Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 15, 2022

579 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $145.32/cwt +10.82 vs last sale · ≈ $1,269/hd at 873 lb · 63 head
light 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $150.14/cwt +4.90 vs last sale · ≈ $1,099/hd at 732 lb · 36 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $152.51/cwt +2.17 vs last sale · ≈ $1,009/hd at 661 lb · 24 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 579 635 516
Feeder cattle 498 580 492
Slaughter cattle 81 54 24
Replacement cattle — 1 —

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steer and heifer calves sold mostly steady; except 400-500 lbs weaned packages 3.00 to 5.00 higher with good demand. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher with very 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
260 value added 260 2 197.50 $197.50 $514 —
320 320 1 172.50 $172.50 $552 —
307–342 value added 334 9 192.00–200.00 $193.63 $647 —
382 value added 382 4 192.00 $192.00 $733 —
385 385 1 181.00 $181.00 $697 —
402–440 408 6 152.00–169.00 $165.95 $677 —
405–432 value added 422 8 173.00–192.00 $184.86 $780 +5.79
466–492 value added 473 10 178.00–182.00 $179.42 $849 +8.99
476–491 484 9 154.00–158.00 $155.75 $754 -9.90
505–520 value added 511 7 171.00–182.00 $179.70 $918 +7.96
500–524 521 7 153.00 $153.00 $797 -0.72
550–593 value added 585 18 154.00–168.00 $155.68 $911 -12.56
600–645 623 10 140.00–149.00 $143.19 $892 —
617–632 value added 625 4 152.00–162.00 $157.06 $982 -6.74
660 value added 660 13 159.00 $159.00 $1,049 +6.79
650–685 663 11 142.00–146.00 $144.83 $960 +1.60
700–735 708 9 135.00–141.00 $139.89 $990 +5.18
721–748 value added 740 27 143.00–158.00 $153.56 $1,136 +7.30
760–792 790 21 136.00–137.00 $136.95 $1,082 -1.05
873–887 873 63 140.00–145.50 $145.32 $1,269 +10.82
917 917 10 138.50 $138.50 $1,270 +10.30
1035 1035 3 122.00 $122.00 $1,263 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
681 value added 681 3 134.00 $134.00 $913 —
822 822 14 140.00 $140.00 $1,151 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
455 455 1 145.00 $145.00 $660 —
855–865 860 2 125.00–129.00 $126.99 $1,092 —
945 945 1 129.00 $129.00 $1,219 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
237 value added 237 7 164.00 $164.00 $389 —
290 290 1 150.00 $150.00 $435 -8.69
330–343 value added 339 6 160.00–169.00 $166.08 $563 +1.99
370 value added 370 2 159.00 $159.00 $588 +2.00
380–395 388 2 145.00–147.00 $146.02 $567 -0.26
421–425 value added 422 4 163.00–169.00 $167.49 $707 +8.32
430 430 1 147.00 $147.00 $632 -0.01
455–492 value added 481 13 150.00–156.00 $152.99 $736 +0.89
510–535 value added 527 10 145.00–154.00 $148.11 $781 -2.04
510–545 528 2 140.00–144.00 $142.07 $750 +1.25
550–590 value added 559 14 145.00–162.00 $157.43 $880 +9.06
595 595 1 139.00 $139.00 $827 —
600–630 value added 612 12 143.00–146.00 $144.75 $886 +5.28
677 value added 677 19 140.00–143.00 $142.21 $963 +3.25
730 730 1 129.00 $129.00 $942 +0.41
752 value added 752 8 133.00 $133.00 $1,000 +2.00
772 772 2 126.00 $126.00 $973 +4.00
865 865 1 125.00 $125.00 $1,081 +7.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
305–320 313 2 121.00–140.00 $130.73 $409 +10.73
390 390 1 141.00 $141.00 $550 -1.00
440 440 1 123.00 $123.00 $541 -13.00
565–595 580 2 123.00–130.00 $126.59 $734 —
610–625 613 5 110.00–121.00 $112.24 $688 —
650–665 658 2 123.00–125.00 $124.01 $816 —
700 700 2 100.00–113.00 $106.50 $746 —
750 750 1 114.00 $114.00 $855 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
500 500 1 130.00 $130.00 $650 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
515 515 1 117.00 $117.00 $603 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
235 235 1 150.00 $150.00 $352 —
270 value added 270 3 190.00–205.00 $200.00 $540 —
270–275 272 3 180.00–181.00 $180.66 $491 —
345 345 1 175.00 $175.00 $604 +14.00
355 355 1 175.00 $175.00 $621 +7.16
430 430 1 154.00 $154.00 $662 -2.00
445 value added 445 1 166.00 $166.00 $739 -2.37
467 467 2 151.00 $151.00 $705 -0.51
477 value added 477 7 162.00 $162.00 $773 —
500 value added 500 1 161.00 $161.00 $805 —
563–565 value added 563 5 156.00 $156.00 $878 —
568–585 575 5 140.00–151.00 $145.80 $838 -4.20
610–640 625 2 131.00–135.00 $133.05 $832 -3.95
622–635 value added 626 3 142.00–145.00 $143.99 $901 -6.07
650 650 3 132.00–136.00 $134.33 $873 -3.27
675–681 value added 678 7 138.00 $138.00 $936 -6.00
700–720 710 2 124.00–129.00 $126.46 $898 —
714 value added 714 5 131.00 $131.00 $935 -6.49
815–842 838 6 103.00–109.00 $108.03 $905 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
365–390 378 2 143.00–148.00 $145.58 $550 -9.42
477 477 2 143.00 $143.00 $682 —
645 645 1 124.00 $124.00 $800 —
660 660 1 127.00 $127.00 $838 +2.00
875 875 1 91.00 $91.00 $796 —
905 905 1 92.00 $92.00 $833 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
370 370 1 126.00 $126.00 $466 —
655 655 2 122.00 $122.00 $799 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1365–1475 1413 75-80% 4 74.00–82.00 $78.77 $1,113 —
1195–1730 1509 75-80% 15 87.00–96.00 $89.66 $1,353 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1165–1240 1203 80-85% 2 78.00–80.00 $79.03 $951 —
1115–1515 1301 80-85% 12 85.00–100.00 $91.17 $1,186 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
780–990 876 85-90% 4 55.00–68.00 $60.96 $534 —
745–1350 1016 85-90% 4 69.00–75.00 $72.36 $735 +7.36
885–1240 1079 85-90% 4 75.00–78.00 $76.30 $823 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
990 990 1 79.00 $79.00 $782 —
1110–1500 1273 3 94.00–97.00 $95.82 $1,220 —
1260–1830 1565 5 107.00–129.00 $119.14 $1,865 —

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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.