Cattle Market Pulse

Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, January 27, 2021

783 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Bluegrass Stockyard report →

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $124.30/cwt +6.21 vs last sale · ≈ $788/hd at 634 lb · 112 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $120.95/cwt +6.95 vs last sale · ≈ $821/hd at 679 lb · 94 head
light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $137.25/cwt +4.94 vs last sale · ≈ $834/hd at 608 lb · 78 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 783 537 1,117
Feeder cattle 733 475 1,038
Slaughter cattle 35 50 55
Replacement cattle 15 12 24

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers sold mostly 2.00 to 5.00 higher with good demand. Feeder heifers sold steady to 2.00 higher with good demand. Slaughter cows sold 3.00 higher and slaughter bulls sold 3.00 to 5.00 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
335 335 1 162.50 $162.50 $544 +3.50
362–380 fancy 368 3 172.50–187.50 $177.66 $654 —
395 395 2 160.00 $160.00 $632 +2.79
407–415 value added 410 4 157.50–171.00 $163.42 $670 +5.32
430 430 1 152.50 $152.50 $656 +2.50
450–490 470 6 147.50–150.00 $148.40 $697 -0.26
477–485 value added 481 4 154.00–157.00 $155.49 $748 -3.80
505–518 value added 515 9 150.00–159.00 $156.03 $804 +10.53
500–545 527 9 138.00–144.00 $141.07 $743 +4.78
565–590 574 9 136.00–145.00 $139.67 $802 +0.49
600–608 value added 604 67 133.00–139.75 $138.99 $839 +4.48
615–640 631 10 123.00–130.00 $127.20 $803 +1.28
645 645 1 121.00 $121.00 $780 -4.92
655–696 675 14 125.00–128.00 $126.75 $856 +2.26
651–696 value added 686 35 129.50–132.50 $130.25 $894 +0.25
705 705 2 121.00 $121.00 $853 +1.98
738 value added 738 74 129.80 $129.80 $958 —
770–795 785 4 117.00–118.00 $117.51 $922 -2.49
788 value added 788 17 126.75 $126.75 $999 —
820 820 3 115.00 $115.00 $943 -4.17
945 945 1 111.00 $111.00 $1,049 +10.00
1030 1030 1 106.00 $106.00 $1,092 +1.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
535–540 538 2 130.00–132.00 $131.00 $705 +1.00
560 560 1 123.00 $123.00 $689 -6.44
770 770 1 110.00 $110.00 $847 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
625 625 1 118.00 $118.00 $738 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
420 420 1 107.50 $107.50 $452 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
320 fancy 320 1 140.00 $140.00 $448 -4.00
360–378 369 6 122.50–133.00 $131.04 $484 +3.64
398 fancy 398 3 136.00 $136.00 $541 -1.76
405–425 value added 410 10 129.50–134.00 $131.12 $538 -2.46
415–435 425 2 123.00–125.00 $123.98 $527 +0.01
450–490 value added 471 20 128.00–133.00 $130.25 $613 +0.70
465–497 481 4 124.00–126.00 $124.97 $601 +1.60
500–535 value added 513 23 118.00–132.00 $128.10 $657 +5.90
535–540 538 2 115.00 $115.00 $619 -2.00
550–591 value added 580 9 118.00–121.00 $120.01 $696 +0.41
576–590 582 8 110.00–114.00 $110.76 $645 -2.43
600–637 617 20 104.00–115.00 $110.89 $684 -9.02
612–645 635 18 115.00–121.00 $117.00 $743 +8.47
638 value added 638 74 129.70 $129.70 $827 —
667–685 676 13 105.00–112.00 $110.07 $744 -3.93
665–696 value added 679 81 121.75–123.50 $122.70 $833 —
710–740 725 2 98.00–104.00 $100.94 $732 -10.90
778–796 783 15 109.00–113.00 $112.26 $879 -2.74
795 795 1 94.00 $94.00 $747 -21.00
811 811 3 91.00 $91.00 $738 —
834 834 10 115.00 $115.00 $959 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355 355 1 115.00 $115.00 $408 -5.00
400–445 420 9 102.50–120.00 $113.38 $476 —
465 465 1 105.00 $105.00 $488 -3.69
532 532 2 105.00 $105.00 $559 —
590 590 1 105.00 $105.00 $620 —
603–620 606 6 91.00–102.00 $100.12 $607 +4.12
880 880 1 80.00 $80.00 $704 —
910 910 1 80.00 $80.00 $728 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
325 325 1 157.50 $157.50 $512 —
375–380 377 3 156.00–157.50 $157.00 $592 +8.02
435–445 440 2 140.00–145.00 $142.47 $627 -1.85
460–480 469 4 130.00–141.00 $135.40 $635 -3.30
515–535 521 4 129.00–138.00 $131.74 $686 +4.76
550–557 555 5 127.00–131.00 $129.41 $718 —
622 fancy 622 2 130.00 $130.00 $809 —
625 625 2 119.00 $119.00 $744 +7.37
660–695 682 3 112.00–116.00 $114.37 $780 -0.13
710–730 729 14 109.00–112.00 $111.79 $815 +2.52
762–780 768 3 109.00 $109.00 $837 +1.76
897 897 4 101.00 $101.00 $906 —
985 985 1 108.00 $108.00 $1,064 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
505–540 533 5 112.00–116.00 $113.38 $604 -0.62
550 550 1 105.00 $105.00 $578 -5.00
600 600 1 95.00 $95.00 $570 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
245 245 1 130.00 $130.00 $318 —
430–435 433 2 119.00–127.50 $123.23 $534 -5.77
542–545 543 3 122.00–124.00 $122.67 $666 +1.67
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1135 1135 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 1 82.00 $82.00 $931 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1250–1345 1310 80-85% 5 50.50–57.00 $53.09 $695 +5.96
1175–1565 1370 80-85% 2 59.00–61.00 $60.14 $824 +3.59
1210–1645 1370 80-85% 4 42.50–49.50 $46.20 $633 -10.35
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
835–1035 922 85-90% 6 31.00–40.00 $37.04 $342 -0.19
1010–1220 1115 85-90% 2 53.00–55.50 $54.13 $604 +7.15
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1385–1400 1393 75-80% 2 63.50–64.50 $64.00 $892 —
1400–1665 1567 75-80% 3 56.00–57.50 $56.80 $890 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1345–1895 1620 2 87.50–91.50 $89.16 $1,444 —
1765 1765 1 80.00 $80.00 $1,412 —
1950–1990 1970 2 98.00–101.50 $99.73 $1,965 +12.23

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1065 1065 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 73.00 $73.00 $777

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1105–1530 1359 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 4 825.00–1,010.00 $920.86

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1370–1400 1385 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 2 925.00–975.00 $949.73 —
Large 3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1245 1245 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 780.00 $780.00 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1175 1175 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 1,125.00 $1,125.00 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
225 225 1 71.00 $71.00 $160 —

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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.