Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, March 28, 2024

627 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 $334.00/cwt ≈ $1,884/hd at 564 lb · 32 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $321.00/cwt +8.80 vs last sale · ≈ $1,531/hd at 477 lb · 22 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $255.00/cwt ≈ $1,984/hd at 778 lb · 16 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	627	595	4,365
Feeder cattle	165	239	3,998
Slaughter cattle	328	247	116
Replacement cattle	134	109	251

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last sale(3-14-24): Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed on both steer and heifers of like quality. 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. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings. CME Feeder cattle contracts have sold off for much of the week. The March feeder cattle contract closed today at 247.75, while the April closed at 247.125, the May contract closed at 248.70. Market activity was mostly moderate this week. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light offerings. Packers pushed to own as much of the cow offering as possible as cow and bull supplies remain tight. Slaughter cows sold 6.00-12.00 higher on all classes this week. High quality cows sold on very good demand as both packers and private feeding buyers pushed these offerings sharply higher in order to secure offerings. Feeding cows sold sharply higher compared to last week with most sales 10.00-12.00 higher. Quality was mostly average to attractive this week. Weigh up conditions were average this sale. Slaughter bulls sold sharply higher in a narrow comparison, most bulls sold 12.00-16.00 than last week. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Quality was mostly average 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
470	470	4	350.00	$350.00	$1,645	—
564	564	32	334.00	$334.00	$1,884	—
778	778	16	255.00	$255.00	$1,984	—
823	823	2	241.00	$241.00	$1,983	-8.00
843	843	2	236.00	$236.00	$1,989	-13.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
410–432	421	6	337.50–342.00	$339.69	$1,430	—
528	528	2	333.00	$333.00	$1,758	—
615–630	623	2	290.00	$290.00	$1,807	—
660	660	1	272.00	$272.00	$1,795	-6.00
715	715	6	268.00	$268.00	$1,916	+8.44
838	838	2	225.00	$225.00	$1,886	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
360	360	2	375.00	$375.00	$1,350	—
403	403	2	360.00	$360.00	$1,451	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
383	383	3	300.00	$300.00	$1,149	-45.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
477	477	22	321.00	$321.00	$1,531	+8.80
691	691	5	262.00	$262.00	$1,810	+4.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
422	422	3	320.00	$320.00	$1,350	+11.85
596	596	4	272.00	$272.00	$1,621	-6.31
685	685	2	242.50	$242.50	$1,661	-9.50
789	789	4	230.00	$230.00	$1,815	—
917	917	3	200.50	$200.50	$1,839	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	2	335.00	$335.00	$1,122	—
410–415	412	7	321.00–324.00	$322.29	$1,328	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
510	510	2	313.00	$313.00	$1,596	—
640	640	3	284.00	$284.00	$1,818	—
785	785	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,806	—
845	845	2	220.00	$220.00	$1,859	-18.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
935	935	1	220.00	$220.00	$2,057	-3.00
965	965	1	215.00	$215.00	$2,075	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
838–845	839	85-90%	6	84.00–92.00	$85.34	$716	—
918	918	85-90%	9	117.00	$117.00	$1,074	+21.99
995	995	85-90%	2	103.00–105.00	$104.00	$1,035	—
1025–1039	1038	85-90%	14	91.00–92.00	$91.07	$945	—
1090	1090	85-90%	29	128.50	$128.50	$1,401	—
1000–1295	1151	85-90%	7	101.00–112.00	$108.46	$1,248	+9.28
1053–1300	1179	85-90%	8	114.00–124.50	$120.57	$1,422	+5.19
1090–1290	1192	85-90%	31	118.00–131.00	$127.83	$1,524	+12.45
1240	1240	85-90%	1	132.00	$132.00	$1,637	+53.00

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1230–1460	1354	80-85%	28	123.00–136.00	$129.71	$1,756	—
1308–1485	1360	80-85%	13	109.00–119.50	$116.48	$1,584	—
1260–1530	1371	80-85%	15	122.00–133.00	$128.50	$1,762	—
1360–1400	1375	80-85%	6	118.00–120.00	$118.67	$1,632	—
1390	1390	80-85%	1	143.00	$143.00	$1,988	—
1310–1640	1407	80-85%	37	136.50–145.00	$138.39	$1,947	+18.95

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1522	1522	75-80%	3	138.00	$138.00	$2,100	—
1500–1538	1529	75-80%	4	131.00–140.00	$133.21	$2,037	—
1555	1555	75-80%	1	143.00	$143.00	$2,224	—
1555–1608	1590	75-80%	3	116.00–128.00	$124.09	$1,973	—
1490–1756	1614	75-80%	17	130.00–134.00	$132.80	$2,143	+11.91
1500–1725	1633	75-80%	3	114.00–126.00	$120.14	$1,962	-0.75

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1218–1540	1325	3	123.00–132.00	$128.51	$1,703	+0.47
1200–1900	1508	11	135.00–149.00	$143.27	$2,161	—
1433–2050	1705	8	113.00–125.00	$120.23	$2,050	+17.44
1620–2085	1751	28	132.00–152.50	$143.42	$2,511	+15.39
1845–2220	2009	6	156.00–159.50	$157.62	$3,167	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
765–1305	929	(<2 yrs)	Open	35	155.00–207.50	$191.00	$1,774
935–1315	1108	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	35	132.50–177.00	$154.48	$1,712
1123	1123	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	132.00	$132.00	$1,482
1410	1410	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	141.00	$141.00	$1,988

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
855–1025	940	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	155.00–180.00	$166.37	$1,564
905–1200	1007	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	117.00–162.50	$140.80	$1,418

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
983–1100	1022	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	160.00–178.00	$171.54	$1,753

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
660	660	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,188

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1083	1083	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	1,900.00	$1,900.00
1215	1215	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,700.00	$2,700.00
1185–1360	1243	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	2,300.00–2,400.00	$2,336.46

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1340	1340	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	5	1,800.00	$1,800.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1483	1483	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	3	2,300.00	$2,300.00	—

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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.