Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 2, 2021

771 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 heifers $124.90/cwt +15.40 vs last sale · ≈ $1,029/hd at 824 lb · 67 head
light 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $128.85/cwt -3.21 vs last sale · ≈ $1,091/hd at 847 lb · 65 head
light 9-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $115.00/cwt +24.00 vs last sale · ≈ $1,082/hd at 941 lb · 61 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 771 554 680
Feeder cattle 716 494 648
Slaughter cattle 49 59 28
Replacement cattle 6 1 4

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steers sold mostly steady however 400-500 lb sold 3.00 higher with very good demand for weaned packages. Feeder heifers sold mostly 3.00 higher with very good demand for weaned 400-600 lb packages. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold 2.00 lower with good demand.

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
342 342 2 180.00 $180.00 $616 —
405 405 2 155.00 $155.00 $628 —
434–437 value added 435 7 180.00–182.00 $181.43 $789 +10.43
475 475 1 158.00 $158.00 $750 —
471–496 value added 481 21 159.00–165.00 $163.27 $785 -7.75
530 530 2 148.00 $148.00 $784 —
535–549 value added 547 7 155.00–161.00 $160.16 $876 -1.11
560–568 567 6 145.00–147.00 $145.33 $824 -3.67
577–588 value added 582 31 148.00–157.00 $153.47 $893 -3.75
602–646 value added 624 42 139.00–147.00 $141.02 $880 -4.98
640 640 1 134.00 $134.00 $858 +3.00
662–688 value added 686 43 136.00–140.00 $139.64 $958 —
707–742 value added 722 21 127.00–133.25 $131.04 $946 -0.84
758–788 value added 770 27 126.00–130.75 $129.84 $1,000 +0.84
761–780 770 14 122.00–125.00 $124.25 $957 —
847 847 65 128.85 $128.85 $1,091 -0.51
855–890 858 14 119.00–123.00 $122.70 $1,053 —
903–934 915 20 115.50–120.00 $118.16 $1,081 -2.63
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
330 330 1 145.00 $145.00 $478 —
535 535 1 131.00 $131.00 $701 —
660 660 1 129.00 $129.00 $851 —
835 835 1 110.00 $110.00 $918 -6.87
940 940 1 110.00 $110.00 $1,034 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
337 337 2 140.00 $140.00 $472 —
415–425 value added 420 4 135.00–144.00 $140.26 $589 —
465–495 value added 488 16 134.00–136.00 $135.27 $660 —
500 500 1 122.00 $122.00 $610 —
507–547 value added 523 44 129.00–136.00 $132.47 $693 +1.87
551–595 value added 576 21 127.00–135.00 $131.79 $759 +8.30
603–646 value added 634 37 122.00–129.00 $127.82 $810 +4.50
655–691 682 5 109.00–117.00 $115.02 $784 -0.48
704 value added 704 7 123.00 $123.00 $866 —
756–775 764 6 105.00–111.00 $108.49 $829 —
824 fancy 824 67 124.90 $124.90 $1,029 —
855 855 1 104.00 $104.00 $889 —
941 fancy 941 61 115.00 $115.00 $1,082 —
1017 1017 2 91.00 $91.00 $925 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
445 445 1 124.00 $124.00 $552 +14.00
630 630 1 102.00 $102.00 $643 —
670 670 1 95.00 $95.00 $636 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355 fancy 355 1 178.00 $178.00 $632 —
362–370 364 5 165.00 $165.00 $601 -3.00
420 420 1 147.00 $147.00 $617 —
480–483 value added 482 5 161.00–163.00 $162.60 $784 —
530–545 538 2 139.00–145.00 $142.04 $764 -1.33
545–546 value added 546 5 150.00–151.00 $150.80 $823 —
550 550 1 145.00 $145.00 $798 +6.00
562 value added 562 2 148.00 $148.00 $832 —
643 value added 643 3 133.00 $133.00 $855 —
660 660 2 126.00 $126.00 $832 +7.69
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
585 585 1 130.00 $130.00 $760 —
715 715 1 110.00 $110.00 $786 —
890 890 1 76.00 $76.00 $676 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1015–1290 1153 80-85% 2 48.00–51.00 $49.32 $569 —
1155–1300 1228 80-85% 2 57.00–58.00 $57.47 $706 +2.93
1070–1640 1390 80-85% 14 63.00–70.00 $66.38 $923 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
880–1225 1113 85-90% 8 50.00–57.00 $54.10 $602 —
1100–1165 1133 85-90% 2 44.00–45.00 $44.51 $504 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1510–1705 1604 75-80% 5 63.00–68.00 $64.25 $1,031 —
1305–1940 1623 75-80% 2 58.00–62.00 $60.39 $980 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1265 1265 1 74.00 $74.00 $936 —
1620–2160 1841 4 94.00–101.00 $96.93 $1,784 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1015–1265 1118 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 3 75.00–84.00 $80.81 $903

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1345–1525 1404 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 4 1,050.00–1,100.00 $1,076.05
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1565 1565 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 800.00 $800.00

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
853 853 12 96.50 $96.50 $823 —
995 995 1 87.00 $87.00 $866 —
1003 1003 17 86.50 $86.50 $868 —

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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.