Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, December 16, 2024

871 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 heifers $312.28/cwt +27.28 vs last sale · ≈ $1,643/hd at 526 lb · 60 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 steers $301.68/cwt ≈ $1,985/hd at 658 lb · 35 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $304.75/cwt ≈ $1,688/hd at 554 lb · 28 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	871	1,239	992
Feeder cattle	390	363	490
Slaughter cattle	343	541	401
Replacement cattle	138	335	101

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Mondays sale: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested either last week or this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Limited offerings of feeders sold on moderate demand. Quality today was mostly plain to average and similar to last week. Most calves were offered in small packages, forcing buyers to piece together loads. Market activity was mostly moderate to active with moderate size 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. This is the last sale to feature weigh ups sale prior to the holiday break. Most cows were purchased to feed again this week. Packers showed good demand for both slaughter and 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 to firm undertones were noticed on all classes. Short term feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher. High quality cows suitable to feed to premium white sold 1.00-4.00 higher. Quality was most average to attractive today. Weigh up conditions were below average today with many very full cows on offer. Despite fill conditions demand for all feeding cows was good to very good. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady to 2.00 higher. Weigh up conditions for bulls was similar to cows as most bulls were pushing heavy amounts of fill. Cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on mostly good demand. Young age offerings sold mostly steady in a narrow comparison. Quality was mostly plain 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
255–291	284	5	512.50–515.00	$512.95	$1,457	—
353–373	361	5	420.00–460.00	$435.63	$1,573	—
405	405	1	420.00	$420.00	$1,701	—
497 unweaned	497	24	361.00	$361.00	$1,794	—
515–535 unweaned	531	10	338.00–350.00	$340.33	$1,807	—
565	565	2	327.50	$327.50	$1,850	—
658–675 unweaned	658	35	291.00–302.00	$301.68	$1,985	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300 unweaned	300	1	475.00	$475.00	$1,425	—
407 unweaned	407	6	377.50	$377.50	$1,536	—
485	485	2	345.00	$345.00	$1,673	—
498 unweaned	498	4	345.00	$345.00	$1,718	—
510–545 unweaned	528	4	317.50–337.50	$329.32	$1,739	+11.32
634 unweaned	634	11	295.00	$295.00	$1,870	+7.57
744	744	9	270.00	$270.00	$2,009	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
350	350	2	375.00	$375.00	$1,312	—
378 unweaned	378	2	385.00	$385.00	$1,455	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
608–645	620	3	285.00–291.00	$288.92	$1,791	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
311 unweaned	311	4	392.50	$392.50	$1,221	—
458–470 unweaned	461	7	319.00–320.00	$319.29	$1,472	—
463	463	15	331.00	$331.00	$1,533	-8.86
523–525	525	45	310.00–312.00	$311.87	$1,637	—
529 unweaned	529	15	313.50	$313.50	$1,658	+28.50
551–556 unweaned	552	21	296.00–312.50	$309.33	$1,708	—
559	559	7	291.00	$291.00	$1,627	—
825	825	1	237.00	$237.00	$1,955	-2.00
885	885	2	237.00	$237.00	$2,097	—
1000–1020	1010	2	221.00–224.00	$222.51	$2,247	+3.51

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
298 unweaned	298	4	385.00	$385.00	$1,147	—
358–365 unweaned	360	3	360.00–367.50	$364.97	$1,314	—
440	440	1	330.00	$330.00	$1,452	+4.00
440 unweaned	440	2	330.00	$330.00	$1,452	—
465	465	2	302.50	$302.50	$1,407	+5.50
455–496 unweaned	487	10	301.00–314.00	$304.63	$1,484	—
522 unweaned	522	8	298.00	$298.00	$1,556	+3.29
580 unweaned	580	4	275.00	$275.00	$1,595	—
603–648 unweaned	626	4	257.50–258.00	$257.76	$1,614	+11.30
715	715	2	240.00	$240.00	$1,716	-2.00
763–772	768	5	236.00–237.50	$236.90	$1,819	—
835	835	1	223.00	$223.00	$1,862	—
920–932	929	4	213.00–229.00	$216.96	$2,016	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
880	880	1	234.00	$234.00	$2,059	—
1055–1075	1065	3	208.00–214.00	$210.34	$2,240	—
1120	1120	1	212.00	$212.00	$2,374	—
1287	1287	3	186.00	$186.00	$2,394	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
462	462	5	345.00	$345.00	$1,594	—
495 unweaned	495	6	335.00	$335.00	$1,658	—
570	570	6	319.00	$319.00	$1,818	—
579 unweaned	579	4	310.00	$310.00	$1,795	—
603	603	2	302.50	$302.50	$1,824	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1280	1280	1	152.00	$152.00	$1,946	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
700	700	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,750	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1275–1595	1365	80-85%	12	129.00–134.50	$130.53	$1,782	—
1200–1533	1379	80-85%	56	96.00–116.50	$110.60	$1,525	—
1243–1620	1394	80-85%	66	116.00–129.00	$121.58	$1,695	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
797	797	85-90%	5	83.00	$83.00	$662	—
790–925	858	85-90%	2	75.00–80.00	$77.70	$667	—
1095–1140	1118	85-90%	2	90.00–91.00	$90.51	$1,012	-11.93
1075–1170	1125	85-90%	5	76.00–87.00	$83.94	$944	-18.50
1123–1130	1127	85-90%	5	91.00–95.00	$92.59	$1,043	-9.85
828–1355	1146	85-90%	46	98.00–114.00	$108.00	$1,238	+5.56
1095–1285	1192	85-90%	34	114.00–124.00	$117.44	$1,400	+3.89
1246–1250	1247	85-90%	5	127.50–128.00	$127.90	$1,595	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1425–1640	1533	75-80%	2	122.00–124.00	$122.93	$1,885	+0.12
1452–1625	1548	75-80%	11	115.00–121.00	$119.13	$1,844	-3.68
1110–1990	1623	75-80%	3	112.00–119.00	$116.18	$1,886	-8.32
1830	1830	75-80%	1	124.00	$124.00	$2,269	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1337–1990	1500	6	131.00–144.00	$140.57	$2,109	+5.01
1560–1960	1798	6	118.00–146.00	$137.53	$2,473	-1.19
1743–2233	1877	34	147.00–151.00	$149.06	$2,798	—
2160	2160	1	154.00	$154.00	$3,326	—
2565	2565	1	144.00	$144.00	$3,694	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
871–1315	1031	(<2 yrs)	Open	55	141.00–208.00	$187.40	$1,932
935–1255	1147	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	17	124.00–180.00	$149.51	$1,715

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
865–1010	938	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	165.00–170.00	$167.31	$1,569
795–1215	965	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	6	116.00–155.00	$128.71	$1,242

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
905–1205	1107	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	9	2,075.00–2,375.00	$2,261.57
1170	1170	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	1,925.00	$1,925.00
1170	1170	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	1	2,000.00	$2,000.00
1070–1370	1245	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	15	1,500.00–1,750.00	$1,714.46
1170–1408	1288	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	7	2,025.00–2,250.00	$2,143.45
1145–1395	1357	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	13	1,900.00–2,025.00	$2,008.77

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
943	943	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	2,100.00	$2,100.00
1285	1285	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	2,450.00	$2,450.00
1331	1331	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	2,050.00	$2,050.00
1353–1540	1420	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	11	1,850.00–1,900.00	$1,872.22

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Bred Heifers

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
797	797	(<2 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	1,850.00	$1,850.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1048	1048	(<2 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	2,300.00	$2,300.00

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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.