Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, November 23, 2021

733 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $162.93/cwt +8.49 vs last sale · ≈ $1,199/hd at 736 lb · 141 head
heavy 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $156.79/cwt +2.41 vs last sale · ≈ $1,358/hd at 866 lb · 136 head
heavy 7-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $148.00/cwt +24.67 vs last sale · ≈ $1,120/hd at 757 lb · 65 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 733 1,808 610
Feeder cattle 686 1,749 527
Slaughter cattle 41 51 80
Replacement cattle 6 8 3

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steer and heifer calves sold steady to 2.00 lower in a light test. Yearling steers 5.00 to 7.00 higher with very good demand. Slaughter cows and bulls sold 1.00 to 2.00 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
415 415 1 155.00 $155.00 $643 -1.00
407–447 value added 431 6 156.00–164.00 $160.12 $690 -5.27
455 455 1 156.00 $156.00 $710 +4.27
450–475 value added 463 2 158.00 $158.00 $732 -6.44
515–540 522 12 141.00–145.00 $144.08 $752 -4.50
600 value added 600 4 153.00 $153.00 $918 +7.12
686 value added 686 3 143.00 $143.00 $981 -2.00
691 691 12 132.50 $132.50 $916 -6.07
723–749 value added 736 141 162.00–163.90 $162.93 $1,199 +7.01
773 773 9 135.50 $135.50 $1,047 +1.50
810 fancy 810 65 159.80 $159.80 $1,294 —
853–878 fancy 865 129 157.00–157.75 $157.38 $1,361 —
891 891 7 146.00 $146.00 $1,301 -4.80
1032 1032 52 140.00 $140.00 $1,445 +25.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
552 552 7 129.00 $129.00 $712 —
611–630 615 5 124.00–128.50 $127.58 $785 —
745 745 1 127.00 $127.00 $946 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1155–1342 1280 3 105.00–109.00 $107.80 $1,380 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
385 385 1 154.00 $154.00 $593 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
520 520 1 116.00 $116.00 $603 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355 355 1 120.00 $120.00 $426 —
410–440 425 2 120.00–129.00 $124.34 $528 -0.91
475–488 485 4 122.00–129.00 $127.29 $617 +2.29
525–537 534 4 110.00–111.00 $110.50 $590 -6.50
550 550 1 110.00 $110.00 $605 -9.45
610–639 625 11 110.00–118.00 $113.72 $711 -5.44
712–745 720 8 115.00 $115.00 $828 +10.00
757 value added 757 65 148.00 $148.00 $1,120 —
805 805 8 110.00 $110.00 $886 +4.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
375–385 380 2 114.00–118.00 $115.97 $441 -8.03
460–465 463 2 104.00 $104.00 $482 -11.00
585 585 1 105.00 $105.00 $614 —
645 645 1 104.00 $104.00 $671 +4.27
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
385 385 1 103.00 $103.00 $397 —
400–412 408 3 100.00–106.00 $104.04 $424 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1210 1210 1 103.00 $103.00 $1,246 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
347 347 2 170.00 $170.00 $590 —
355 355 1 151.00 $151.00 $536 -12.62
525–535 529 5 135.00–137.00 $135.79 $718 +0.31
600–645 628 9 115.00–128.00 $121.47 $763 -2.32
690 690 4 120.00 $120.00 $828 +8.00
717–735 728 6 118.00–119.00 $118.83 $865 +0.57
840 840 3 110.00 $110.00 $924 -1.66
860–876 872 4 107.00–115.00 $113.03 $986 +0.61
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
337 337 2 134.00 $134.00 $452 —
553 553 5 128.00 $128.00 $708 +8.05
647 647 2 112.00 $112.00 $725 -1.00
668–670 669 7 107.00–108.00 $107.29 $718 -2.71
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
700 700 3 105.00 $105.00 $735 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1115–1310 1170 80-85% 4 56.00–58.00 $56.72 $664 —
1135–1220 1192 80-85% 5 59.00–61.00 $60.19 $717 —
1030–1550 1248 80-85% 5 49.00–52.00 $50.09 $625 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
870 870 85-90% 1 41.00 $41.00 $357 —
900–1055 958 85-90% 5 50.00–54.00 $52.44 $502 +13.34
980–1085 1035 85-90% 3 58.00–59.00 $58.35 $604 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1480–1620 1550 75-80% 2 54.00–57.00 $55.57 $861 —
1540–1855 1651 75-80% 5 59.00–64.00 $61.49 $1,015 —
2105 2105 75-80% 1 52.00 $52.00 $1,095 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1395–1655 1525 2 85.00–89.00 $86.83 $1,324 -0.17
1785 1785 1 82.00 $82.00 $1,464 —
1905 1905 1 102.00 $102.00 $1,943 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1385 1385 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 800.00 $800.00
1175–1625 1448 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 3 750.00–875.00 $831.85

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
885 885 (<2 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 625.00 $625.00

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
706 706 3 40.00 $40.00 $282 —

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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.