Cattle Market Pulse

Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, March 17, 2021

694 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $125.79/cwt -0.90 vs last sale · ≈ $727/hd at 578 lb · 45 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $129.89/cwt -3.25 vs last sale · ≈ $619/hd at 477 lb · 41 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 steers $163.35/cwt +3.50 vs last sale · ≈ $763/hd at 467 lb · 36 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 694 1,488 293
Feeder cattle 591 1,335 237
Slaughter cattle 77 117 44
Replacement cattle 26 36 12

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers sold mostly steady with best demand for 400-600 lb weaned packages. Feeder heifers sold 2.00 to 3.00 lower with moderate demand. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold 1.00 to 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
345 345 7 159.00 $159.00 $549 +1.74
390 390 1 157.50 $157.50 $614 -2.50
400–440 410 4 156.00–157.50 $156.40 $641 +5.33
410–425 value added 419 4 161.00–172.50 $164.20 $688 +1.14
450–496 value added 467 36 153.00–176.00 $163.35 $763 -1.37
505–538 value added 525 14 149.00–157.00 $154.00 $808 +1.41
500–545 531 7 145.00–149.00 $146.84 $780 +1.90
552–581 value added 558 15 149.00–150.00 $149.73 $835 -1.88
580–581 581 4 135.00–141.00 $139.50 $810 -6.03
607–640 618 3 130.00–136.00 $133.93 $828 -0.27
603–638 value added 629 32 137.00–147.00 $144.81 $911 -0.59
650–665 value added 658 4 138.00–143.00 $140.47 $924 +2.88
655–690 669 14 130.00–136.00 $132.77 $888 +0.99
700–741 value added 733 13 128.00–133.00 $130.42 $956 -0.16
765 765 2 124.00 $124.00 $949 -0.58
767 value added 767 5 128.00 $128.00 $982 —
804–835 810 25 120.00–122.00 $121.59 $985 -2.66
1070 1070 2 107.50 $107.50 $1,150 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
520 520 1 137.00 $137.00 $712 -8.00
630 630 1 132.00 $132.00 $832 -4.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
395 395 2 142.50 $142.50 $563 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
450 450 1 115.00 $115.00 $518 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
260 260 1 131.00 $131.00 $341 -2.75
307–335 value added 321 4 142.50–144.00 $143.28 $460 +0.86
330–340 334 5 135.00–137.00 $136.20 $455 -1.80
358–367 value added 362 11 139.00–140.00 $139.54 $505 -4.42
360–392 378 5 130.00–134.00 $131.38 $497 -1.49
410–440 425 2 130.00–131.00 $130.48 $555 -1.89
400–446 value added 436 29 132.00–140.00 $135.58 $591 -6.69
450–493 value added 471 20 129.00–138.00 $131.99 $622 -5.49
450–495 482 20 125.00–131.00 $128.08 $617 +0.11
485 485 1 124.00 $124.00 $601 -3.97
501–535 value added 514 16 125.00–127.00 $125.80 $647 -6.48
500–545 518 16 118.00–124.00 $121.60 $630 -0.56
552–576 568 15 118.00–123.00 $120.85 $686 -0.54
557–590 value added 583 30 125.00–138.00 $128.26 $748 +0.22
610–640 627 3 113.00–116.00 $114.64 $719 -4.95
627–632 value added 628 14 119.00–125.50 $124.57 $782 -5.02
665 665 1 118.00 $118.00 $785 +6.50
680 680 1 108.00 $108.00 $734 -3.50
700–705 702 6 98.00–105.00 $102.83 $722 -10.03
720 720 1 114.00 $114.00 $821 +1.14
744 value added 744 20 120.00 $120.00 $893 —
780 780 2 113.50 $113.50 $885 +10.65
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310 310 1 125.00 $125.00 $388 +4.14
355 355 1 125.00 $125.00 $444 -0.48
445 445 1 120.00 $120.00 $534 -1.00
470 470 1 119.00 $119.00 $559 +1.89
500–527 514 4 109.00–111.00 $110.03 $566 -6.02
625–635 630 2 99.00–105.00 $102.02 $643 —
660–670 665 2 102.00–106.00 $103.98 $691 -4.02
882 882 2 81.00 $81.00 $714 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
375 375 1 122.50 $122.50 $459 —
415 415 1 125.00 $125.00 $519 —
500 500 2 123.00 $123.00 $615 —
745 745 2 100.00 $100.00 $745 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
470 470 1 103.00 $103.00 $484 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
308 308 3 155.00 $155.00 $477 -2.04
360 360 1 154.00 $154.00 $554 -1.62
415–442 431 13 138.00–147.50 $143.63 $619 -3.35
467–475 value added 470 3 153.00–154.00 $153.66 $722 +0.66
465–490 480 3 138.00–148.00 $143.95 $691 -1.30
520–545 534 5 134.00–146.00 $140.06 $748 +0.71
555–585 567 5 133.00–146.00 $139.08 $789 -4.31
570 value added 570 4 149.00 $149.00 $849 -0.33
600–645 620 6 116.00–122.00 $119.00 $738 -5.00
680–685 683 2 118.00–122.00 $120.01 $820 -1.88
717 717 2 115.00 $115.00 $825 +11.25
860–865 863 2 92.00–96.00 $93.99 $811 -3.60
925 925 1 95.00 $95.00 $879 —
965 965 1 81.00 $81.00 $782 -11.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
230 230 2 140.00 $140.00 $322 —
250–265 258 2 135.00–147.50 $141.43 $365 —
335 335 2 144.00 $144.00 $482 +3.26
355–385 374 5 135.00–143.00 $140.66 $526 +0.66
427 427 4 134.00–137.50 $135.75 $580 —
590 590 1 128.00 $128.00 $755 -2.16
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
452 452 2 139.00 $139.00 $628 —
680 680 1 122.00 $122.00 $830 +13.00
703 703 10 111.00 $111.00 $780 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1270–1370 1317 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 3 1,185.00–1,230.00 $1,205.43 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
985–1540 1173 80-85% 12 54.00–59.00 $57.11 $670 —
1175–1365 1270 80-85% 2 51.00 $51.00 $648 -11.51
1070–1595 1327 80-85% 26 60.00–67.00 $62.89 $835 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
695–1255 980 85-90% 3 41.00–45.00 $43.65 $428 —
965–1085 1032 85-90% 3 52.00–53.50 $52.53 $542 +12.11
985–1350 1217 85-90% 3 56.00–63.00 $59.33 $722 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1415–1495 1446 75-80% 4 64.00–65.00 $64.24 $929 —
1285–1635 1460 75-80% 2 58.00–59.00 $58.56 $855 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1240–2320 1632 6 80.00–89.00 $85.29 $1,392 —
1670–1890 1774 5 90.00–100.00 $94.93 $1,684 +0.01

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1135–1235 1190 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 4 820.00–875.00 $851.85
1270 1270 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 750.00 $750.00
1160–1510 1318 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 3 950.00–1,000.00 $973.88
1160–1440 1319 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 800.00–980.00 $903.88

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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
1275–1395 1335 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 2 825.00–1,075.00 $955.62 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
960 960 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 700.00 $700.00 —

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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.