Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass South Stockyards (Thursday) Market Report

Stanford, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, September 2, 2021

933 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $153.27/cwt +21.66 vs last sale · ≈ $911/hd at 594 lb · 143 head
light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $163.44/cwt +9.53 vs last sale · ≈ $1,054/hd at 645 lb · 142 head
light 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $151.60/cwt -10.87 vs last sale · ≈ $1,131/hd at 746 lb · 89 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 933 1,163 1,265
Feeder cattle 877 1,111 1,181
Slaughter cattle 53 52 79
Replacement cattle 3 — 5

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Thursday feeder steers sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher. Feeder heifers sold mostly steady. Yearling steers and heifers sold steady to 1.00 higher. There was good demand for feeder and yearling classes of cattle. Slaughter cows sold steady to 1.00 higher. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00 to 4.00 lower on a limited amount of comparisons. There was moderate demand for slaughter classes of cattle.

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
345–347 346 3 175.00–189.00 $184.35 $638 +7.35
395 395 1 182.00 $182.00 $719 +6.19
410–445 426 6 180.00 $180.00 $767 +11.09
460–490 477 5 170.00–178.00 $175.39 $837 +28.37
531–542 534 10 156.00–162.00 $160.01 $854 +5.28
551–592 557 53 153.00–162.00 $160.64 $895 +12.58
610–646 value added 644 84 166.00–167.00 $166.05 $1,069 -5.95
605–648 646 58 154.00–165.00 $159.65 $1,031 +12.01
650–691 679 26 144.00–159.00 $149.45 $1,015 +4.16
732–745 735 13 141.00–148.00 $146.36 $1,076 +14.36
748 value added 748 76 152.50 $152.50 $1,141 -10.75
750 value added 750 70 157.75 $157.75 $1,183 —
817 817 2 140.00 $140.00 $1,144 —
876 value added 876 64 149.10 $149.10 $1,306 -3.42
985 985 1 138.00 $138.00 $1,359 —
1020 1020 1 111.00 $111.00 $1,132 -19.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
325–340 333 2 155.00–156.00 $155.51 $518 —
373 373 3 140.00 $140.00 $522 —
420 420 1 151.00 $151.00 $634 —
490 490 1 150.00 $150.00 $735 —
580 580 1 145.00 $145.00 $841 —
632 632 2 141.00 $141.00 $891 —
650 650 1 131.00 $131.00 $852 —
935 935 1 101.00 $101.00 $944 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1255 1255 1 81.00 $81.00 $1,017 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
212 212 2 172.50 $172.50 $366 —
300–325 313 2 150.00–157.50 $153.90 $482 +8.04
396 396 3 153.00 $153.00 $606 +8.50
415 fancy 415 1 162.00 $162.00 $672 —
405–435 420 6 142.00–149.00 $145.79 $612 +5.82
450–490 476 9 132.00–146.00 $141.83 $675 +1.65
500–530 516 12 132.00–138.00 $134.53 $694 -1.98
577–594 590 15 131.00–147.00 $142.95 $843 +11.34
593–598 value added 595 128 152.50–155.80 $154.48 $919 —
600–645 613 6 120.00–124.00 $121.68 $746 -7.91
630 fancy 630 1 142.00 $142.00 $895 —
665–675 670 2 119.00–120.00 $119.50 $801 -6.14
710–739 729 6 120.00–130.00 $126.76 $924 —
884 884 7 122.00 $122.00 $1,078 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310 310 1 137.00 $137.00 $425 —
397 397 2 138.00 $138.00 $548 —
495 495 1 128.00 $128.00 $634 —
520–530 525 3 118.00–121.00 $119.67 $628 —
568–595 582 6 124.00–129.00 $126.56 $737 —
667–696 686 6 115.00–118.00 $117.03 $803 —
725 725 1 110.00 $110.00 $798 —
750 750 1 111.00 $111.00 $832 —
810 810 1 102.00 $102.00 $826 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
210–245 231 4 150.00–162.50 $158.07 $365 —
262–275 266 3 160.00–167.50 $164.92 $439 —
360–395 378 2 178.00–181.00 $179.43 $678 +10.72
400–403 402 4 168.00–175.00 $169.74 $682 +0.20
452–465 457 7 167.00–177.00 $174.68 $798 +17.51
500–545 525 9 140.00–155.00 $147.89 $776 -0.61
556–565 558 5 146.00–154.00 $152.38 $850 +6.75
615–625 622 5 140.00–151.00 $145.79 $907 +0.79
710–722 717 5 122.00–134.00 $130.40 $935 —
765–798 793 6 120.00–122.00 $121.68 $965 —
805 805 2 118.00 $118.00 $950 —
860 860 1 113.00 $113.00 $972 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
295 295 1 142.50 $142.50 $420 —
470–495 481 4 157.00–159.00 $157.76 $759 —
520 520 1 130.00 $130.00 $676 —
575 575 1 131.00 $131.00 $753 —
800 800 1 91.00 $91.00 $728 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
925 925 (<2 yrs)N/A 1 900.00 $900.00 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1050–1385 1204 80-85% 8 57.00–60.00 $59.13 $712 —
1090–1385 1247 80-85% 17 61.00–69.00 $64.27 $801 —
1430–1435 1433 80-85% 2 70.00–72.00 $71.00 $1,017 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1525 1525 75-80% 1 61.00 $61.00 $930 —
1560–1655 1603 75-80% 3 67.00–69.00 $67.69 $1,085 —
1645 1645 75-80% 1 73.00 $73.00 $1,201 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
885–980 933 85-90% 2 49.00–51.00 $49.95 $466 —
975 975 85-90% 1 56.00 $56.00 $546 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1265–1310 1288 2 81.00–83.00 $82.02 $1,056 —
1585–1745 1665 2 87.00–88.00 $87.48 $1,457 —
1720 1720 1 104.00 $104.00 $1,789 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
885 885 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 79.00 $79.00 $699

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1040–1050 1045 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 2 750.00–1,100.00 $924.16
1225 1225 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 1,300.00 $1,300.00

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
777 777 7 110.00 $110.00 $855 —
863 value added 863 68 113.50 $113.50 $980 —

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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.