Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, December 6, 2022

1,539 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $158.85/cwt +9.61 vs last sale · ≈ $978/hd at 616 lb · 282 head
heavy 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $164.55/cwt +7.27 vs last sale · ≈ $1,278/hd at 777 lb · 199 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $167.67/cwt -2.70 vs last sale · ≈ $1,133/hd at 676 lb · 88 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,539 1,558 1,455
Feeder cattle 1,439 1,460 1,319
Slaughter cattle 98 93 86
Replacement cattle 2 5 50

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steers and heifers sold steady to 3.00 lower with good demand under heavy supplies. Fleshy, off-colored and plainer calves facing discounts. Good demand for yearlings. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold 2.00 to 3.00 lower with moderate 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
310–315 313 3 185.00–197.50 $192.49 $602 —
365 365 1 182.50 $182.50 $666 +1.44
400 400 1 169.00 $169.00 $676 —
400–445 value added 422 8 172.50–191.00 $182.55 $770 -14.47
455–495 469 13 164.00–168.00 $166.55 $781 -6.47
453–487 value added 473 13 170.00–179.00 $174.62 $826 -12.57
505–525 520 14 160.00–165.00 $160.57 $835 -4.43
503–539 value added 523 30 166.00–181.00 $174.65 $913 -4.13
550–586 579 20 153.00–169.00 $157.42 $911 -4.85
567–592 value added 579 19 169.00–178.00 $173.97 $1,007 +3.50
600–645 value added 621 45 160.50–170.00 $163.74 $1,017 -6.41
630–645 638 2 151.00–153.00 $151.99 $970 -2.99
667–673 670 7 151.00–152.00 $151.57 $1,016 -0.16
651–693 value added 676 81 157.00–178.00 $169.06 $1,143 -5.32
705–712 707 9 143.00–145.00 $143.45 $1,014 -4.17
705–743 value added 734 21 151.00–171.50 $160.55 $1,178 -11.80
750–785 763 7 142.00–148.00 $145.73 $1,112 —
755–781 value added 777 192 151.00–169.50 $165.24 $1,284 +7.96
810–843 824 22 149.00–161.00 $156.85 $1,292 -6.15
857–887 880 9 147.00–161.00 $150.03 $1,320 -19.97
950–952 951 3 151.00–155.00 $152.33 $1,449 +5.99
1025–1048 1040 7 143.00–155.00 $145.12 $1,509 —
1090 1090 1 130.00 $130.00 $1,417 +10.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
450 450 1 160.00 $160.00 $720 —
500–505 503 3 133.00–153.00 $146.38 $736 -1.42
560–580 570 2 145.00–154.00 $149.58 $853 +1.60
675 675 1 134.00 $134.00 $904 -1.91
781 781 3 135.00 $135.00 $1,054 +9.00
875 875 1 130.00 $130.00 $1,138 —
912 912 2 131.00 $131.00 $1,195 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
580 580 1 155.00 $155.00 $899 —
674 674 6 142.00 $142.00 $957 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
265 265 1 147.50 $147.50 $391 +2.50
315 315 1 130.00 $130.00 $410 -13.40
355–397 383 3 140.00–145.00 $143.46 $549 -3.09
405–422 417 6 140.00–146.00 $144.36 $602 -5.64
412–447 value added 430 17 149.00–154.00 $152.11 $654 -7.23
456–485 465 25 140.00–149.00 $142.48 $663 -5.46
450–496 value added 478 13 150.00–153.00 $151.16 $723 -1.80
500–525 value added 508 17 148.00–153.00 $148.96 $757 -2.08
500–545 515 23 142.00–148.00 $146.10 $752 +2.74
561–567 value added 567 46 150.00–166.00 $164.97 $935 +11.53
555–576 571 34 141.00–145.00 $143.74 $821 +0.77
600–638 value added 615 257 142.00–167.25 $161.24 $992 +11.10
602–645 626 25 130.00–137.00 $134.28 $841 -4.35
651–668 value added 657 30 145.00–160.00 $152.95 $1,005 -9.32
655–695 666 6 131.00–139.00 $134.37 $895 -0.64
700–732 value added 706 24 140.00–150.00 $148.82 $1,051 +2.82
725 725 2 120.00 $120.00 $870 -7.13
715–732 726 3 130.00–135.00 $131.64 $956 +4.51
758 value added 758 7 147.00 $147.00 $1,114 +12.00
770 770 1 128.00 $128.00 $986 -1.00
810–840 824 12 119.00–134.00 $130.27 $1,073 —
915 915 1 109.00 $109.00 $997 -11.00
1082 1082 2 147.00 $147.00 $1,591 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
375–385 378 3 120.00–132.50 $128.26 $485 -7.49
405–440 421 6 120.00–131.00 $123.49 $520 -4.71
458–495 465 10 120.00–136.00 $131.04 $609 +2.34
500–545 524 15 110.00–135.00 $123.97 $650 -1.03
555–575 564 6 100.00–131.00 $123.99 $699 +3.99
607–620 613 5 113.00–131.00 $125.98 $772 +8.17
650–685 668 2 101.00–131.00 $116.39 $777 -9.36
700–740 720 2 94.00–101.00 $97.40 $701 -22.27
750–760 755 2 110.00–114.00 $111.99 $846 -3.97
827 827 2 110.00 $110.00 $910 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
496 496 8 132.00 $132.00 $655 +4.00
581 581 3 130.00 $130.00 $755 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
546 546 3 91.00 $91.00 $497 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350 350 1 177.50 $177.50 $621 —
420–440 430 2 155.00–164.00 $159.60 $686 +0.76
450–457 value added 454 7 168.00–176.00 $169.13 $768 —
485 485 1 156.00 $156.00 $757 —
500–522 value added 515 3 159.00–162.00 $161.03 $829 -7.97
502–540 516 8 140.00–151.00 $143.69 $741 -14.94
555–562 557 7 145.00–153.00 $149.01 $830 +4.09
600–641 value added 631 4 142.00–149.00 $147.34 $930 —
640 640 3 136.00 $136.00 $870 -8.76
670 value added 670 2 145.00 $145.00 $972 —
702–740 715 3 119.00–125.00 $122.93 $879 -2.07
780 780 2 125.00–134.00 $129.50 $1,010 —
810–845 826 4 100.00–142.00 $115.73 $956 —
860 860 1 121.00 $121.00 $1,041 —
950 950 2 120.00 $120.00 $1,140 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
465 465 1 140.00 $140.00 $651 —
500–533 514 9 132.50–150.00 $135.42 $696 —
575 575 1 129.00 $129.00 $742 -9.28
605–640 626 5 118.00–131.00 $122.45 $767 -8.89
650–692 669 10 110.00–130.00 $124.78 $835 -7.22
700 700 1 101.00 $101.00 $707 —
970 970 1 90.00 $90.00 $873 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
430 430 1 125.00 $125.00 $538 —
475 475 1 122.00 $122.00 $580 —
500–530 515 2 110.00–120.00 $114.85 $591 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1280–1585 1448 75-80% 4 58.00–63.00 $60.68 $879 —
1180–1850 1466 75-80% 11 65.00–70.00 $67.68 $992 —
1400–1700 1542 75-80% 13 71.00–73.00 $72.24 $1,114 -4.20
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1085–1395 1215 80-85% 4 58.00–62.00 $60.38 $734 -0.58
1035–1455 1219 80-85% 14 64.00–71.00 $66.31 $808 +5.35
980–1495 1318 80-85% 8 72.00–78.00 $73.51 $969 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
940–980 958 85-90% 3 62.00–67.00 $64.37 $617 —
890–1335 1100 85-90% 6 53.00–61.00 $58.08 $639 +1.08
920–1320 1105 85-90% 4 36.00–50.00 $45.07 $498 -11.93

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1105 1105 1 75.00 $75.00 $829 —
1265–1915 1711 5 83.00–97.00 $92.21 $1,578 —
1675–1925 1777 3 100.00–107.00 $103.83 $1,845 —

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1720 1720 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 1,300.00 $1,300.00 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
641 641 28 134.50 $134.50 $862 —
722 722 71 140.00 $140.00 $1,011 —
810 810 1 90.00 $90.00 $729 —

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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.