Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 30, 2021

785 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $143.11/cwt +11.98 vs last sale · ≈ $1,120/hd at 783 lb · 97 head
light 7-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $128.84/cwt +15.70 vs last sale · ≈ $936/hd at 726 lb · 88 head
light 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $146.48/cwt +10.01 vs last sale · ≈ $1,055/hd at 720 lb · 81 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 785 838 1,189
Feeder cattle 673 753 1,081
Slaughter cattle 94 73 106
Replacement cattle 18 12 2

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steers and heifers sold mostly 2.00 to 5.00 higher with good demand; 700-800 lb steers and heifers 8.00-10.00 higher with very good demand. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls mostly 5.00 higher 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
380–385 383 2 170.00–173.00 $171.51 $657 +5.09
375–395 value added 386 4 176.00–200.00 $194.10 $749 +19.10
400–425 value added 414 8 170.00–182.00 $173.70 $719 +6.05
448 448 3 155.00 $155.00 $694 —
450 450 1 165.00 $165.00 $742 —
505–547 value added 524 16 155.00–177.50 $163.03 $854 +4.69
555–595 577 3 145.00–150.00 $147.64 $852 +3.86
615–620 617 3 136.00–139.00 $137.01 $845 +4.28
625–648 value added 645 8 143.00–151.50 $150.47 $971 +8.11
659–668 value added 663 11 141.00–152.50 $146.27 $970 +6.61
665 665 1 138.00 $138.00 $918 +4.34
700–745 value added 717 71 132.00–151.00 $149.39 $1,071 +11.39
740–741 741 10 125.50–127.00 $125.80 $932 +0.66
750–780 765 2 124.00–127.00 $125.47 $960 +0.48
755–795 value added 783 95 129.00–146.00 $143.48 $1,123 +11.23
805–810 808 3 119.00 $119.00 $962 -8.75
846 fancy 846 12 133.00 $133.00 $1,125 —
883 883 4 122.00 $122.00 $1,077 -0.03
885 fancy 885 60 132.75 $132.75 $1,175 —
900 900 1 118.00 $118.00 $1,062 —
1050 1050 1 123.00 $123.00 $1,292 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
525 525 1 135.00 $135.00 $709 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
270 value added 270 1 146.00 $146.00 $394 —
305 305 1 140.00 $140.00 $427 +1.47
320–345 value added 335 3 154.00–157.00 $155.99 $523 —
385–390 value added 389 4 148.00–155.00 $153.27 $596 +6.15
420 value added 420 1 140.00 $140.00 $588 -5.86
410–435 427 3 128.00–136.00 $133.44 $570 —
450–455 453 2 125.00 $125.00 $566 —
487–495 value added 491 6 138.00–143.00 $139.50 $685 +2.05
505–540 value added 521 16 131.00–141.00 $137.53 $717 +7.64
575–595 585 2 122.00–126.00 $124.03 $726 +0.63
565–595 value added 586 15 130.00–138.00 $135.21 $792 +6.91
620–640 value added 631 23 123.00–133.00 $132.26 $835 +5.12
630–640 633 3 114.00–115.00 $114.66 $726 -3.24
633 633 11 133.00 $133.00 $842 +15.10
671 671 5 121.00 $121.00 $812 +4.04
724–727 value added 726 85 129.00–129.50 $129.38 $939 +8.59
735–737 736 3 112.00–117.00 $113.66 $837 +3.66
750 750 2 119.00 $119.00 $892 +13.43
766 766 13 124.00 $124.00 $950 +18.43
796 value added 796 24 120.00 $120.00 $955 —
800 800 1 111.00 $111.00 $888 +2.00
960 960 2 104.00 $104.00 $998 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
330 330 1 128.00 $128.00 $422 -4.00
640 640 1 95.00 $95.00 $608 -5.97
755 755 1 100.00 $100.00 $755 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
432 432 2 153.00 $153.00 $661 -4.00
457–490 477 8 140.00–155.00 $148.48 $708 -3.08
505–545 523 6 135.00–150.00 $145.93 $763 -1.36
567 value added 567 4 154.00 $154.00 $873 —
605 value added 605 2 132.00 $132.00 $799 -2.40
655–680 value added 667 7 128.00–136.00 $130.11 $868 -1.89
715 value added 715 1 132.00 $132.00 $944 +10.12
725 725 1 122.00 $122.00 $884 +5.34
790 790 1 114.00 $114.00 $901 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
735 735 1 122.00 $122.00 $897 —
830 830 1 100.00 $100.00 $830 —
895 895 2 96.00 $96.00 $859 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
495 495 1 127.00 $127.00 $629 —
500–525 508 3 133.00–135.00 $133.69 $679 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
500 500 1 116.00 $116.00 $580 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1165–1635 1419 75-80% 10 60.00–66.00 $63.22 $897 —
1320–1600 1460 75-80% 2 57.00–58.00 $57.55 $840 —
1255–1595 1478 75-80% 7 67.00–73.00 $69.38 $1,025 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
860–1325 1069 85-90% 9 50.00–57.00 $53.42 $571 +1.89
1025–1275 1165 85-90% 4 63.00–68.00 $64.55 $752 +6.54
980–1335 1194 85-90% 4 57.00–62.00 $58.31 $696 +0.30
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1230–1495 1328 80-85% 9 59.00–66.00 $63.35 $841 +2.24
1145–1725 1338 80-85% 8 67.00–75.00 $68.84 $921 +7.73

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1245–2235 1628 5 86.00–91.00 $88.69 $1,444 —
1820–1825 1823 2 100.00–107.00 $103.50 $1,887 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1085–1150 1111 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 4 66.00–88.00 $76.34 $848
1145 fancy 1145 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 96.00 $96.00 $1,099

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
945–1465 1266 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 4 800.00–1,025.00 $889.44
1195–1515 1343 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 5 850.00–1,050.00 $934.81
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1110 1110 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 700.00 $700.00

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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
1210–1415 1313 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 2 975.00–1,075.00 $1,028.90 —

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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.