Blue Grass Stockyards Market Report

Albany, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 18, 2024

791 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $263.90/cwt +22.73 vs last sale · ≈ $2,201/hd at 834 lb · 131 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $267.66/cwt +26.02 vs last sale · ≈ $2,076/hd at 776 lb · 69 head

heavy 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $246.80/cwt +4.94 vs last sale · ≈ $2,144/hd at 869 lb · 67 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	791	750	298
Feeder cattle	737	675	251
Slaughter cattle	39	56	29
Replacement cattle	15	19	18

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers sold steady to 5.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 500lbs sold 8.00 to 10.00 higher with feeder heifers over 500lbs steady. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady.

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
230	230	1	340.00	$340.00	$782	—
250 fancy	250	1	380.00	$380.00	$950	—
270	270	1	340.00	$340.00	$918	—
335 fancy	335	3	392.50	$392.50	$1,315	+7.50
350	350	1	355.00	$355.00	$1,242	-9.39
417 value added	417	2	382.50	$382.50	$1,595	+16.11
410–448	431	12	330.00–355.00	$342.92	$1,478	-1.76
465–475	470	2	347.50–357.50	$352.45	$1,657	+15.85
515–535	527	12	310.00–327.50	$318.97	$1,681	-0.51
550–582	572	14	293.00–317.50	$303.03	$1,733	-3.94
600–640 value added	609	8	287.50–296.00	$291.69	$1,776	+0.12
620–636	632	11	267.50–282.50	$278.22	$1,758	+12.71
655–665	658	9	267.50–270.00	$267.78	$1,762	+9.28
671 value added	671	5	285.00	$285.00	$1,912	—
725–735	727	6	244.00–247.50	$244.59	$1,778	-2.77
739 value added	739	13	264.00	$264.00	$1,951	—
750	750	1	255.00	$255.00	$1,912	+13.36
776 value added	776	68	267.85	$267.85	$2,079	—
834 value added	834	131	263.90	$263.90	$2,201	+22.40
867 value added	867	59	249.00	$249.00	$2,159	+7.00
855–884	880	8	227.50–231.00	$230.58	$2,029	+5.58
1008	1008	57	226.50	$226.50	$2,283	+21.50

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
370	370	1	322.50	$322.50	$1,193	—
425	425	1	320.00	$320.00	$1,360	+20.00
450–495	480	3	312.50–325.00	$316.41	$1,519	—
500–542	523	8	280.00–300.00	$291.87	$1,526	+8.67
565	565	2	270.00	$270.00	$1,526	-18.67
665	665	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,596	-7.50
720	720	1	225.00	$225.00	$1,620	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
475	475	1	322.50	$322.50	$1,532	+27.50
575–585	578	3	275.00–285.00	$281.63	$1,628	-3.37
630	630	1	267.50	$267.50	$1,685	+20.00
707	707	2	239.00	$239.00	$1,690	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
560	560	2	245.00	$245.00	$1,372	-16.22
645	645	1	225.00	$225.00	$1,451	—
670	670	2	230.00	$230.00	$1,541	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
255 fancy	255	2	322.50	$322.50	$822	—
310	310	5	317.50	$317.50	$984	+10.00
342 fancy	342	2	340.00	$340.00	$1,163	—
375–395	387	3	312.50–320.00	$316.73	$1,226	+25.84
395 fancy	395	3	335.00	$335.00	$1,323	+24.19
400–430 value added	414	11	310.00–327.50	$319.25	$1,322	+8.10
400–445	424	4	287.50–300.00	$290.45	$1,232	-0.62
450–495	472	6	282.50–295.00	$290.46	$1,371	+11.93
460–485 value added	481	6	307.50–315.00	$313.38	$1,507	+13.12
500–508 value added	506	5	285.00–312.50	$307.07	$1,554	+28.73
500–546	523	20	267.50–282.50	$274.53	$1,436	+15.58
580	580	1	245.00	$245.00	$1,421	-1.25
602–626 value added	618	32	250.00–261.50	$256.60	$1,586	-0.40
703 value added	703	7	235.00	$235.00	$1,652	—
768 value added	768	17	230.50	$230.50	$1,770	—
790	790	2	210.00	$210.00	$1,659	-2.50
897 value added	897	4	209.00	$209.00	$1,875	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
245	245	4	282.50	$282.50	$692	—
355–370	362	3	282.50–295.00	$287.47	$1,041	+17.47
415–445	423	5	277.50–285.00	$280.57	$1,187	+25.06
470–495	485	9	262.50–272.50	$268.68	$1,303	+5.93
505–530	511	4	240.00–255.00	$251.11	$1,283	+4.57
550	550	2	230.00	$230.00	$1,265	-7.50
655–670	666	8	220.00–230.00	$227.54	$1,515	+22.65
760	760	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,368	-6.14

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
355	355	1	260.00	$260.00	$923	—
415–445	433	3	240.00–245.00	$242.55	$1,050	—
470–492	481	4	237.50–245.00	$241.34	$1,161	+16.61
520–530	525	2	215.00–225.00	$220.05	$1,155	-8.26
560–580	570	2	200.00	$200.00	$1,140	-12.67
605–635	615	3	197.50–200.00	$199.14	$1,225	-10.86

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
414	414	6	295.00	$295.00	$1,221	—
490	490	2	255.00	$255.00	$1,250	-11.17
515	515	1	245.00	$245.00	$1,262	+17.50

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
595	595	1	195.00	$195.00	$1,160	—
695	695	1	197.50	$197.50	$1,373	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1135	1135	1	185.00	$185.00	$2,100	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320	320	1	352.50	$352.50	$1,128	-22.50
450–460	455	2	320.00–330.00	$324.95	$1,479	+7.54
500–545	529	4	270.00–305.00	$282.20	$1,493	+0.79
550–595	571	4	277.50–302.00	$285.28	$1,629	+18.68
615–630	619	4	245.00–252.50	$248.14	$1,536	+8.98
670	670	1	242.50	$242.50	$1,625	+12.50
702–725	710	3	210.00–233.00	$225.17	$1,599	+3.69
820	820	1	192.50	$192.50	$1,578	-8.75

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	1	322.50	$322.50	$1,080	+22.50
360–375	368	2	312.50–322.50	$317.40	$1,168	—
430	430	1	307.50	$307.50	$1,322	+35.00
488	488	3	315.00	$315.00	$1,537	+11.85
550–585	568	2	255.00–257.50	$256.29	$1,456	+14.62
825	825	1	175.00	$175.00	$1,444	-5.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
390	390	2	282.50	$282.50	$1,102	—
495	495	2	272.50–285.00	$278.75	$1,380	-1.04
515	515	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,184	—
595	595	1	222.50	$222.50	$1,324	—
605	605	1	200.00	$200.00	$1,210	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
475	475	1	267.50	$267.50	$1,271	—
575	575	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,380	-8.73

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
750	750	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,350	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
895–1190	1043	85-90%	3	80.00–87.00	$82.34	$859	—
1055–1185	1118	85-90%	6	104.00–108.00	$105.64	$1,181	—
990–1295	1126	85-90%	7	89.00–101.00	$95.78	$1,078	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1320–1500	1435	75-80%	4	108.00–115.00	$111.01	$1,593	—
1540	1540	75-80%	1	105.00	$105.00	$1,617	—
1700	1700	75-80%	1	117.00	$117.00	$1,989	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1295	1295	80-85%	1	121.00	$121.00	$1,567	—
1220–1380	1305	80-85%	3	113.00–117.00	$114.25	$1,491	+10.25

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1475–2030	1710	7	134.00–144.00	$138.14	$2,362	—
1715	1715	1	128.00	$128.00	$2,195	—
2060	2060	1	148.00	$148.00	$3,049	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1595	1595	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	2,650.00	$2,650.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1470	1470	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	1	1,825.00	$1,825.00	—
1575–1720	1648	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	2,800.00–2,900.00	$2,852.20	—
1800	1800	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	2,010.00	$2,010.00	—
1830	1830	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	2,310.00	$2,310.00	—
1845	1845	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	2,600.00	$2,600.00	—

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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.