Cattle Market Pulse

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, November 21, 2022

2,058 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,058 1,253 2,854
Feeder cattle — 490 —
Slaughter cattle 621 616 1,365
Replacement cattle 1,437 147 1,489

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were not tested this week as todays sale featured bred cows and weigh ups. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand and offerings. Packers showed mostly light demand for slaughter cows this week. Packers have been buying supplies for weeks putting them on feed to save up for the holiday week. Despite a shortened holiday week packers were able to buy all classes of cows 2.00-3.00 lower. Feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 lower. Cow quality today was mostly plain to average. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, lower undertones were noticed. A heavy offering of over 1600 bred cows were seen today as Billings Livestock hosted its annual Thanksgiving week stock cow special. Bred cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand. Quality this week was mostly average. Market activity for bred cows was mostly moderate with an average size crowd on hand.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
895–985 941 85-90% 5 42.00–47.00 $44.58 $419 +11.58
1005–1295 1123 85-90% 7 58.00–60.00 $58.79 $660 +15.79
980–1300 1156 85-90% 106 47.00–58.50 $54.40 $629 -18.60
1060–1350 1206 85-90% 13 42.00–47.00 $44.04 $531 —
1030–1382 1207 85-90% 68 49.00–57.00 $53.38 $644 -9.10
1025–1305 1225 85-90% 108 58.00–65.00 $60.51 $741 -1.97
1095–1310 1246 85-90% 4 69.00–73.00 $70.90 $883 +8.42
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1198–1595 1385 80-85% 53 54.00–66.00 $61.10 $846 -1.66
1310–1545 1391 80-85% 62 67.00–78.00 $72.35 $1,006 +9.59
1305–1560 1431 80-85% 18 53.00–62.00 $56.80 $813 -11.01
1300–1530 1447 80-85% 22 79.00–81.50 $80.18 $1,160 +12.37
1475 1475 80-85% 1 48.00 $48.00 $708 —
1556 1556 80-85% 7 77.00 $77.00 $1,198 —
1362–1928 1588 80-85% 5 63.00–74.00 $68.66 $1,090 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1553–1585 1559 75-80% 15 73.00–74.00 $73.40 $1,144 —
1455–1579 1563 75-80% 9 75.00–78.00 $76.99 $1,203 —
1683 1683 75-80% 2 82.00 $82.00 $1,380 —
1575–1813 1700 75-80% 12 70.00–74.50 $72.95 $1,240 —
1920 1920 75-80% 1 79.50 $79.50 $1,526 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1285–1530 1408 2 62.00–78.00 $70.70 $995 —
1443–2000 1676 5 89.00–91.00 $89.89 $1,507 —
1300–2210 1715 12 68.00–86.00 $78.00 $1,338 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
835–1325 1006 (<2 yrs)Open 50 78.00–112.00 $95.87 $964
800–1243 1073 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 52 60.00–90.00 $76.91 $825
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
900 900 (<2 yrs)Open 3 71.00 $71.00 $639
855–1155 998 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 26 55.00–64.00 $61.93 $618

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1042–1100 1072 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 10 1,000.00–1,035.00 $1,017.61
875–1755 1110 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 93 1,300.00–1,575.00 $1,473.06
1088–1182 1153 Young (2-4 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 13 1,250.00–1,435.00 $1,406.03
1139–1225 thin fleshed 1170 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 45 785.00–850.00 $801.58
1178–1483 1294 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 245 900.00–1,100.00 $978.70
1313 1313 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 4 1,085.00 $1,085.00
1284–1392 1318 Aged (>8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 16 825.00–960.00 $869.56
1212–1546 1319 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 215 1,000.00–1,235.00 $1,116.92
1149–1765 1321 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 182 1,200.00–1,510.00 $1,424.60
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1049–1133 1085 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 7 1,225.00–1,285.00 $1,258.15
1146 1146 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 1,150.00 $1,150.00
1138–1202 1172 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 24 800.00–850.00 $826.31
1228 1228 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 5 900.00 $900.00
Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
815–985 943 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 8 1,225.00–1,275.00 $1,264.19
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1378 1378 Aged (>8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 3 56.00 $56.00 $772

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
885 885 (<2 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 4 1,235.00 $1,235.00
885–1068 930 (<2 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 55 1,510.00–1,600.00 $1,547.69

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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.