Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, October 11, 2021

2,207 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 steers $179.10/cwt ≈ $770/hd at 430 lb · 74 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $150.00/cwt +3.37 vs last sale · ≈ $722/hd at 481 lb · 45 head
light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $153.60/cwt +10.60 vs last sale · ≈ $657/hd at 428 lb · 44 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,207 1,749 963
Feeder cattle 605 291 424
Slaughter cattle 1,299 1,156 459
Replacement cattle 303 302 80

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Mondays sale: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested today to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on both steers and heifers. Demand was light for light offerings. Trucking continues to be a big issue as truck availability is tight buyers were not willing to start loads without trucks to get the calves out of the yards. Health was a concern today as cold and snowy conditions were seen. Quality this week was mostly plain to average. Market activity was slow. Weigh up cows sold on very light to light demand today. Drought conditions are driving excessive amounts of cows to market. Packers are backing up prices because they have so many cows waiting to send to slaughter. Lean cows took the hardest hit this week as most of these are very thin and offered low or very low yielding conditions. Lean cows sold mostly 10.00 lower. Boning cows sold 7.00-9.00 lower, breaking cows were not well tested. Feeding cows sold 5.00-10.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold steady in a narrow comparison. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this sale as cows were full off clean fresh water and fresh hay. Additionally, most cows and bulls were wet as rain and snow fell most of the day. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady to 8.00 higher. Many sets of attractive rebreed type cows were seen this sale.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 unweaned 335 2 200.00 $200.00 $670 +20.00
356 unweaned 356 8 185.00 $185.00 $659 +9.24
420–435 unweaned 430 74 174.00–183.00 $179.10 $770 —
465–484 unweaned 473 39 166.00–171.00 $168.54 $797 —
567–579 unweaned 570 35 149.00–152.00 $150.77 $859 —
662 unweaned 662 5 141.00 $141.00 $933 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
356 unweaned 356 4 198.00 $198.00 $705 —
676–688 unweaned 679 26 150.00–151.00 $150.27 $1,020 +7.27
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
480–491 unweaned 489 11 158.00–161.00 $158.54 $775 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
532 unweaned 532 6 152.00 $152.00 $809 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
616 unweaned 616 4 149.00 $149.00 $918 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
295 unweaned 295 6 177.50 $177.50 $524 —
338 unweaned 338 6 162.00 $162.00 $548 -2.00
382 unweaned 382 9 162.00 $162.00 $619 —
408–448 unweaned 428 44 150.00–158.00 $153.60 $657 +10.60
466–472 unweaned 467 14 138.00–146.00 $139.73 $653 -1.27
516–537 unweaned 528 9 135.00–137.00 $136.13 $719 —
596 unweaned 596 6 131.00 $131.00 $781 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
348 unweaned 348 3 171.00 $171.00 $595 —
402 unweaned 402 10 164.00 $164.00 $659 —
481 unweaned 481 45 150.00 $150.00 $722 +3.37
611 unweaned 611 10 130.00 $130.00 $794 +3.00
835 835 2 139.00 $139.00 $1,161 +0.50
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
444 unweaned 444 4 149.00 $149.00 $662 —
535 unweaned 535 6 131.00 $131.00 $701 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1020 1020 1 129.50 $129.50 $1,321 —
1100 1100 1 126.00 $126.00 $1,386 —
1160–1183 1178 5 120.00–122.00 $121.61 $1,433 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
461 unweaned 461 7 144.00 $144.00 $664 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
369 unweaned 369 4 181.00 $181.00 $668 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
930–990 954 85-90% 11 24.00–32.00 $31.06 $296 -15.43
950–976 968 85-90% 8 33.00–36.00 $33.99 $329 -12.50
1011–1056 1017 85-90% 30 33.00–37.50 $33.62 $342 —
1000–1263 1118 85-90% 88 27.00–36.50 $34.35 $384 -3.25
1198–1312 1247 85-90% 57 39.50–44.50 $41.50 $518 -9.11
1025–1375 1271 85-90% 100 37.00–43.50 $39.98 $508 —
1048–1550 1285 85-90% 17 45.50–56.00 $48.88 $628 —
1290–1395 1325 85-90% 10 44.50–45.50 $44.86 $594 -11.94
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1321–1625 1385 80-85% 28 41.00–45.00 $43.07 $597 -9.65
1380–1400 1385 80-85% 4 32.00–38.00 $33.52 $464 -19.20
1315–1475 1395 80-85% 60 40.50–47.00 $44.47 $620 -30.19
1280–1614 1444 80-85% 84 49.00–61.50 $58.45 $844 —
1343–1586 1504 80-85% 27 62.50–65.50 $63.66 $957 —
1305–1695 1559 80-85% 4 48.00–52.00 $49.89 $778 -7.11
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1594 1594 75-80% 5 65.00 $65.00 $1,036 —
1645 1645 75-80% 1 66.00 $66.00 $1,086 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1415–1865 1640 2 56.00–77.00 $67.94 $1,114 —
1730–1780 1747 3 81.00–83.00 $81.83 $1,430 —
1715–1768 1749 6 73.00–77.00 $74.51 $1,303 —
1640–2190 1903 11 81.00–87.00 $83.73 $1,593 —
2215 2215 1 90.00 $90.00 $1,994 -2.69

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
825–1300 953 (<2 yrs)Open 183 62.00–118.50 $106.01 $1,010
720–1370 1048 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 62 60.00–98.00 $76.13 $798
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
765–1090 968 (<2 yrs)Open 8 65.00–84.00 $74.56 $722

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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.