Cattle Market Pulse

Blue Grass Stockyards (Tuesday) Market Report

Lexington, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, December 20, 2022

688 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 $169.01/cwt -7.60 vs last sale · ≈ $1,319/hd at 780 lb · 177 head
light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $149.33/cwt -5.09 vs last sale · ≈ $950/hd at 636 lb · 51 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $151.54/cwt +3.53 vs last sale · ≈ $871/hd at 575 lb · 43 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 688 1,682 354
Feeder cattle 577 1,598 294
Slaughter cattle 109 82 56
Replacement cattle 2 2 4

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Tuesday feeder steers under 600 lbs sold 3.00 to 6.00 higher with good demand; few fancy weaned featherweights sharply higher with very good demand. Feeder heifers sold 2.00 to 4.00 lower with moderate demand. Slaughter cows sold steady to 1.00 higher with moderate demand. Slaughter bulls sold 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
350–380 value added 365 7 211.00–230.00 $226.66 $827 +14.58
410–427 421 3 170.00–185.00 $180.13 $758 +5.99
419–447 value added 428 12 194.00–219.00 $209.81 $898 +22.96
455–485 value added 470 3 190.00–193.00 $191.68 $901 +8.43
500–522 value added 519 36 179.00–194.00 $192.36 $998 +0.47
520 520 2 170.00–175.00 $172.50 $897 +7.17
555–578 value added 572 28 180.00–182.00 $181.52 $1,038 +4.36
600–646 value added 624 27 158.00–169.00 $167.76 $1,047 -2.22
641 641 10 150.00 $150.00 $962 —
655–658 value added 657 14 155.00–167.00 $157.57 $1,035 -16.56
756–785 value added 771 110 158.50–168.25 $165.97 $1,280 +3.74
796 fancy 796 67 174.00 $174.00 $1,385 -6.00
910 910 1 149.00 $149.00 $1,356 -14.00
990 990 1 158.00 $158.00 $1,564 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
285 285 1 160.00 $160.00 $456 —
565–570 568 2 141.00–156.00 $148.53 $844 —
600 600 1 140.00 $140.00 $840 +10.00
710–727 721 4 130.00–148.00 $137.18 $989 -7.34

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
277 value added 277 4 166.00 $166.00 $460 —
360 360 1 146.00 $146.00 $526 —
365–368 value added 367 6 152.00–161.00 $158.02 $580 +4.02
400–445 value added 416 19 150.00–164.00 $155.48 $647 -0.67
450–465 value added 456 7 151.00–162.00 $156.15 $712 -3.02
450–492 480 6 139.00–142.00 $140.33 $674 -6.83
500–538 518 7 135.00–145.00 $137.78 $714 -8.22
524–548 value added 531 25 147.00–154.00 $149.51 $794 -3.22
554–597 value added 573 32 156.00–158.00 $156.59 $897 +5.84
553–597 580 11 130.00–142.00 $136.83 $794 -7.52
628 628 3 139.00 $139.00 $873 +2.13
602–642 value added 637 48 142.00–151.00 $149.98 $955 -5.66
651–655 value added 652 4 140.00 $140.00 $913 —
660–697 672 3 130.00–135.00 $131.73 $885 +1.73
842 842 2 128.00 $128.00 $1,078 -2.00
1130 1130 2 104.00 $104.00 $1,175 —
1183 1183 3 113.00 $113.00 $1,337 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310 310 1 130.00 $130.00 $403 ±0.00
365 365 1 135.00 $135.00 $493 +1.49
462 462 2 135.00 $135.00 $624 -3.00
510–540 529 5 124.00–130.00 $125.82 $666 +1.82
575 575 3 125.00 $125.00 $719 -2.25
615–645 629 4 119.00–131.00 $123.47 $777 +6.52
720 720 1 119.00 $119.00 $857 —
780 780 1 110.00 $110.00 $858 +4.33
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
575 575 1 110.00 $110.00 $632 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355–360 358 2 162.50–170.00 $166.22 $595 -8.78
420 value added 420 1 189.00 $189.00 $794 +12.86
480 480 1 150.00 $150.00 $720 —
490 value added 490 1 189.00 $189.00 $926 +12.79
520–525 523 2 146.00–152.00 $148.99 $779 +2.99
535 value added 535 1 164.00 $164.00 $877 -1.34
577–585 value added 579 5 160.00–170.00 $167.98 $973 -0.82
590 590 1 151.00 $151.00 $891 ±0.00
605–645 value added 625 2 140.00–141.00 $140.52 $878 -4.22
620–640 627 3 135.00–139.00 $137.31 $861 +0.33
650–660 655 2 139.00 $139.00 $910 +4.00
735 735 1 136.00 $136.00 $1,000 +0.99
785 785 1 117.00 $117.00 $918 —
830 830 1 118.00 $118.00 $979 -8.44
900 900 1 118.00 $118.00 $1,062 -5.00
1232 1232 2 94.00 $94.00 $1,158 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355 355 1 150.00 $150.00 $532 —
592 592 2 134.00 $134.00 $793 -5.49
705 705 2 111.00 $111.00 $783 -10.00
820 820 1 108.00 $108.00 $886 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
690 690 1 103.00 $103.00 $711 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
990–1360 1199 80-85% 7 74.00–78.00 $76.74 $920 —
945–1430 1216 80-85% 20 64.00–74.00 $69.57 $846 +9.83
1225 1225 80-85% 1 50.00 $50.00 $612 -9.74
1120–1510 1268 80-85% 6 57.00–64.00 $60.30 $765 -5.65
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1220–1545 1384 75-80% 12 65.00–73.00 $68.72 $951 —
1285–1890 1561 75-80% 18 74.00–83.00 $78.14 $1,220 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
850–995 923 85-90% 2 40.00–50.00 $44.61 $412 —
870–1185 994 85-90% 9 63.00–67.00 $65.76 $654 —
800–1245 1062 85-90% 10 56.00–61.00 $59.00 $627 +11.21
975–1180 1100 85-90% 3 69.00–75.00 $72.03 $792 +7.55

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1360–1910 1635 2 93.00–101.00 $97.67 $1,597 —
1555–2475 2063 4 113.00–118.00 $115.90 $2,391 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
930–1065 977 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 3 77.00–87.00 $81.99 $801

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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.