Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, December 14, 2021

1,735 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $143.19/cwt +15.70 vs last sale · ≈ $956/hd at 668 lb · 153 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $163.32/cwt +13.36 vs last sale · ≈ $957/hd at 586 lb · 152 head
light 7-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $141.11/cwt +10.23 vs last sale · ≈ $998/hd at 707 lb · 95 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,735 1,455 978
Feeder cattle 1,678 1,319 879
Slaughter cattle 57 86 99
Replacement cattle — 50 —

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steers and heifers 400-600 lbs traded 3.00 to 6.00 higher with very good demand for weaned packages. Market very active this week. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher with good demand. Slaughter bulls sold steady 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
390 value added 390 1 189.00 $189.00 $737 —
410–440 value added 426 16 176.00–189.00 $183.57 $782 +19.57
445 445 1 153.00 $153.00 $681 —
450–480 value added 469 17 166.00–183.00 $173.87 $815 +2.22
500–541 value added 518 22 158.00–170.00 $161.76 $838 +4.67
541–545 542 6 150.00–151.00 $150.83 $817 +0.22
551–592 value added 586 152 159.00–167.00 $163.32 $957 —
615 615 1 139.00 $139.00 $855 +1.39
600–633 value added 618 66 140.00–152.00 $148.39 $917 -0.88
650–695 value added 674 22 143.00–164.00 $152.01 $1,025 -3.08
678–682 679 6 133.00–140.00 $137.66 $935 -1.64
700–745 value added 720 68 144.00–158.00 $151.37 $1,090 -8.11
700–730 724 5 130.00–132.00 $130.40 $944 -4.07
780–784 value added 784 47 142.00–153.00 $152.53 $1,196 -10.44
815–820 820 18 138.00–139.00 $138.94 $1,139 +0.19
816–835 823 28 143.00–149.50 $146.75 $1,208 +8.00
825 fancy 825 12 152.50 $152.50 $1,258 -11.50
866–886 879 15 140.50–145.00 $141.98 $1,248 +7.66
920 fancy 920 56 156.30 $156.30 $1,438 —
972–995 975 16 117.00–140.00 $137.07 $1,336 +2.79
1035 fancy 1035 50 142.25 $142.25 $1,472 —
1138 1138 14 128.50 $128.50 $1,462 —
1217 1217 2 120.00 $120.00 $1,460 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
583 583 3 137.00 $137.00 $799 -0.69
652 652 4 136.00 $136.00 $887 —
749 749 8 126.00 $126.00 $944 +7.00
765 765 1 129.00 $129.00 $987 +9.00
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
585 585 5 139.00 $139.00 $813 +5.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
280 280 1 137.50 $137.50 $385 —
300 fancy 300 1 142.00 $142.00 $426 —
355–391 377 7 130.00–141.00 $137.78 $519 +0.59
394 value added 394 5 146.00 $146.00 $575 —
415–425 420 2 130.00–140.00 $135.06 $567 +0.27
405–445 value added 436 16 140.00–152.00 $149.70 $653 +6.55
460–470 465 4 131.00–135.00 $132.26 $615 -0.56
451–488 value added 473 24 138.00–151.00 $145.08 $686 +6.63
500 500 1 135.00 $135.00 $675 —
500–545 value added 522 31 135.00–147.00 $141.99 $741 +9.50
570–580 575 2 124.00–128.00 $125.98 $724 +6.98
552–599 value added 578 87 135.00–144.50 $141.89 $820 +13.18
600–645 value added 618 57 128.00–150.00 $138.64 $857 +7.56
632–645 639 9 119.00–120.00 $119.78 $765 -1.24
665 665 1 119.00 $119.00 $791 -0.07
659–692 value added 668 152 127.00–149.00 $143.35 $958 +8.85
701–742 value added 706 85 126.00–147.50 $144.62 $1,021 +7.14
700–745 716 8 102.00–120.00 $114.12 $817 +1.70
732 732 2 100.00 $100.00 $732 -12.42
750–775 763 2 105.00–114.00 $109.57 $836 -0.83
784 value added 784 69 150.90 $150.90 $1,183 —
837 837 2 98.00 $98.00 $820 -20.00
865–895 885 3 100.00–120.00 $113.48 $1,004 —
930–936 932 11 103.00–120.00 $113.79 $1,061 —
965 965 1 91.00 $91.00 $878 -20.00
1184 1184 5 90.00 $90.00 $1,066 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
320–335 329 4 117.00–121.00 $118.02 $388 —
350–370 360 2 118.00 $118.00 $425 —
485 485 2 123.00 $123.00 $597 +13.00
515–540 520 6 110.00–122.00 $111.98 $582 -0.94
567 567 2 115.00 $115.00 $652 —
615–622 620 3 91.00–102.00 $98.36 $610 -5.94
685 685 2 110.00 $110.00 $754 —
700–717 711 3 89.00–95.00 $90.97 $647 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
569 569 5 128.00 $128.00 $728 —
670 670 1 107.00 $107.00 $717 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
440 fancy 440 1 180.00 $180.00 $792 —
447 value added 447 2 164.00 $164.00 $733 —
450–480 value added 458 4 165.00–169.00 $166.05 $761 -0.95
506–543 518 17 137.00–145.00 $142.87 $740 +8.00
585 585 3 147.00 $147.00 $860 +7.33
627 value added 627 14 133.50 $133.50 $837 —
605–647 636 9 120.00–127.00 $123.57 $786 -2.52
660 660 2 123.00 $123.00 $812 -7.94
665 value added 665 4 130.00 $130.00 $864 —
700–740 726 5 114.00–123.00 $119.24 $866 +1.50
760 760 2 110.00 $110.00 $836 -5.26
800–845 821 5 103.00–125.00 $117.20 $962 -3.80
885–890 888 3 112.00–124.00 $118.66 $1,054 —
975 975 1 120.00 $120.00 $1,170 —
1067 1067 2 90.00 $90.00 $960 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
270 270 1 137.50 $137.50 $371 +7.50
390 390 1 152.50 $152.50 $595 —
445 445 1 138.00 $138.00 $614 +10.00
500–545 516 8 114.00–136.00 $123.99 $640 —
575 575 2 118.00 $118.00 $678 -5.00
602 602 2 120.00 $120.00 $722 ±0.00
655–675 665 2 103.00–120.00 $111.37 $741 —
702 702 2 110.00 $110.00 $772 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
532 532 6 147.00 $147.00 $782 —
607–613 611 6 126.00–129.00 $126.99 $776 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
415–445 433 3 100.00–113.00 $104.45 $452 —
580 580 1 111.00 $111.00 $644 —
625 625 1 110.00 $110.00 $688 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1095–1380 1241 80-85% 5 56.00–59.00 $57.19 $710 -5.14
1150–1440 1274 80-85% 7 60.00–66.00 $62.31 $794 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1207–1880 1487 75-80% 6 61.00–73.00 $65.41 $973 —
1500 1500 75-80% 1 39.00 $39.00 $585 —
1155–2180 1607 75-80% 5 54.00–58.00 $56.53 $908 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
815 815 85-90% 1 53.00 $53.00 $432 —
970–1095 1004 85-90% 5 36.00–47.00 $39.48 $396 -17.36

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1165–1960 1576 4 84.00–87.00 $85.91 $1,354 —
1715–2355 2044 4 94.00–104.00 $96.93 $1,981 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
556 556 23 101.00 $101.00 $562 —
803 fancy 803 125 116.00 $116.00 $931 —

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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.