	$104.95	$1,486	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1300–1580	1383	75-80%	12	111.50–113.00	$112.74	$1,559	—
1500–1510	1505	75-80%	2	108.00–109.00	$108.50	$1,633	-1.00
1530–1560	1550	75-80%	3	104.00–109.50	$107.69	$1,669	—
1600	1600	75-80%	2	105.00	$105.00	$1,680	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1305	1305	1	116.00	$116.00	$1,514	—
1215–2120	1693	5	99.00–116.00	$109.80	$1,859	—
1870–2185	1992	5	113.00–121.00	$115.26	$2,296	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
804 thin fleshed	804	(<2 yrs)	Open	12	172.50	$172.50	$1,387
736–1180	917	(<2 yrs)	Open	48	180.00–195.00	$190.01	$1,742
810–1150	995	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	103	108.00–170.00	$156.05	$1,553

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
840	840	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,092
835–1175	958	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	130.00–175.00	$155.02	$1,485

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1277	1277	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	2,350.00	$2,350.00
1285	1285	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,625.00	$1,625.00
1417	1417	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	2,150.00	$2,150.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1180	1180	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	2,100.00	$2,100.00
1219	1219	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	2,450.00	$2,450.00

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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.