Blue Grass Stockyards Market Report

Richmond, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, September 15, 2023

1,047 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 9-weight M&L 1-2 steers $238.09/cwt +28.19 vs last sale · ≈ $2,206/hd at 926 lb · 120 head

light 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $255.25/cwt +10.50 vs last sale · ≈ $2,074/hd at 813 lb · 76 head

heavy 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $249.93/cwt +3.18 vs last sale · ≈ $2,209/hd at 884 lb · 62 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,047	1,443	1,204
Feeder cattle	971	1,393	1,144
Slaughter cattle	67	48	60
Replacement cattle	9	2	0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers sold 4.00 to 8.00 higher with a good quality offering. Yearling steers and heifers sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher. Good demand for the weaned preconditioned feeder calves. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 lower with the exception of one extremely high dressing individual. Slaughter bulls sold firm.

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
385 fancy	385	1	297.50	$297.50	$1,145	—
390	390	3	247.50	$247.50	$965	+30.00
420	420	1	255.00	$255.00	$1,071	—
445 value added	445	1	275.00	$275.00	$1,224	—
482–487	485	4	233.00–247.50	$240.21	$1,165	—
505–542	522	5	236.00–248.00	$238.71	$1,246	+8.05
527 value added	527	4	268.00	$268.00	$1,412	—
575	575	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,351	+3.72
600–602	601	7	240.00	$240.00	$1,442	-8.51
607–623 value added	620	30	260.00–267.00	$265.63	$1,647	—
720	720	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,584	+1.43
751 value added	751	44	261.00	$261.00	$1,960	-0.70
795	795	1	232.00	$232.00	$1,844	—
809–812 value added	812	72	254.00–256.30	$255.98	$2,079	+11.23
815–845	823	4	234.00–245.00	$242.17	$1,993	—
857–875	863	3	214.00–229.00	$219.07	$1,891	—
885 value added	885	59	251.50	$251.50	$2,226	+4.75
906–910	907	4	220.00–224.00	$223.00	$2,023	+13.10
923–931 value added	927	116	236.00–241.25	$238.61	$2,212	—
990	990	1	190.00	$190.00	$1,881	—
1005–1037 value added	1021	104	227.00–230.00	$228.48	$2,333	+0.98
1041	1041	3	215.00	$215.00	$2,238	+29.00
1055–1065	1060	2	202.50–213.00	$207.77	$2,202	—
1066–1084 value added	1074	147	217.85–226.00	$222.77	$2,393	-2.48

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505	505	1	210.00	$210.00	$1,060	+30.00
582	582	2	200.00	$200.00	$1,164	+0.49
605	605	1	217.50	$217.50	$1,316	+16.50
870–895	883	2	190.00–207.50	$198.63	$1,754	—
915	915	1	200.00	$200.00	$1,830	—
1030	1030	2	190.00	$190.00	$1,957	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
620	620	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,364	-14.93

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1300	1300	1	187.00	$187.00	$2,431	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
315–325	322	3	225.00	$225.00	$724	—
385	385	1	242.50	$242.50	$934	+43.47
410–442	427	21	227.50–241.00	$233.00	$995	+28.00
455–480	469	8	224.00–231.00	$227.66	$1,068	+16.66
500–546	523	22	231.00–243.00	$237.96	$1,245	+46.62
551–590	563	13	220.00–235.00	$229.04	$1,289	+31.09
615–631	624	24	214.00–230.50	$225.77	$1,409	+24.54
725	725	1	201.00	$201.00	$1,457	—
809 value added	809	50	230.25	$230.25	$1,863	+8.75

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
386–390	387	4	210.00	$210.00	$813	—
410	410	2	217.50	$217.50	$892	—
470–495	476	8	190.00–200.00	$197.79	$941	+3.55
608	608	3	200.00	$200.00	$1,216	+20.00
668–673	671	7	204.00–209.00	$206.87	$1,388	—
727	727	2	185.00	$185.00	$1,345	—
750–792	771	4	180.00–186.00	$183.08	$1,412	+25.58

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
315	315	1	185.00	$185.00	$583	—
460	460	1	200.00	$200.00	$920	—
505–510	508	2	170.00–180.00	$174.98	$889	-25.02
555	555	2	191.00	$191.00	$1,060	—
605	605	1	185.00	$185.00	$1,119	—
720–741	738	7	181.00–187.50	$181.91	$1,342	—
885	885	2	160.00	$160.00	$1,416	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
490	490	3	186.00	$186.00	$911	—
615	615	1	177.50	$177.50	$1,092	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
537	537	2	175.00	$175.00	$940	-5.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
625	625	1	160.00	$160.00	$1,000	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
280	280	1	250.00	$250.00	$700	—
325	325	2	245.00	$245.00	$796	—
360–390	386	9	230.00–250.00	$244.55	$944	+22.05
418–445	423	5	241.00–262.50	$257.98	$1,091	+44.22
430–445 fancy	438	2	280.00–287.50	$283.81	$1,243	—
450–499	489	13	230.00–251.00	$241.87	$1,183	+26.07
505–545	516	15	219.00–235.00	$222.50	$1,148	—
558–565	560	4	221.00–228.00	$222.77	$1,248	—
625–648	643	5	210.00–219.00	$216.64	$1,393	—
655–683	667	7	213.00–217.00	$215.24	$1,436	+16.24
770	770	1	178.00	$178.00	$1,371	—
802	802	2	190.00	$190.00	$1,524	+6.95
915	915	1	187.50	$187.50	$1,716	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
477	477	6	224.00	$224.00	$1,068	—
535–545	538	4	190.00–210.00	$203.93	$1,097	—
590	590	3	190.00–200.00	$193.33	$1,141	—
610	610	1	195.00	$195.00	$1,190	—
650–698	680	8	174.00–189.00	$180.00	$1,224	—
755	755	1	150.00	$150.00	$1,132	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
245	245	1	215.00	$215.00	$527	—
410–425	418	2	227.50–230.00	$228.73	$956	+41.27
485	485	1	218.00	$218.00	$1,057	+31.97
540	540	1	204.00	$204.00	$1,102	+6.00
550–562	558	3	190.00–210.00	$203.43	$1,135	—
600–635	621	6	190.00–204.00	$197.77	$1,228	+13.14
665–695	679	4	180.00–186.00	$183.96	$1,249	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
435	435	1	200.00	$200.00	$870	—
490	490	1	200.00	$200.00	$980	+20.00
530	530	1	187.50	$187.50	$994	+11.16
695	695	1	150.00	$150.00	$1,042	-21.00
720	720	1	145.00	$145.00	$1,044	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
445	445	1	170.00	$170.00	$756	—
545	545	1	167.50	$167.50	$913	—
615	615	1	160.00	$160.00	$984	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
855–935	881	85-90%	4	53.00–68.00	$63.07	$556	—
780–1375	1059	85-90%	10	79.50–89.00	$85.65	$907	-18.22
940–1225	1107	85-90%	6	100.00–109.50	$104.01	$1,151	—
985–1335	1150	85-90%	15	93.00–99.50	$95.71	$1,101	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1195–1475	1293	80-85%	6	98.00–110.50	$107.80	$1,394	-8.97
1130–1425	1326	80-85%	11	111.00–134.50	$115.26	$1,528	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1440–1860	1622	75-80%	7	110.00–119.00	$113.81	$1,846	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1285–1730	1505	4	123.00–129.00	$126.20	$1,899	—
1620–2075	1852	5	132.00–139.00	$135.34	$2,506	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
940–1025	980	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	950.00–1,050.00	$984.86
1030	1030	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,000.00	$1,000.00
1170	1170	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,160.00	$1,160.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1040	1040	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	1,010.00	$1,010.00	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
512	512	2	174.00	$174.00	$891	—

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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.