Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, May 2, 2024

2,556 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $254.37/cwt ≈ $1,979/hd at 778 lb · 254 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 steers $294.95/cwt +14.55 vs last sale · ≈ $1,963/hd at 666 lb · 222 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $284.41/cwt +9.41 vs last sale · ≈ $1,650/hd at 580 lb · 190 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,556	1,015	1,298
Feeder cattle	2,294	203	303
Slaughter cattle	135	521	593
Replacement cattle	127	291	402

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last sale: The last sale was two weeks ago and too few feeder cattle sold to develop any market trend. Demand for feeders was good to very good for light to moderate offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average, with a few packages of attractive replacement heifers seen. Very few home-raised cattle were seen this sale as many sets were cuts off video sales or sorts out of feedlots. Nevertheless, demand was good for all offerings as feeder supplies continue to tighten. Heifer quality overall was more attractive than steer quality this sale. Package sizes were moderate this week. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings. CME Feeder cattle contracts all closed with triple digit gains today. Demand for replacement quality heifers was mostly good as several buyers bid aggressively over attractive quality offerings. Market activity was mostly active this week, with a good crowd on hand actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light offerings. Packers and private feeders both showed good demand for all cows on offer. Slaughter cows were too lightly tested this week to develop a full market trend, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed. Feeding cows sold mostly 4.00-6.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Quality was mostly average this week. Weigh up conditions were mixed this sale. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested last sale to develop any market trend. Quality was mostly average this week. Demand was mostly good with the best demand seen for cows which lost calves.

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
501–508	505	21	346.00–367.50	$356.37	$1,800	+31.37
556–595	575	80	310.50–339.00	$328.86	$1,891	+1.36
601–640	609	91	303.00–315.00	$312.11	$1,901	—
654–690	664	211	280.00–303.00	$296.51	$1,969	+16.11
695	695	11	265.00	$265.00	$1,842	—
705–737	722	73	268.00–279.00	$270.98	$1,956	+10.98
752–791	778	254	250.25–265.50	$254.37	$1,979	—
801	801	4	250.50	$250.50	$2,007	+7.50
813	813	4	240.00	$240.00	$1,951	-3.00
855–877	867	16	226.00–232.00	$228.80	$1,984	—
920–922	921	17	219.00–221.50	$220.76	$2,033	—
1026	1026	7	215.00	$215.00	$2,206	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
347	347	3	380.00	$380.00	$1,319	—
356–396	370	12	367.50–380.00	$372.54	$1,378	+15.04
493–497	496	15	330.00–347.50	$332.32	$1,648	+9.82
504–542	518	24	316.00–332.50	$326.74	$1,693	—
575–599	593	32	293.00–308.00	$299.25	$1,775	-3.23
664–697	690	27	250.00–279.00	$270.17	$1,864	—
705–748	715	46	247.50–266.00	$262.76	$1,879	+5.76
764–780	770	17	246.00–249.00	$247.52	$1,906	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
518	518	3	317.50	$317.50	$1,645	—
565–595	574	19	290.00–315.00	$300.27	$1,724	—
606	606	5	310.50	$310.50	$1,882	—
780	780	2	235.00	$235.00	$1,833	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
675	675	11	283.00	$283.00	$1,910	—
713	713	8	240.00	$240.00	$1,711	—
878	878	2	224.00	$224.00	$1,967	—
1051	1051	6	215.50	$215.50	$2,265	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
500	500	2	290.00	$290.00	$1,450	—
622	622	10	275.50	$275.50	$1,714	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
404–425	409	8	331.00–332.50	$332.11	$1,358	—
509–510	510	43	293.00–296.00	$295.51	$1,507	+2.43
565	565	11	261.00	$261.00	$1,475	-14.00
557–598	581	179	279.50–292.50	$285.85	$1,661	+10.85
602–640	611	48	270.00–281.50	$278.70	$1,703	+8.19
650–678	668	50	262.00–273.50	$269.87	$1,803	+13.71
703–740	709	40	248.00–260.00	$256.61	$1,819	—
749	749	5	244.00	$244.00	$1,828	—
754	754	43	249.00	$249.00	$1,877	+21.40
755–781	762	98	239.00–249.00	$242.66	$1,849	+15.06
813–834	823	10	224.50–231.00	$227.97	$1,876	—
811–827	824	30	226.50	$226.50	$1,866	—
942	942	3	211.00	$211.00	$1,988	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
322	322	3	330.00	$330.00	$1,063	—
352	352	12	327.50	$327.50	$1,153	—
408	408	17	320.00	$320.00	$1,306	+53.36
480–491	488	8	297.50–300.00	$298.11	$1,455	+10.11
503–547	516	40	280.75–296.00	$287.43	$1,483	+13.73
570–585	572	19	250.50–280.00	$253.68	$1,451	+1.18
603–648	638	43	251.50–269.00	$258.12	$1,647	+7.12
687	687	5	256.00	$256.00	$1,759	—
728–748	734	8	242.00–247.00	$245.51	$1,802	—
777–793	780	11	230.00–236.00	$234.89	$1,832	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
781	781	53	1,960.00	$1,960.00	—
877	877	21	2,010.00	$2,010.00	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
392	392	5	292.50	$292.50	$1,147	—
441	441	4	285.00	$285.00	$1,257	+54.33
452–473	463	18	255.00–262.50	$258.84	$1,198	+40.19

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
633	633	6	223.00	$223.00	$1,412	—
764	764	13	221.00	$221.00	$1,688	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
574	574	4	310.00	$310.00	$1,779	—
763	763	9	229.00–244.00	$234.00	$1,785	-6.00
823	823	14	239.00	$239.00	$1,967	—
958–983	969	7	214.00–218.00	$216.26	$2,096	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
625	625	3	260.00	$260.00	$1,625	—
902	902	6	222.50	$222.50	$2,007	—
976–990	981	6	212.00–215.00	$213.01	$2,090	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
624	624	10	270.00	$270.00	$1,685	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
150	150	5	450.00–500.00	$470.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
880	880	85-90%	1	97.50	$97.50	$858	—
1090	1090	85-90%	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,417	—
986–1270	1105	85-90%	11	112.00–121.00	$117.67	$1,300	—
1138–1280	1171	85-90%	10	105.00–115.00	$109.14	$1,278	-8.36
1065–1288	1187	85-90%	27	123.00–132.00	$127.37	$1,512	+14.39
1200–1215	1205	85-90%	3	95.00–98.00	$96.01	$1,157	—
1165–1270	1218	85-90%	6	132.00–135.00	$134.26	$1,635	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1335	1335	80-85%	1	140.00	$140.00	$1,869	—
1250–1555	1356	80-85%	19	130.00–138.00	$133.54	$1,811	+18.54
1300–1485	1386	80-85%	9	118.00–124.50	$121.96	$1,690	+6.96
1375–1414	1401	80-85%	6	138.50–139.00	$138.66	$1,943	—
1330–1490	1410	80-85%	2	117.00–121.00	$119.11	$1,679	—
1430	1430	80-85%	1	132.00	$132.00	$1,888	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1570	1570	75-80%	1	137.00	$137.00	$2,151	+5.18
1770	1770	75-80%	1	133.00	$133.00	$2,354	—
1760–1878	1839	75-80%	3	124.00–125.00	$124.32	$2,286	—
2120	2120	75-80%	1	120.00	$120.00	$2,544	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1208–1675	1519	3	138.00–139.00	$138.73	$2,107	—
1600–2075	1825	5	120.00–137.00	$130.59	$2,383	—
1745–2065	1877	5	157.00–165.00	$159.64	$2,996	+13.85
1583–1993	1887	14	140.00–154.00	$148.41	$2,800	+2.62

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
751 thin fleshed	751	(<2 yrs)	Open	7	205.00	$205.00	$1,540
702–1150	951	(<2 yrs)	Open	63	160.00–211.00	$186.70	$1,776
1003–1160	1080	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	13	132.50–183.00	$162.06	$1,750

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
808–1305	969	(<2 yrs)	Open	11	135.00–187.50	$164.76	$1,597

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
681–765	721	(<2 yrs)	Open	8	162.00–182.50	$173.74	$1,253

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
930–1205	1068	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	147.00–190.00	$165.73	$1,770

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1188	1188	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	2,425.00	$2,425.00
1603	1603	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,900.00	$1,900.00

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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.