Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards Market Report

Albany, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 7, 2022

750 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Blue Grass Stockyards report →

light 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $172.34/cwt +23.03 vs last sale · ≈ $1,245/hd at 722 lb · 191 head
light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $139.41/cwt +4.50 vs last sale · ≈ $862/hd at 618 lb · 29 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $151.24/cwt +3.51 vs last sale · ≈ $865/hd at 572 lb · 27 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 750 816 945
Feeder cattle 685 700 841
Slaughter cattle 59 105 77
Replacement cattle 6 11 27

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers sold unevenly steady. Slaughter cows sold 1.00 to 3.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold steady with the exception of a few high dressing individuals.

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
300 fancy 300 1 205.00 $205.00 $615 +0.82
371 371 4 180.00 $180.00 $668 —
405–410 fancy 408 2 203.00–222.50 $212.69 $868 -7.31
415–445 428 4 189.00–200.00 $192.17 $822 -0.83
460–490 468 6 180.00–195.00 $189.63 $887 +1.95
502–535 509 9 170.00–185.00 $181.05 $922 +5.64
520 value added 520 7 188.00 $188.00 $978 -4.23
550–585 575 17 168.00–183.00 $178.01 $1,024 -2.85
610 value added 610 8 170.00 $170.00 $1,037 -1.66
602–640 626 18 153.00–165.00 $161.65 $1,012 +4.94
661 value added 661 5 167.00 $167.00 $1,104 —
650–675 666 9 145.00–158.00 $152.55 $1,016 -5.85
701–737 715 12 144.00–159.00 $151.35 $1,082 +2.04
700–739 value added 723 179 162.50–177.95 $173.75 $1,256 —
766–790 780 13 139.00–154.50 $150.91 $1,177 -2.60
800–822 808 11 152.00–156.00 $154.71 $1,250 +9.04
875 875 4 154.00 $154.00 $1,348 +11.00
905–920 914 4 139.00–153.00 $146.76 $1,341 +4.77
965 965 1 120.00 $120.00 $1,158 -31.00
1017 1017 7 154.00 $154.00 $1,566 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
470–480 475 4 166.00–175.00 $168.77 $802 +7.77
530–535 533 3 158.00–167.00 $163.32 $870 +0.64
550–595 574 4 156.00–162.00 $159.28 $914 +0.15
620 620 1 143.00 $143.00 $887 —
735–740 738 2 130.00–138.00 $134.01 $989 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
330 330 1 147.50 $147.50 $487 —
520–526 524 3 140.00–149.00 $146.02 $765 —
640 640 1 126.00 $126.00 $806 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
660 660 1 125.00 $125.00 $825 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1165 1165 1 128.00 $128.00 $1,491 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
220 220 1 155.00 $155.00 $341 —
280 280 1 150.00 $150.00 $420 +8.31
300–340 320 2 150.00–157.50 $153.98 $493 +3.95
350 fancy 350 2 170.00 $170.00 $595 +11.00
375–390 381 4 140.00–154.00 $145.20 $553 -4.75
400–435 412 6 132.00–145.00 $138.90 $572 -6.49
437 fancy 437 6 162.00 $162.00 $708 —
470–495 480 15 135.00–152.00 $146.91 $705 +3.57
500–545 530 20 141.00–151.00 $147.49 $782 -1.79
537–540 value added 539 4 154.00 $154.00 $830 -8.78
552–578 value added 567 12 155.00 $155.00 $879 +1.26
555–592 576 15 138.00–151.00 $148.24 $854 +5.59
600–635 618 29 135.00–144.00 $139.41 $862 +9.70
653 value added 653 16 147.00 $147.00 $960 +5.43
650–685 667 3 115.00–130.00 $123.20 $822 -3.46
700–710 705 4 123.00–132.00 $128.76 $908 +8.09
702–737 value added 718 17 140.00–149.50 $146.87 $1,055 —
755–795 776 5 128.00–134.00 $130.55 $1,013 +16.55
782 value added 782 2 146.00 $146.00 $1,142 —
800–840 820 2 106.00–115.00 $110.39 $905 —
825 value added 825 1 130.00 $130.00 $1,072 —
858 858 3 125.00 $125.00 $1,072 —
950 950 2 121.00 $121.00 $1,150 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
370 370 1 110.00 $110.00 $407 —
440 440 1 121.00 $121.00 $532 —
452 452 2 116.00 $116.00 $524 -4.00
595 595 1 126.00 $126.00 $750 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
540–545 543 2 131.00–136.00 $133.49 $725 +9.86
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1115 1115 1 109.00 $109.00 $1,215 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
247 247 2 170.00 $170.00 $420 —
260 260 1 177.50 $177.50 $462 -2.50
340–345 343 2 180.00–195.00 $187.55 $643 +4.43
367 367 2 177.50 $177.50 $651 -7.35
410 fancy 410 1 195.00 $195.00 $800 -13.12
430–445 438 2 171.00–175.00 $172.97 $758 -13.41
470–475 473 3 172.00–181.00 $178.02 $842 -7.99
505–530 517 6 154.00–168.00 $161.74 $836 +16.79
555–565 557 6 143.00–155.00 $146.36 $815 +7.46
600–642 625 5 138.00–148.00 $142.08 $888 +9.66
675 675 1 130.00 $130.00 $878 -12.31
715 715 2 116.00–120.00 $118.00 $844 +7.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
300–335 317 5 165.00–170.00 $168.47 $534 —
475–495 488 6 146.00–153.00 $149.72 $731 —
505–545 527 3 138.00–142.00 $140.05 $738 —
640 640 1 129.00 $129.00 $826 +11.00
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
305 305 1 140.00 $140.00 $427 —
365 365 1 140.00 $140.00 $511 —
475–480 478 2 139.00–140.00 $139.50 $667 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
625 625 1 122.00 $122.00 $762 —
665 665 1 120.00 $120.00 $798 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1070–1290 1170 80-85% 12 51.00–60.00 $54.86 $642 —
1030–1400 1250 80-85% 20 61.00–68.00 $64.95 $812 +0.62
1200–1395 1320 80-85% 3 69.00–70.00 $69.66 $920 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
895–1015 955 85-90% 2 61.00–62.00 $61.53 $588 —
995 995 85-90% 1 64.00 $64.00 $637 —
1095 1095 85-90% 1 45.00 $45.00 $493 -15.22
1050–1225 1116 85-90% 5 50.00–57.00 $53.10 $593 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1425–1450 1440 75-80% 3 63.00–66.00 $65.01 $936 —
1750–1865 1808 75-80% 2 69.00–73.00 $70.94 $1,283 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1795 1795 1 89.00 $89.00 $1,598 —
1780–2035 1908 2 97.00 $97.00 $1,851 —
1840–2190 2039 4 104.00–110.00 $105.85 $2,158 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1220 1220 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 760.00 $760.00
1235 1235 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 830.00 $830.00
1270 1270 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 885.00 $885.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1230 1230 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)Open 1 810.00 $810.00 —
1675 1675 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 1,350.00 $1,350.00 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
205 205 1 100.00 $100.00 $205 —
380 380 1 103.00 $103.00 $391 —

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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.