Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, September 3, 2026

797 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 steers $441.94/cwt ≈ $2,139/hd at 484 lb · 33 head

light 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $330.00/cwt -11.00 vs last sale · ≈ $2,762/hd at 837 lb · 31 head

light 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $313.50/cwt +9.05 vs last sale · ≈ $2,869/hd at 915 lb · 21 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	797	1,078	1,629
Feeder cattle	414	655	1,337
Slaughter cattle	295	349	270
Replacement cattle	88	74	22

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last sale (8-27-26): Feeder steers were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder heifers under 1050 lbs sold generally steady in a narrow comparison, heifers over 1050 lbs sold mostly 5.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Quality this week was plain to average on calves and average to attractive on yearlings. Most all yearlings were coming off grass were seen this sale. Demand was mostly moderate to good for light offerings. Yearlings were offered in small packages this week, however demand for light offerings was good. Many tested open heifers out of their replacements were seen again this sale. Calves were offered in mostly small packages with many singles noticed. Many very light offerings were seen this sale as cattle were sold early due to dry conditions. Demand for very light offerings suitable to develop into yearlings was very good. CME positions moved sharply higher today which helped provide some additional market support. Market activity was moderate to active despite light offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light demand and offerings. Cow quality was mostly plain to average today with a limited selection of cows to buy to feed. Many cows coming off pasture and range are lame or blemished in some way. Feeding cows sold mostly 5.00 lower on boning and lean cows, breaking flesh feeding cows sold 8.00-10.00 lower on very light demand. Slaughter cows sold 8.00-10.00 lower on breaking cows, boning and lean slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 12.00-15.00 lower on lower demand from both packers and feeding buyers. Young age replacement cow offerings were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Many fleshy offerings were seen this week. Many of these offerings were purchased to feed and sold to feeding cow buyers.

▲ Feeder heifers: heifers over 1050 lbs sold mostly 5.00 higher in a narrow comparison
→ Feeder steers: Feeder steers were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend
→ Replacement cows: Young age replacement cow offerings were too lightly tested to develop any market trend
▼ Slaughter bulls: Slaughter bulls sold mostly 12.00-15.00 lower on lower demand from both packers and feeding buyers
▼ Slaughter cows: Slaughter cows sold 8.00-10.00 lower on breaking cows

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
226 unweaned	226	4	675.00	$675.00	$1,526	—
461–489 unweaned	484	33	435.00–470.00	$441.94	$2,139	—
576 unweaned	576	4	387.50	$387.50	$2,232	-22.50
778	778	4	350.00	$350.00	$2,723	-21.27
863–889	870	20	332.00–341.00	$338.70	$2,947	—
991	991	12	311.00	$311.00	$3,082	—
1010	1010	4	305.00	$305.00	$3,080	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
165–193 unweaned	186	4	700.00–730.00	$706.65	$1,314	—
380 unweaned	380	2	490.00	$490.00	$1,862	—
460 unweaned	460	3	445.00	$445.00	$2,047	+19.99
773	773	2	345.00	$345.00	$2,667	—
933	933	2	320.00	$320.00	$2,986	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
671	671	9	345.00	$345.00	$2,315	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
455 unweaned	455	3	440.00	$440.00	$2,002	—
1146	1146	5	290.00	$290.00	$3,323	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
438–445 unweaned	443	6	405.00	$405.00	$1,794	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
656	656	4	350.00	$350.00	$2,296	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
125 unweaned	125	2	920.00	$920.00	$1,150	—
217 unweaned	217	3	600.00	$600.00	$1,302	—
428–443 unweaned	439	8	415.00–422.50	$420.67	$1,847	—
463–491 unweaned	483	7	400.00–405.00	$403.63	$1,950	—
503 unweaned	503	8	372.50	$372.50	$1,874	—
820–839	837	31	330.00	$330.00	$2,762	-11.00
915	915	21	313.50	$313.50	$2,869	+8.58
964–990	973	9	294.00–296.00	$295.32	$2,873	-2.98
1003–1030	1017	13	285.00–296.00	$290.09	$2,950	-0.49

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1066 fancy	1066	6	292.50	$292.50	$3,118	—
1059–1074	1072	34	277.00–286.00	$283.13	$3,035	+8.13
1111–1135	1121	7	268.00–275.00	$271.04	$3,038	—
1168	1168	11	265.00	$265.00	$3,095	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
528 unweaned	528	2	367.50	$367.50	$1,940	+25.00
701–730	707	5	320.00–322.50	$321.98	$2,276	—
764–782	773	12	317.50–330.00	$323.82	$2,503	—
915–925	920	4	302.00–305.00	$303.49	$2,792	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
392 unweaned	392	3	380.00	$380.00	$1,490	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
225 unweaned	225	3	670.00	$670.00	$1,508	—
294 unweaned	294	6	565.00	$565.00	$1,661	—
438 unweaned	438	2	490.00	$490.00	$2,146	+15.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105	1105	1	265.00	$265.00	$2,928	+32.00
1205	1205	2	242.00	$242.00	$2,916	—
1270	1270	2	223.00	$223.00	$2,832	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
133–1375	1119	80-85%	5	126.00–135.00	$128.38	$1,437	—
1270–1490	1333	80-85%	5	166.00–172.00	$168.72	$2,249	—
1260–1543	1347	80-85%	8	143.00–152.00	$148.04	$1,994	—
1283–1530	1375	80-85%	70	158.00–165.00	$160.97	$2,213	+25.97
1410–1460	1434	80-85%	4	140.00–149.00	$143.53	$2,058	-24.39

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
978	978	85-90%	2	102.50	$102.50	$1,002	-21.18
1154–1195	1162	85-90%	22	139.00–145.00	$142.00	$1,650	—
945–1255	1173	85-90%	14	151.00–161.00	$153.74	$1,803	—
990–1284	1195	85-90%	10	163.50–171.00	$165.61	$1,979	—
1120–1310	1215	85-90%	2	140.00	$140.00	$1,701	+11.28
1050–1355	1230	85-90%	10	120.00–139.00	$127.26	$1,565	-44.74

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1464	1464	75-80%	5	164.00	$164.00	$2,401	—
1420–1675	1566	75-80%	9	151.50–159.00	$154.15	$2,414	-11.07
1435–1640	1578	75-80%	7	135.00–151.50	$144.33	$2,278	-20.89
1380–1890	1655	75-80%	12	133.50–138.00	$135.35	$2,240	—
1662	1662	75-80%	10	151.00	$151.00	$2,510	—
1585–2015	1677	75-80%	6	141.00–146.00	$144.22	$2,419	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1365	1365	1	182.00	$182.00	$2,484	+8.56
1335–1593	1497	7	157.00–173.00	$168.44	$2,522	—
1350–1647	1573	4	177.00–183.00	$178.29	$2,805	—
1365–2250	1753	21	151.00–174.00	$167.33	$2,933	—
1790–2250	1955	13	186.00–194.00	$190.07	$3,716	—
1630–2255	1969	22	176.00–187.00	$181.26	$3,569	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1000–1215	1136	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	220.00–260.00	$228.80	$2,599
1124–1190	1150	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	20	204.00–220.00	$212.78	$2,447
1255	1255	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	177.00	$177.00	$2,221
1309–1386	1363	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	27	167.00–175.00	$169.28	$2,307

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
945–1265	1061	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	8	185.00–250.00	$213.98	$2,270
1285	1285	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	175.00	$175.00	$2,249

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1150	1150	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	172.00	$172.00	$1,978

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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
1354	1354	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	3,400.00	$3,400.00	—

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Dairy Cows

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1200	1200	85-90%	1	117.50	$117.50	$1,410	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1092	1092	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	3,200.00	$3,200.00	—

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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.