Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, December 7, 2020

2,309 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $156.86/cwt -1.22 vs last sale · ≈ $828/hd at 528 lb · 66 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $133.64/cwt ≈ $751/hd at 562 lb · 55 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $140.19/cwt +3.51 vs last sale · ≈ $899/hd at 641 lb · 30 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,309 1,362 1,409
Feeder cattle 586 424 551
Slaughter cattle 1,335 688 245
Replacement cattle 388 250 613

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Monday: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on both steers and heifers. Demand was moderate for light to moderate offerings. Quality this week was average to attractive and overall better than last week. Market activity was moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Feeding buyers were the driving market force this week as they showed good demand for both short term feeding cows and cows suitable to feed to premium white. Feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher. Packers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows compared to last week. Packers opted to send most fleshy cows to slaughter instead of putting them on feed. Breaking slaughter cows were are not well compared. Boning cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher; lean cows sold 1.00-3.00 higher. Cows offered mixed weigh up conditions today. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed as packer and feeding buyers competed over offerings. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly generally steady.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
305–337 unweaned 331 13 175.00–192.50 $189.58 $628 —
400–438 unweaned 423 5 170.00–171.00 $170.62 $722 —
510–535 unweaned 528 66 151.00–160.00 $156.86 $828 -1.22
550–585 unweaned 561 29 146.00–155.00 $151.42 $849 +6.64
615–645 unweaned 641 30 140.00–143.00 $140.19 $899 +6.15
716 unweaned 716 4 135.00 $135.00 $967 +3.50
803 803 3 136.00 $136.00 $1,092 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
426–438 unweaned 434 19 146.50–170.00 $162.67 $706 +0.06
558–580 unweaned 575 26 131.50–140.00 $132.16 $760 —
734 734 11 135.50 $135.50 $995 —
994 994 7 119.00 $119.00 $1,183 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1016 1016 15 122.50 $122.50 $1,245 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
782 782 7 132.50 $132.50 $1,036 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
499 unweaned 499 6 133.00 $133.00 $664 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
408–443 unweaned 433 20 146.00–154.00 $148.26 $642 +1.80
463–492 unweaned 483 22 140.00–149.00 $147.57 $713 +7.16
505–533 unweaned 519 23 136.00–140.00 $138.02 $716 +3.68
554–579 unweaned 559 47 132.50–134.50 $133.41 $746 —
581 581 8 135.00 $135.00 $784 —
606 606 5 130.00 $130.00 $788 —
622 unweaned 622 15 132.50 $132.50 $824 +7.43
789–792 790 16 128.50 $128.50 $1,015 —
823 823 2 126.00 $126.00 $1,037 —
894 894 6 122.00 $122.00 $1,091 -2.50
960 960 7 122.50 $122.50 $1,176 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
425 unweaned 425 7 143.00 $143.00 $608 +2.00
480–493 unweaned 493 26 125.00–139.00 $125.52 $619 —
509–549 unweaned 527 21 127.00–134.00 $131.46 $693 +2.46
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
383 unweaned 383 3 125.00 $125.00 $479 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
570 unweaned 570 2 135.00 $135.00 $770 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
853 853 85-90% 2 30.00 $30.00 $256 -1.00
915–948 937 85-90% 3 41.00 $41.00 $384 —
993 993 85-90% 3 48.50 $48.50 $482 —
980–1215 1058 85-90% 3 61.00–62.00 $61.38 $649 —
1075–1240 1131 85-90% 17 33.00–40.00 $38.53 $436 -6.56
1040–1345 1175 85-90% 73 41.50–49.75 $45.45 $534 —
835–1320 1180 85-90% 226 41.00–50.00 $46.71 $551 —
1055–1400 1199 85-90% 340 50.00–56.00 $51.26 $615 —
1190–1353 1326 85-90% 6 50.50–51.50 $50.65 $672 +15.65
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1260–1685 1336 80-85% 21 44.00–51.00 $48.18 $644 —
1245–1695 1364 80-85% 150 50.00–60.00 $56.90 $776 +3.98
1234–1424 1383 80-85% 51 61.00–69.00 $63.39 $877 +10.47
1240–1575 1410 80-85% 18 51.00–59.00 $53.15 $749 -9.15
1375–1573 1449 80-85% 15 40.00–49.00 $47.36 $686 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1380 1380 75-80% 2 65.50 $65.50 $904 —
1560 1560 75-80% 1 55.00 $55.00 $858 -4.00
1320–1795 1580 75-80% 17 50.00–66.00 $54.84 $866 -4.16
1505–1795 1688 75-80% 8 62.00–64.00 $62.80 $1,060 —
1731 1731 75-80% 4 67.00 $67.00 $1,160 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1420–1730 1591 5 59.00–75.00 $62.73 $998 —
1505–1835 1670 2 77.00–82.50 $79.48 $1,327 +0.35
1460–2045 1722 8 76.00–82.00 $80.41 $1,385 +7.41
1415–2065 1791 11 64.00–75.00 $71.65 $1,283 —
1895 1895 1 84.50 $84.50 $1,601 —
1735–2165 1897 9 84.00–86.00 $84.60 $1,605 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
765 thin fleshed 765 (<2 yrs)Open 1 55.00 $55.00 $421
755–1430 987 (<2 yrs)Open 70 63.00–89.00 $77.53 $765
873–1180 1034 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 50 53.00–77.50 $67.58 $699
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
996 996 (<2 yrs)Open 4 64.00 $64.00 $637

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1127 1127 Young (2-4 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 3 900.00 $900.00
1391 1391 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 8 750.00 $750.00

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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.