Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, December 9, 2024

1,239 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $228.10/cwt ≈ $2,096/hd at 919 lb · 30 head

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $246.46/cwt ≈ $1,558/hd at 632 lb · 22 head

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 steers $374.86/cwt +4.86 vs last sale · ≈ $1,586/hd at 423 lb · 14 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,239	709	866
Feeder cattle	363	233	188
Slaughter cattle	541	386	543
Replacement cattle	335	90	135

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested either last week or this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Limited offerings of feeders sold on light to moderate demand. Quality today was mostly plain to average and similar to last week. Most calves were offered in small lots or as singles, forcing buyers to piece together loads. Market activity was mostly moderate with a small buyer pool bidding on calves. The best demand continues to be for light weight offerings suitable to run on grass or wheat. Weigh up cows sold on moderate to good demand today for light to moderate offerings. Most cows were purchased to feed. Packers showed good demand for both slaughter and short term feeding cows this week. Very few cows were purchased to send to immediate harvest this week. Slaughter cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed on all classes. Short term feeding cows sold mostly steady. High quality cows suitable to feed to premium white sold steady to firm. Quality was most plain to average today and not as attractive as last weeks offering. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Weigh up conditions were mostly average. Cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on mostly good demand. Young age offerings sold mostly 5.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Quality was mostly average to attractive with several packages of tested open 2-3 year old cows off bred offerings.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
377–385	381	6	375.00–395.00	$385.10	$1,467	—
394 unweaned	394	7	397.50	$397.50	$1,566	+12.50
411–447	423	14	352.00–387.50	$374.86	$1,586	—
506 unweaned	506	13	318.00	$318.00	$1,609	-1.83
555–569 unweaned	564	9	301.00–305.00	$302.31	$1,705	—
585–598	594	3	294.00–295.00	$294.33	$1,748	—
605–627 unweaned	622	4	285.00–295.00	$287.43	$1,788	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
345	345	6	465.00	$465.00	$1,604	—
360 unweaned	360	1	425.00	$425.00	$1,530	-5.00
525	525	6	335.00	$335.00	$1,759	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
416	416	9	367.00	$367.00	$1,527	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1165	1165	1	221.00	$221.00	$2,575	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
354	354	7	367.50	$367.50	$1,301	—
422	422	3	326.00	$326.00	$1,376	—
491	491	4	297.00	$297.00	$1,458	—
518–545 unweaned	520	13	280.00–296.00	$294.71	$1,532	+22.46
598	598	2	262.00	$262.00	$1,567	+5.00
614–640 unweaned	632	22	241.00–255.00	$246.46	$1,558	—
663	663	2	251.00	$251.00	$1,664	—
709	709	6	242.00	$242.00	$1,716	—
1093	1093	7	201.00	$201.00	$2,197	+29.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
368–388 unweaned	380	5	347.50–355.00	$350.41	$1,332	—
452–473	460	5	311.00–360.00	$339.86	$1,563	—
518 unweaned	518	2	285.00	$285.00	$1,476	—
627 unweaned	627	5	270.00	$270.00	$1,693	—
810	810	4	239.00	$239.00	$1,936	—
913–924	919	30	226.00–230.50	$228.10	$2,096	—
1023	1023	7	219.00	$219.00	$2,240	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
293 unweaned	293	4	345.00	$345.00	$1,011	—
458 unweaned	458	3	284.00	$284.00	$1,301	+19.00
541 unweaned	541	4	240.00	$240.00	$1,298	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1223	1223	4	189.00	$189.00	$2,311	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
718	718	5	242.00	$242.00	$1,738	—
855	855	1	232.00	$232.00	$1,984	—
975	975	3	222.00	$222.00	$2,164	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1130	1130	1	212.50	$212.50	$2,401	—
1332	1332	4	186.00	$186.00	$2,478	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
530	530	2	290.00	$290.00	$1,537	—
685	685	2	227.50	$227.50	$1,558	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1173	1173	2	182.50	$182.50	$2,141	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1225–1537	1317	80-85%	35	126.50–131.50	$126.97	$1,672	—
1320–1360	1345	80-85%	3	95.00–97.00	$95.67	$1,287	—
1285–1750	1419	80-85%	205	114.00–126.00	$120.68	$1,712	-5.09
1270–1575	1446	80-85%	34	101.00–113.50	$109.25	$1,580	-16.52
1470	1470	80-85%	1	120.00	$120.00	$1,764	—
1685	1685	80-85%	1	116.00	$116.00	$1,955	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
750	750	85-90%	2	92.50	$92.50	$694	—
880–950	918	85-90%	4	73.00–85.00	$76.87	$706	—
988–1290	1137	85-90%	42	92.00–109.00	$102.44	$1,165	+8.69
1015–1230	1152	85-90%	36	124.00–129.50	$126.45	$1,457	+42.46
1070–1195	1160	85-90%	4	93.00–99.00	$97.22	$1,128	+13.23
1000–1301	1191	85-90%	73	110.00–122.00	$113.55	$1,352	+29.56
1125–1270	1207	85-90%	3	77.50–86.00	$83.02	$1,002	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1500–1553	1548	75-80%	10	121.00–123.00	$122.81	$1,901	—
1614	1614	75-80%	7	124.50	$124.50	$2,009	—
1465–1855	1657	75-80%	5	109.00–119.00	$115.67	$1,917	—
1590–1795	1681	75-80%	8	115.50–119.50	$117.47	$1,975	—
1875	1875	75-80%	1	131.00	$131.00	$2,456	—
2040	2040	75-80%	1	129.50	$129.50	$2,642	+18.50

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1065–1285	1212	3	110.00–125.00	$114.39	$1,386	—
1320–1935	1527	11	128.00–146.00	$135.56	$2,070	—
1588–1863	1709	7	144.00–148.00	$146.04	$2,496	—
1593–2020	1764	11	123.00–146.00	$138.72	$2,447	+9.72
1723–2135	1925	12	147.00–150.00	$148.09	$2,851	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
775 thin fleshed	775	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	190.00	$190.00	$1,472
778–1315	939	(<2 yrs)	Open	196	140.00–234.00	$204.87	$1,924
800–1301	1133	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	40	121.00–192.00	$146.40	$1,659

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
795–1054	946	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	125.50–165.00	$136.77	$1,294
918–1165	1002	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	137.50–155.00	$148.03	$1,483

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
780	780	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	195.00	$195.00	$1,521

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1036–1279	1158	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	8	2,275.00–2,300.00	$2,286.19
1202–1363	1252	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	16	1,785.00–1,850.00	$1,807.11
1070–1491	1390	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	14	2,375.00–2,400.00	$2,386.60
1415	1415	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	2,025.00	$2,025.00
1408–1445	1420	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	1,650.00–1,725.00	$1,675.43

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1155 thin fleshed	1155	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	1,200.00	$1,200.00
1310	1310	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,600.00	$1,600.00

Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1365–1450	1429	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	2,000.00–2,100.00	$2,023.88
1555	1555	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	1	2,000.00	$2,000.00

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
995	995	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,850.00	$1,850.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1080–1170	1095	(<2 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	2,425.00–2,450.00	$2,445.55
1108–1135	1122	(<2 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	4	2,250.00–2,375.00	$2,313.25

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
863	863	(<2 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	2,000.00	$2,000.00

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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.