Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, November 8, 2021

2,932 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 $152.93/cwt ≈ $798/hd at 522 lb · 48 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $156.00/cwt ≈ $909/hd at 583 lb · 45 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $133.80/cwt ≈ $757/hd at 566 lb · 43 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,932	2,834	841
Feeder cattle	525	295	140
Slaughter cattle	1,690	1,828	621
Replacement cattle	717	711	80

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Too few Feeder Cattle were tested last week to develop a market trend for todays sale. Weigh up cows sold on light to moderate demand for heavy offerings. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to firm on boning and lean cows, breaking cows were not well tested last week and no trend could be developed. Packer buyers opted to send primarily lower quality or lame cows to immediate harvest this week as they purchased the majority of the cow offering to feed. Boning and lean feeding Cows sold mostly steady with a firm market undertone. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average today. Cows with favorable weigh up conditions sold with the best demand. Slaughter Bulls sold firm compared to a light market test last week. Young age cows suitable to rebreed were too lightly tested last week to develop a market trend. Quality this week was average to attractive.

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
260–280 unweaned	270	2	167.50–175.00	$171.11	$462	—
370–398 unweaned	393	6	172.50–175.00	$172.89	$679	—
425–431 unweaned	430	8	154.00–168.00	$164.54	$708	—
453–463 unweaned	458	23	157.00–165.00	$160.81	$737	—
510–537 unweaned	522	48	147.00–157.00	$152.93	$798	—
583 unweaned	583	45	156.00	$156.00	$909	—
645 unweaned	645	13	142.00	$142.00	$916	—
666–669 unweaned	667	22	137.50–140.00	$139.09	$928	—
858	858	12	139.00	$139.00	$1,193	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
213 unweaned	213	3	130.00	$130.00	$277	—
448 unweaned	448	2	150.00	$150.00	$672	—
576 unweaned	576	16	145.00	$145.00	$835	—
630 unweaned	630	3	128.00	$128.00	$806	—
668 unweaned	668	5	137.00	$137.00	$915	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
240 unweaned	240	2	165.00	$165.00	$396	—
266 unweaned	266	5	160.00	$160.00	$426	—
320–330 unweaned	326	5	155.00–167.50	$159.91	$521	—
375–380 unweaned	379	4	155.00	$155.00	$587	—
480–481 unweaned	481	16	135.00–136.00	$135.81	$653	—
503–511 unweaned	509	18	137.00–137.50	$137.14	$698	—
552–573 unweaned	566	43	131.00–134.00	$133.80	$757	—
669 unweaned	669	11	134.50	$134.50	$900	—
709 unweaned	709	16	144.00	$144.00	$1,021	—
848	848	3	138.00	$138.00	$1,170	—
875	875	1	131.00	$131.00	$1,146	—
958–970	962	3	131.00–132.00	$131.66	$1,267	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
433–440 unweaned	434	9	137.00–141.00	$138.78	$602	—
475–485 unweaned	482	12	136.00	$136.00	$656	—
567 unweaned	567	3	129.00	$129.00	$731	—
618 unweaned	618	12	134.00	$134.00	$828	—
830	830	1	131.00	$131.00	$1,087	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
502–526 unweaned	519	10	133.00–135.00	$133.58	$693	—
700 unweaned	700	1	130.00	$130.00	$910	—
768 unweaned	768	3	122.00	$122.00	$937	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
464 unweaned	464	3	137.50	$137.50	$638	—
689 unweaned	689	7	130.50	$130.50	$899	—
935	935	2	110.00	$110.00	$1,028	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
563 unweaned	563	3	125.00	$125.00	$704	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
910	910	85-90%	2	48.00	$48.00	$437	+15.00
911	911	85-90%	5	34.50	$34.50	$314	+1.50
938–945	940	85-90%	3	33.00–38.00	$34.67	$326	-6.04
1065	1065	85-90%	1	34.00	$34.00	$362	—
945–1265	1087	85-90%	27	31.00–37.50	$34.41	$374	—
1015–1405	1109	85-90%	62	38.00–45.00	$40.30	$447	+2.00
1098–1140	1119	85-90%	2	56.00–60.50	$58.29	$652	+19.99
815–1433	1152	85-90%	155	38.00–47.25	$44.75	$516	+3.46
1010–1447	1203	85-90%	443	45.00–55.50	$48.64	$585	+0.52
1077–1555	1228	85-90%	38	44.00–49.00	$46.35	$569	-1.27

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1109–1532	1309	80-85%	24	63.50–67.50	$64.91	$850	—
860–1530	1318	80-85%	73	42.00–52.00	$48.28	$636	—
1020–1525	1360	80-85%	159	51.00–61.00	$56.03	$762	+7.35
1305–1530	1396	80-85%	52	50.00–58.50	$54.61	$762	-0.42
1135–1740	1409	80-85%	34	42.00–48.00	$45.98	$648	+3.50

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1455	1455	75-80%	3	58.00	$58.00	$844	—
1518	1518	75-80%	2	65.00	$65.00	$987	—
1435–1890	1576	75-80%	15	52.00–58.00	$54.86	$865	—
1500–1720	1600	75-80%	6	60.00–65.00	$62.54	$1,001	—
1596–1715	1616	75-80%	6	52.00–57.00	$52.88	$855	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1117–2030	1404	15	79.00–85.00	$83.53	$1,173	—
1663	1663	5	75.00	$75.00	$1,247	+5.00
1580–1945	1728	41	63.00–76.50	$71.48	$1,235	—
1680–2010	1794	29	85.50–87.50	$85.89	$1,541	—
1580–1995	1819	10	75.00–78.00	$75.64	$1,376	—
1950–2085	1994	8	83.00–89.00	$84.99	$1,695	—
1950–2340	2145	2	90.00–92.00	$91.09	$1,954	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
903 thin fleshed	903	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	65.00	$65.00	$587
845–1205	977	(<2 yrs)	Open	209	70.00–112.00	$90.65	$886
870–1345	1061	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	130	42.00–91.00	$69.16	$734
1064–1493	1119	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	33	45.00–80.00	$65.16	$729

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
765 thin fleshed	765	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	57.50	$57.50	$440
994–1070	1009	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	55.00–84.00	$77.85	$786
898–1640	1217	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	54.00–90.00	$68.77	$837

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1158–1203	1165	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	19	52.00–54.00	$53.67	$625
1313	1313	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	45.00	$45.00	$591
1334–1430	1349	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	13	46.00–53.00	$47.14	$636
1388	1388	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	43.00	$43.00	$597

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
900–1115	1037	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	700.00–1,075.00	$817.48
1186–1400	1213	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	8	850.00–960.00	$944.13
1045–1355	1278	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	850.00–1,000.00	$880.68

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1253	1253	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	45.00	$45.00	$564
1245–1395	1320	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	6	45.00–50.00	$47.36	$625

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
865	865	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	700.00	$700.00
900–1053	1002	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	500.00–900.00	$780.24
1120	1120	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	550.00	$550.00
1178	1178	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	800.00	$800.00

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1120	1120	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	700.00	$700.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
956–1075	1003	(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	8	975.00–1,075.00	$1,032.71

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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.