Blue Grass Stockyards Market Report

Richmond, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, May 17, 2024

446 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 $231.17/cwt ≈ $2,142/hd at 926 lb · 125 head

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $276.70/cwt ≈ $1,700/hd at 614 lb · 76 head

heavy 9-weight M&L 1-2 steers $237.75/cwt +25.75 vs last sale · ≈ $2,282/hd at 960 lb · 56 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	446	380	528
Feeder cattle	409	291	458
Slaughter cattle	34	39	47
Replacement cattle	3	50	23

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: No trend on feeder calves due to low receipts but a higher undertone noted. Slaughter cows sold 3.00 to 5.00 higher. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 3.00 higher.

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
400–435	418	2	340.00	$340.00	$1,421	-12.50
515–540	528	4	306.00–329.00	$321.00	$1,695	+7.71
587	587	2	280.00	$280.00	$1,644	—
640	640	1	279.00	$279.00	$1,786	—
657	657	2	270.00	$270.00	$1,774	—
765	765	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,912	—
907–943 value added	925	115	226.75–238.00	$232.31	$2,149	—
943	943	10	218.00	$218.00	$2,056	—
960 value added	960	56	237.75	$237.75	$2,282	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300	300	1	312.50	$312.50	$938	—
396	396	3	305.00	$305.00	$1,208	—
425	425	2	310.00	$310.00	$1,318	+7.50
450–457	454	4	292.00–300.00	$295.97	$1,344	—
520–525	523	3	270.00–280.00	$276.69	$1,447	+0.11

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
550	550	2	270.00	$270.00	$1,485	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
277	277	2	292.50	$292.50	$810	—
375	375	2	290.00	$290.00	$1,088	—
400–415	408	2	292.50	$292.50	$1,193	—
490	490	2	280.00–287.50	$283.75	$1,390	+7.95
515	515	2	285.00–295.00	$290.00	$1,494	+21.84
570–580	577	7	260.00–276.00	$271.49	$1,566	+20.10
614 value added	614	75	277.00	$277.00	$1,701	—
630	630	1	254.00	$254.00	$1,600	—
805	805	1	225.00	$225.00	$1,811	—
985	985	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,773	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
235	235	1	295.00	$295.00	$693	—
265–280	270	3	285.00–287.50	$285.86	$772	—
335	335	1	285.00	$285.00	$955	—
385	385	1	285.00	$285.00	$1,097	—
402–426	416	8	260.00–277.50	$267.84	$1,114	—
480	480	3	260.00	$260.00	$1,248	—
540	540	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,242	—
602	602	2	220.00	$220.00	$1,324	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
390	390	2	267.50	$267.50	$1,043	—
430	430	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,010	—
490	490	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,176	—
566	566	3	222.50	$222.50	$1,259	+1.50
705–715	710	2	180.00–192.50	$186.21	$1,322	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	1	282.50	$282.50	$1,059	—
455	455	1	272.50	$272.50	$1,240	—
510–533	525	5	237.50–250.00	$240.93	$1,265	—
780	780	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,404	—

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
380	380	2	262.50	$262.50	$998	—
485–490	488	2	230.00–240.00	$234.97	$1,147	—

Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
370	370	1	227.50	$227.50	$842	—
565	565	1	205.00	$205.00	$1,158	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
340	340	2	325.00	$325.00	$1,105	-25.00
355–370	363	2	335.00	$335.00	$1,216	+5.00
405–437	429	4	312.50–325.00	$316.95	$1,360	-8.05
500–547	531	3	275.00–277.50	$276.72	$1,469	—
555	555	1	270.00	$270.00	$1,498	-23.00
607–625	613	3	269.00	$269.00	$1,649	+9.00
810	810	1	219.00	$219.00	$1,774	—
1045	1045	1	175.00	$175.00	$1,829	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
385–395	390	2	300.00–315.00	$307.60	$1,200	—
417	417	2	305.00	$305.00	$1,272	—
492	492	2	282.50	$282.50	$1,390	—
595	595	2	262.00	$262.00	$1,559	-16.00
665	665	1	247.00	$247.00	$1,643	+1.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
325	325	1	260.00	$260.00	$845	—
425	425	1	285.00	$285.00	$1,211	—
467–480	471	4	270.00–287.50	$281.22	$1,325	—
510	510	1	245.00	$245.00	$1,250	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
445	445	2	300.00–307.50	$303.75	$1,352	—
450	450	3	307.00	$307.00	$1,382	—
565	565	1	260.00	$260.00	$1,469	—

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
635	635	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,397	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1440	1440	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	N/A	1	2,250.00	$2,250.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1045–1345	1209	80-85%	7	128.00–137.00	$132.53	$1,602	—
1190–1510	1313	80-85%	7	142.00–162.00	$147.12	$1,932	+11.58

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
925	925	85-90%	1	122.00	$122.00	$1,128	+10.19
930–940	935	85-90%	2	99.00–104.00	$101.49	$949	-10.32
885–1215	975	85-90%	5	109.00–116.00	$111.93	$1,091	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1375–1770	1469	75-80%	7	129.00–136.00	$132.76	$1,950	+1.77

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1390–1445	1418	2	122.00–128.00	$125.06	$1,773	-22.13
1545–2045	1795	2	149.00–152.00	$150.29	$2,698	—
1680–2020	1832	3	166.00–177.00	$170.33	$3,120	—

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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
1245	1245	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	1	2,000.00	$2,000.00	-385.32
1295	1295	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	1,850.00	$1,850.00	—

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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.