Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Monday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, January 4, 2021

524 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $133.99/cwt +7.99 vs last sale · ≈ $919/hd at 686 lb · 87 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $119.22/cwt +6.61 vs last sale · ≈ $694/hd at 582 lb · 34 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $122.03/cwt +6.02 vs last sale · ≈ $638/hd at 523 lb · 26 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 524 239 943
Feeder cattle 407 132 755
Slaughter cattle 112 85 161
Replacement cattle 5 22 27

Market comments — USDA reporter

No comparison with last week due to Holiday.

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
320 320 1 160.00 $160.00 $512 —
350–395 378 4 150.00–158.00 $152.90 $578 —
405–440 418 6 143.00–150.00 $146.97 $614 -0.03
462–495 473 3 148.00–149.00 $148.35 $702 +6.80
475–485 value added 480 2 155.00–159.00 $156.98 $754 +7.94
505–540 522 9 139.00–148.00 $144.49 $754 +5.49
528–533 value added 531 8 149.00–157.00 $152.99 $812 —
555–575 568 3 140.00–146.00 $143.64 $816 +8.48
613 value added 613 3 137.00 $137.00 $840 —
600–647 632 11 126.00–135.00 $128.14 $810 +3.43
656–680 672 12 129.00–130.00 $129.33 $869 +6.33
668–690 value added 688 75 132.50–135.00 $134.74 $927 +7.24
715–745 732 5 120.00–125.00 $122.43 $896 +0.43
782 782 8 125.00 $125.00 $978 +3.00
1115 1115 2 105.00 $105.00 $1,171 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310 310 1 145.00 $145.00 $450 —
695 695 1 117.00 $117.00 $813 —
700–710 703 3 110.00 $110.00 $773 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
660 660 2 124.00 $124.00 $818 —

↑ Back to top

Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
245 245 1 137.00 $137.00 $336 —
265–275 270 2 127.50 $127.50 $344 —
335–342 340 3 122.00–130.00 $127.37 $433 —
370–395 391 7 123.00–127.00 $126.02 $493 +1.48
400–449 439 9 122.00–129.00 $126.42 $555 —
454–490 471 17 118.00–131.00 $123.91 $584 +2.76
500–548 523 26 114.00–124.75 $122.03 $638 +7.22
550–599 582 34 112.00–122.75 $119.22 $694 +6.61
643 643 3 114.50 $114.50 $736 +8.17
655–664 660 9 110.00–114.50 $112.52 $743 +5.66
710–721 713 12 104.00–107.00 $106.24 $757 —
770 770 1 104.00 $104.00 $801 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
275–290 283 2 111.00–118.00 $114.59 $324 +2.00
300–347 331 3 110.00–118.00 $112.41 $372 +12.41
355–375 365 2 114.00–118.00 $115.95 $423 +4.95
410–445 422 3 115.00 $115.00 $485 —
450–460 453 4 109.00–115.00 $110.99 $503 -0.50
515 515 1 111.00 $111.00 $572 +4.00
580 580 1 110.00 $110.00 $638 +3.49
617–647 632 4 95.50–105.00 $100.14 $633 +1.14
873 873 3 81.00 $81.00 $707 —
940 940 1 78.00 $78.00 $733 —

↑ Back to top

Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
245 245 1 157.50 $157.50 $386 +2.50
330–345 338 2 142.00–151.00 $146.60 $496 —
360–395 376 4 148.00–154.00 $151.11 $568 —
405–445 424 4 142.00–148.00 $145.92 $619 +3.42
450–485 459 8 139.00–145.00 $141.35 $649 -1.01
466 fancy 466 3 152.00 $152.00 $708 —
526 fancy 526 3 154.00 $154.00 $810 —
601–610 fancy 603 4 125.00–133.00 $130.98 $790 —
600–645 630 7 116.00–125.00 $121.97 $768 —
655–695 684 13 112.00–120.00 $114.97 $786 -0.04
705–745 725 2 110.00–112.00 $110.97 $805 +5.97
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
285 285 1 135.00 $135.00 $385 +0.18
365–380 373 2 138.00–139.00 $138.51 $517 —
410 410 1 140.00 $140.00 $574 +12.00
480 480 1 130.00 $130.00 $624 +6.00
505–515 510 2 135.00 $135.00 $688 —
575 575 2 126.00–128.00 $127.00 $730 —
625 625 1 107.00 $107.00 $669 —
712 712 2 103.00 $103.00 $733 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
790 790 1 105.00 $105.00 $830 —

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1475 1475 75-80% 1 47.00 $47.00 $693 +2.49
1155–1705 1493 75-80% 13 53.00–59.00 $56.33 $841 +11.82
1410–1920 1600 75-80% 19 59.00–64.00 $61.26 $980 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1090–1345 1235 80-85% 3 48.00–51.00 $49.32 $609 +2.53
1130–1685 1375 80-85% 17 54.00–59.00 $56.84 $782 —
1195–1625 1376 80-85% 12 60.00–68.00 $62.84 $865 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
980–1175 1064 85-90% 8 56.00–62.00 $58.93 $627 —
870–1220 1068 85-90% 8 38.00–51.00 $47.02 $502 —
1035–1390 1161 85-90% 9 51.00–56.00 $52.73 $612 -2.27

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1085 1085 1 76.00 $76.00 $825 —
1280–1575 1428 2 93.00 $93.00 $1,328 —
1630–2395 1960 11 94.00–107.00 $99.17 $1,944 —

↑ Back to top

Bred Cows

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1140–1205 1173 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 2 650.00–750.00 $698.61
1380 1380 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 725.00 $725.00
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1425 1425 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 900.00 $900.00

↑ Back to top

Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
275 275 1 82.00 $82.00 $226 —

↑ Back to top

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.