Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, November 3, 2020

434 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $138.28/cwt +4.28 vs last sale · ≈ $1,170/hd at 846 lb · 67 head
light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $118.45/cwt +4.78 vs last sale · ≈ $734/hd at 619 lb · 29 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $120.67/cwt +4.18 vs last sale · ≈ $699/hd at 580 lb · 18 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 434 776 1,272
Feeder cattle 355 680 1,155
Slaughter cattle 73 93 96
Replacement cattle 6 3 21

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steers and heifers sold 3.00 to 4.00 higher with good demand. Slaughter cows sold 1.00 higher with moderate demand. Slaughter bulls sold 5.00 higher on gaunt high dressing bulls.

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
240 240 2 160.00 $160.00 $384 —
290 290 1 152.50 $152.50 $442 —
462 462 2 145.00 $145.00 $670 +5.19
530 value added 530 1 144.00 $144.00 $763 —
520–545 539 7 133.00–139.00 $137.29 $740 -0.41
568 value added 568 3 140.00 $140.00 $795 +5.00
560–590 580 3 134.00–136.00 $134.64 $781 +3.84
619–649 value added 635 11 140.00–141.00 $140.44 $892 +7.80
640–647 644 4 127.00–130.00 $128.49 $827 +3.29
663 value added 663 3 139.00 $139.00 $922 -2.66
665–697 689 6 125.00–130.00 $128.69 $887 +6.78
703–737 716 10 120.00–126.00 $124.27 $890 +3.27
707–740 value added 722 6 129.00–134.00 $130.80 $944 +3.80
760–765 762 5 127.00–129.00 $128.20 $977 +11.20
835 835 5 130.00 $130.00 $1,086 —
847 fancy 847 62 138.95 $138.95 $1,177 —
876–882 878 5 127.00–129.00 $128.20 $1,126 -1.04
995 995 1 114.00 $114.00 $1,134 -1.00
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
675 675 1 119.00 $119.00 $803 —
705 705 1 116.00 $116.00 $818 —
820 820 1 102.00 $102.00 $836 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
542 542 2 130.00 $130.00 $705 —
645 645 1 119.00 $119.00 $768 -0.67

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
285 285 2 127.50 $127.50 $363 —
391 391 3 125.00 $125.00 $489 +0.93
400–435 418 9 117.00–120.00 $118.62 $496 -3.90
450 value added 450 1 130.00 $130.00 $585 +6.51
450–493 474 9 122.00–129.00 $125.14 $593 +7.78
500 500 1 116.00 $116.00 $580 +1.62
500–541 value added 520 7 119.00–123.00 $120.11 $625 +0.45
552–590 value added 578 16 119.00–123.00 $121.50 $702 +3.14
592 592 2 114.00 $114.00 $675 -1.47
600–640 614 22 111.00–118.00 $117.13 $719 -1.40
630–641 636 7 122.00–123.00 $122.58 $780 +4.05
658 658 3 122.00 $122.00 $803 +11.00
656–676 664 8 110.00–114.00 $112.47 $747 +1.47
702 702 2 109.00 $109.00 $765 -4.92
775–776 776 13 117.00 $117.00 $908 +18.99
810 810 4 100.00 $100.00 $810 —
818 818 8 111.00 $111.00 $908 —
858 858 3 109.00 $109.00 $935 —
985–995 993 4 89.00–99.00 $96.52 $958 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
480 480 1 101.00 $101.00 $485 —
505 505 1 110.00 $110.00 $556 +10.00
575 575 1 110.00 $110.00 $632 —
600–625 613 5 100.00–105.00 $101.02 $619 +1.02
650–693 684 5 100.00–118.00 $114.58 $784 +18.58
750 750 1 95.00 $95.00 $712 +11.00
820 820 1 82.00 $82.00 $672 —
941 941 3 81.00 $81.00 $762 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
700 700 1 95.00 $95.00 $665 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
317–330 321 3 145.00 $145.00 $465 -0.06
365 365 1 142.50 $142.50 $520 +2.50
430 fancy 430 1 147.00 $147.00 $632 —
437 437 2 143.00 $143.00 $625 +9.25
460–497 485 6 141.00–146.00 $142.58 $692 +12.46
508–520 512 5 130.00–138.00 $135.37 $693 +9.37
572–580 575 3 130.00–131.00 $130.66 $751 +5.41
617–645 631 12 113.00–124.00 $119.97 $757 +2.64
655–675 661 4 114.00–120.00 $117.47 $776 +6.47
725–730 726 7 105.00–110.00 $108.71 $789 -0.30
781–795 787 5 98.00–102.00 $99.62 $784 —
1002 1002 2 81.00 $81.00 $812 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
285 285 1 125.00 $125.00 $356 —
435 435 1 132.00 $132.00 $574 +11.88
535 535 1 120.00 $120.00 $642 +1.35
645 645 1 110.00 $110.00 $710 —
905 905 1 80.00 $80.00 $724 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
510 510 1 119.00 $119.00 $607 —
795 795 1 90.00 $90.00 $716 —
880 880 1 83.00 $83.00 $730 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1020 1020 80-85% 1 49.00 $49.00 $500 —
1140–1515 1289 80-85% 11 50.00–55.00 $53.80 $693 +1.33
1165–1550 1316 80-85% 14 56.00–60.00 $57.27 $754 -0.22
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1200–1630 1393 75-80% 12 51.00–55.00 $53.25 $742 —
1250–1850 1617 75-80% 13 56.00–64.00 $58.56 $947 +1.07
1830 1830 75-80% 1 49.00 $49.00 $897 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1035–1100 1070 85-90% 3 55.00–57.00 $55.99 $599 —
1020–1185 1104 85-90% 5 32.00–47.00 $39.91 $441 —
1110–1220 1165 85-90% 2 47.00–50.00 $48.43 $564 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1730–1920 1814 5 89.00–99.00 $94.37 $1,712 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1545 1545 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 875.00 $875.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1320 1320 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 750.00 $750.00 —

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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.