Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass South Stockyards (Thursday) Market Report

Stanford, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, February 25, 2021

2,050 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Blue Grass South Stockyards (Thursday) report →

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $134.07/cwt +5.90 vs last sale · ≈ $828/hd at 618 lb · 291 head
heavy 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $125.63/cwt -0.39 vs last sale · ≈ $1,103/hd at 878 lb · 250 head
heavy 9-weight M&L 1-2 steers $118.08/cwt ≈ $1,132/hd at 959 lb · 170 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,050 1,283 295
Feeder cattle 1,983 1,209 233
Slaughter cattle 62 72 49
Replacement cattle 5 2 13

Market comments — USDA reporter

No comparison due to no sale last week because of wintery weather. However there was very good demand for feeders, good demand for yearlings and slaughter classes.

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
250 250 1 180.00 $180.00 $450 —
320 fancy 320 1 203.00 $203.00 $650 —
338 338 3 180.00 $180.00 $608 —
360–362 fancy 362 9 199.00–202.00 $201.67 $730 —
362–396 377 7 170.00–181.00 $176.04 $664 +18.15
440 fancy 440 12 180.00–187.00 $186.42 $820 —
450 fancy 450 2 184.00 $184.00 $828 —
455–497 475 20 149.00–175.00 $165.10 $784 +16.09
515–541 530 16 146.00–154.00 $149.23 $791 +10.13
500–549 value added 539 16 156.00–166.00 $164.16 $885 —
552 value added 552 15 164.00 $164.00 $905 —
557–595 570 8 137.00–154.00 $146.96 $838 +5.03
605 fancy 605 1 153.00 $153.00 $926 —
600–646 value added 626 40 139.00–146.00 $142.59 $893 -6.66
600–649 633 24 127.00–135.00 $131.77 $834 +1.40
650 value added 650 6 136.00 $136.00 $884 —
660–693 681 9 121.00–131.00 $128.81 $877 +3.19
705–737 value added 709 33 130.00–131.50 $131.28 $931 —
706–745 722 51 122.00–128.00 $126.35 $912 +3.46
751–792 775 18 117.00–122.00 $119.95 $930 -6.09
760–782 value added 778 30 125.50–126.00 $125.52 $977 -3.73
826 value added 826 65 128.50 $128.50 $1,061 -0.20
805–844 827 9 115.00–121.00 $118.83 $983 -0.92
858–880 872 13 120.00–123.50 $122.39 $1,067 +7.39
871–889 value added 878 237 125.10–127.00 $125.81 $1,105 -0.30
905–945 920 18 112.00–117.00 $114.50 $1,053 -2.50
952–963 value added 959 168 118.00–118.50 $118.17 $1,133 —
955–965 960 2 104.00–117.00 $110.47 $1,061 —
1109 value added 1109 13 106.50 $106.50 $1,181 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
345 345 1 155.00 $155.00 $535 +10.67
355 355 1 140.00 $140.00 $497 -9.00
474–493 484 10 139.00–145.00 $142.06 $688 +7.06
530–540 535 2 131.00–133.00 $132.01 $706 +8.53
550–579 566 11 128.00–133.00 $130.37 $738 -5.53
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1230 1230 1 85.00 $85.00 $1,046 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
225 fancy 225 1 160.00 $160.00 $360 —
288–295 290 4 135.00–149.00 $145.44 $422 —
320 320 1 142.00 $142.00 $454 +0.37
355–356 fancy 356 6 149.00–150.00 $149.83 $533 —
365–387 380 3 146.00–147.00 $146.68 $557 +7.32
400–420 fancy 410 2 147.00–150.00 $148.46 $609 —
400–445 428 22 124.00–141.00 $136.31 $583 +8.20
452–492 471 67 132.00–143.00 $138.31 $651 +5.99
500–545 518 9 119.00–128.00 $125.27 $649 -1.42
505–524 value added 522 30 133.50–135.00 $133.73 $698 —
550–599 579 39 116.00–130.00 $124.25 $719 +7.00
605–635 617 47 111.00–125.00 $121.12 $747 +4.54
607–643 value added 618 244 135.90–136.90 $136.57 $844 +1.87
655–693 667 24 109.00–116.00 $111.71 $745 -13.00
651–699 value added 673 49 123.50–124.00 $123.62 $832 -3.48
705–743 727 21 110.00–117.00 $113.59 $826 -1.78
731 value added 731 71 128.60 $128.60 $940 —
775–788 782 6 107.00–115.00 $110.34 $863 -1.24
801–841 value added 823 15 112.00–116.00 $113.43 $934 —
850–865 858 4 104.00–105.00 $104.50 $897 +0.50
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
325 325 1 122.00 $122.00 $396 +12.95
360 360 1 125.00 $125.00 $450 +10.68
460–498 486 8 120.00–125.00 $122.12 $594 +9.12
510–525 514 4 110.00–115.00 $112.52 $578 -3.88
575 575 1 109.00 $109.00 $627 +0.25
605–645 615 4 101.00 $101.00 $621 -6.24
667–685 675 8 100.00–106.00 $102.01 $689 -1.99
705–715 712 6 102.00–105.00 $103.16 $734 +3.66
770–797 788 3 90.00–103.00 $98.77 $778 -1.23
990 990 1 87.00 $87.00 $861 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
305–340 323 2 147.50–160.00 $153.41 $496 -14.12
347 fancy 347 2 192.00 $192.00 $666 +12.00
380 380 2 186.00 $186.00 $707 +23.65
434 fancy 434 5 181.00 $181.00 $786 —
415–448 436 5 163.00–175.00 $170.78 $745 +7.47
457–480 467 10 158.00–176.00 $170.22 $795 +23.22
500–545 527 3 131.00–152.00 $143.40 $756 +3.87
530 fancy 530 2 157.00 $157.00 $832 —
570–580 571 7 134.00–154.00 $142.98 $816 +17.87
606 fancy 606 3 138.00 $138.00 $836 —
615–638 630 13 130.00–132.00 $130.15 $820 +6.65
660–680 674 6 116.00–130.00 $125.85 $848 +4.44
702–737 721 6 113.00–116.00 $114.35 $824 +11.84
767–776 775 17 106.00–118.00 $116.60 $904 —
820–825 823 3 101.00–103.00 $102.00 $839 +4.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
450 450 2 130.00 $130.00 $585 +5.00
555 555 1 121.00 $121.00 $672 —
600–630 615 2 94.00–104.00 $99.12 $610 —
790 790 1 103.00 $103.00 $814 +8.00
880 880 1 92.00 $92.00 $810 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1190–1480 1317 80-85% 5 65.00–70.00 $66.30 $873 —
1200–1495 1332 80-85% 12 59.00–63.00 $61.40 $818 —
1210–1485 1336 80-85% 11 52.00–57.00 $54.73 $731 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
955–1125 1047 85-90% 6 50.00–56.00 $53.00 $555 —
910–1130 1052 85-90% 3 58.00–59.00 $58.35 $614 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1500–1820 1628 75-80% 5 58.00–61.00 $60.00 $977 -2.11

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1205–1575 1390 2 80.00 $80.00 $1,112 —
1540–2065 1776 7 90.00–96.00 $93.02 $1,652 —
1910–2250 2030 3 100.00–105.00 $102.48 $2,080 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
855–997 950 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 58.00–70.00 $61.60 $585

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
800–965 883 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 2 670.00–770.00 $724.67

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
190 190 1 119.00 $119.00 $226 —
275 275 2 93.00 $93.00 $256 —
395 395 1 95.00 $95.00 $375 —
475 475 2 81.00 $81.00 $385 —
575 575 1 96.00 $96.00 $552 —
670 670 1 81.00 $81.00 $543 —
815 815 69 98.10 $98.10 $800 —
964 964 38 93.50 $93.50 $901 —

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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.