Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, March 14, 2024

595 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 heifers $285.00/cwt -20.23 vs last sale · ≈ $1,676/hd at 588 lb · 22 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $312.20/cwt -13.20 vs last sale · ≈ $1,533/hd at 491 lb · 13 head

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $308.15/cwt -3.32 vs last sale · ≈ $1,285/hd at 417 lb · 12 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	595	3,358	1,285
Feeder cattle	239	3,002	395
Slaughter cattle	247	268	469
Replacement cattle	109	88	421

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last sale: Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however generally steady undertones were noticed on like quality offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain. Package sizes were small this week with many singles in the offering. Demand for all feeders was moderate to good for light offerings. Quality hampered demand as most offerings were plain. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings. CME Feeder cattle contracts sold off sharply today. The March feeder cattle contract closed today at 247.475, while the April closed at 251.175, 3.55 and 5.125 lower respectfully than last Thursdays close. Market activity was mostly moderate this week. Weigh up cows sold on good demand for light offerings. Slaughter cows sold fully steady on breaking cows, boning and lean cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 lower. A slightly lower quality cow offering was seen this week with many lame and blemished cows seen. More of the cow offering sold as slaughter cows this week compared to last week. Quality was mostly average. Demand for feeding cows remains very good. Feeding cows sold generally steady to firm. Weigh up conditions were mixed this sale. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold with lower undertones in a narrow comparison. Quality was not as attractive this week compared to last. Demand for this class was moderate to good this week.

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
435–448	444	6	365.00–372.50	$370.05	$1,643	-3.96
533	533	2	341.00	$341.00	$1,818	-11.47
617	617	3	310.00	$310.00	$1,913	-6.90
654	654	6	306.00	$306.00	$2,001	+11.30
706	706	8	286.00	$286.00	$2,019	+15.62
835	835	1	249.00	$249.00	$2,079	-1.00
870	870	2	236.00	$236.00	$2,053	-0.41
1080	1080	3	205.00	$205.00	$2,214	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
385 unweaned	385	5	360.00	$360.00	$1,386	—
398	398	2	365.00	$365.00	$1,453	-13.00
490	490	1	340.00	$340.00	$1,666	-1.82
675	675	2	278.00	$278.00	$1,876	+3.00
705–740	731	5	257.00–264.00	$259.56	$1,897	-3.85
770	770	3	257.00	$257.00	$1,979	+1.95

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
493	493	4	305.00	$305.00	$1,504	—
546	546	9	312.50	$312.50	$1,706	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
358	358	5	345.00	$345.00	$1,235	—
496	496	4	310.00	$310.00	$1,538	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
640	640	1	280.00	$280.00	$1,792	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
380	380	1	325.00	$325.00	$1,235	-0.53
385 unweaned	385	1	310.00	$310.00	$1,194	—
412–433	417	12	300.00–311.00	$308.15	$1,285	-3.32
490	490	2	295.00	$295.00	$1,446	-14.23
510–516	515	9	299.00	$299.00	$1,540	+0.95
580–596	589	7	276.00–280.00	$278.31	$1,639	-7.69
605–630	610	11	265.00–276.00	$273.32	$1,667	+5.19
653	653	3	252.00	$252.00	$1,646	—
745	745	3	237.00	$237.00	$1,766	-2.40

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
479–497	491	13	311.00–315.00	$312.20	$1,533	-13.20
588	588	22	285.00	$285.00	$1,676	-11.00
620	620	1	275.00	$275.00	$1,705	-7.14
695	695	1	258.00	$258.00	$1,793	-3.48

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
359	359	7	285.00	$285.00	$1,023	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
333	333	4	300.00	$300.00	$999	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
503	503	3	330.00	$330.00	$1,660	+1.54
625	625	2	285.00	$285.00	$1,781	-20.00
745	745	1	249.00	$249.00	$1,855	-7.87
900–903	902	4	223.00	$223.00	$2,011	—
1065	1065	1	184.00	$184.00	$1,960	-28.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320	320	1	355.00	$355.00	$1,136	—
838	838	2	238.00	$238.00	$1,994	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1323	1323	2	160.00	$160.00	$2,117	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1140	1140	1	170.00	$170.00	$1,938	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
850	850	85-90%	1	75.00	$75.00	$638	—
870–980	940	85-90%	3	93.00–97.00	$95.01	$893	-3.09
1015–1350	1151	85-90%	24	90.00–105.00	$99.18	$1,142	-23.03
970–1290	1172	85-90%	34	109.00–119.00	$115.38	$1,352	-1.53
1010–1295	1201	85-90%	10	107.00–117.00	$112.57	$1,352	—
1110–1275	1204	85-90%	20	119.00–126.00	$122.01	$1,469	—
1235	1235	85-90%	1	79.00	$79.00	$976	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1308–1610	1410	80-85%	35	113.00–121.50	$119.44	$1,684	-4.33
1448	1448	80-85%	2	120.50	$120.50	$1,745	—
1378–1523	1451	80-85%	4	97.00–105.00	$100.80	$1,463	—
1360–1745	1462	80-85%	19	110.00–119.00	$115.51	$1,689	—
1330–1660	1464	80-85%	22	121.00–128.00	$125.45	$1,837	—
1355–1640	1481	80-85%	7	121.00–130.50	$124.00	$1,836	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1553–1800	1625	75-80%	10	116.00–125.50	$120.89	$1,964	—
1655	1655	75-80%	1	119.00	$119.00	$1,969	+11.81
1663–1685	1672	75-80%	4	127.00–127.50	$127.37	$2,130	+20.18
1733	1733	75-80%	2	109.00	$109.00	$1,889	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1270–1400	1335	2	124.00–132.50	$128.04	$1,709	—
1335	1335	1	117.50	$117.50	$1,569	—
1530–1860	1723	3	94.00–107.00	$102.79	$1,771	—
1520–2040	1760	7	122.00–132.00	$128.03	$2,253	-2.71
1730–2405	2101	4	139.00–146.00	$142.52	$2,994	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
815–1270	988	(<2 yrs)	Open	44	160.00–213.00	$186.65	$1,844
835–1270	1113	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	44	117.00–185.00	$136.28	$1,517

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
800–825	813	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	175.00–192.50	$183.88	$1,495
907	907	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	155.00	$155.00	$1,406

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
690–780	735	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	192.50–212.50	$201.89	$1,484

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Beef Dairy Steers

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
633	633	2	257.50	$257.50	$1,630	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
893	893	4	120.00	$120.00	$1,072	—

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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.