Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 14, 2021

963 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $143.27/cwt +1.83 vs last sale · ≈ $748/hd at 522 lb · 70 head

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $146.94/cwt -1.83 vs last sale · ≈ $620/hd at 422 lb · 54 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $147.29/cwt +3.33 vs last sale · ≈ $699/hd at 474 lb · 54 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	963	717	405
Feeder cattle	841	636	320
Slaughter cattle	90	70	78
Replacement cattle	32	11	7

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers sold steady with a softer undertone for fleshy individuals. Feeder heifers sold steady except 500-600 lbs 3.00 higher with very good demand. Buyers showing preference for thin-fleshed weaned calf packages suitable for grass. Slaughter cows sold 2.00 to 4.00 higher with good demand. Slaughter bulls sold 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 $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
290	290	1	160.00	$160.00	$464	—
302–345	326	6	160.00–172.50	$166.01	$541	-0.51
350–395	367	10	160.00–170.00	$162.60	$597	-15.66
391 value added	391	4	175.00	$175.00	$684	—
410–435	423	3	148.00–159.00	$155.32	$657	-8.82
400–445 value added	431	32	162.50–186.00	$170.12	$733	-4.22
450–495 value added	473	18	165.00–181.00	$167.19	$791	-6.72
480–482	482	4	154.00–159.00	$155.25	$748	-5.60
502–547	525	4	155.00	$155.00	$814	+9.00
506–547 value added	525	37	160.00–170.00	$163.83	$860	+0.80
555–568	567	9	152.00–154.00	$152.22	$863	+2.41
550–586 value added	569	15	154.75–165.00	$160.12	$911	+0.46
608–635	623	10	134.00–139.50	$137.24	$855	-1.76
605–648 value added	627	19	140.00–148.00	$142.71	$895	-7.48
658–678 value added	669	26	140.00–150.00	$143.73	$962	-0.84
700–746 value added	722	29	128.00–135.00	$132.60	$957	-1.91
755–770	763	2	124.00–126.00	$124.99	$954	-2.83
770–775 value added	774	16	129.50–130.00	$129.59	$1,003	-6.41
803–840	813	11	126.00–126.50	$126.36	$1,027	—
1265	1265	1	100.00	$100.00	$1,265	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
684	684	8	137.00	$137.00	$937	+11.00
867	867	2	120.00	$120.00	$1,040	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
443	443	5	147.00	$147.00	$651	—
550–560	555	3	135.00–140.00	$138.32	$768	+3.32
600–615	608	2	121.00–132.00	$126.57	$770	—

Small 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
500	500	1	133.00	$133.00	$665	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
235	235	1	132.50	$132.50	$311	-22.50
275	275	1	147.50	$147.50	$406	+4.54
340	340	1	142.50	$142.50	$484	-0.60
350–395	367	7	142.50–147.50	$144.31	$530	+2.15
377–395 value added	383	3	150.00–156.00	$152.06	$582	-0.68
405–430	418	11	133.00–142.00	$134.02	$560	-2.98
402–442 value added	423	43	140.00–156.00	$150.24	$636	+1.00
450–496 value added	474	47	143.00–155.00	$148.77	$705	+3.88
460–495	476	7	135.00–140.00	$137.34	$654	+0.33
505–540	518	16	130.00–140.00	$134.85	$699	+2.19
502–545 value added	523	54	142.00–151.00	$145.77	$762	+1.40
556–582 value added	566	41	142.00–148.25	$145.81	$825	+3.63
555–590	571	4	136.00–139.00	$138.23	$789	+10.19
620	620	1	119.00	$119.00	$738	—
605–645 value added	635	31	129.00–132.00	$131.34	$834	-4.10
650–682 value added	663	18	126.00–129.50	$128.20	$850	-7.80
670–685	678	2	115.00–119.00	$116.98	$793	-3.62
705 fancy	705	33	140.00	$140.00	$987	—
710	710	1	107.00	$107.00	$760	-12.00
720–740	730	2	115.00–118.00	$116.52	$851	+10.71
730–741 value added	740	8	124.00–129.00	$128.38	$950	—
770–786	783	5	117.00–120.00	$119.41	$935	+1.41
821	821	3	115.00	$115.00	$944	—
822–830 value added	826	19	121.00–127.00	$124.14	$1,025	—
925–935	930	2	96.00–100.00	$98.01	$911	-11.49
950	950	1	101.00	$101.00	$960	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
250–260	258	4	125.00–137.50	$131.94	$340	—
325–340	335	6	130.00–140.00	$135.28	$453	—
363	363	3	133.00	$133.00	$483	±0.00
410–445	432	3	130.00–133.00	$131.02	$566	-1.98
514–525	516	7	116.00–120.00	$116.58	$602	+0.58
625	625	1	92.50	$92.50	$578	—
680	680	1	103.00	$103.00	$700	-12.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
215	215	3	145.00–162.50	$156.67	$337	+1.67
275–290	279	6	152.50–158.00	$155.55	$434	-6.95
305	305	1	145.00	$145.00	$442	-20.00
350–395	381	5	155.00–160.00	$156.47	$596	-3.46
410–417 value added	414	4	161.00–162.50	$161.76	$670	+4.26
400–435	415	5	145.00–155.00	$150.98	$627	—
460 value added	460	2	156.00	$156.00	$718	-8.38
465	465	1	150.00	$150.00	$698	+7.00
500–520 value added	510	4	160.00	$160.00	$816	+1.65
505–542	531	10	145.00–151.00	$147.93	$786	-0.85
550–575 value added	560	8	154.00–157.00	$155.39	$870	—
561–585	567	6	140.00–150.00	$147.45	$836	+2.97
621	621	4	126.00	$126.00	$782	—
600–640 value added	623	7	132.00–134.00	$133.00	$829	-3.54
650–670 value added	656	7	132.00–142.00	$136.69	$897	+4.11
675	675	1	128.00	$128.00	$864	+2.01
825–845	835	2	106.00–113.00	$109.54	$915	—
905	905	1	100.00	$100.00	$905	+2.00
980	980	2	80.00–90.00	$85.00	$833	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
425	425	3	140.00	$140.00	$595	-5.22
495	495	1	129.00	$129.00	$639	-5.75
515–545	530	2	132.50–135.00	$133.71	$709	-1.91
555–570	560	3	132.00–138.00	$134.31	$752	+1.79

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
480	480	1	146.00	$146.00	$701	—
515	515	1	140.00	$140.00	$721	+3.50

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
920–1375	1136	80-85%	13	62.00–71.00	$67.16	$763	—
1250	1250	80-85%	1	60.00	$60.00	$750	+3.00
1020–1595	1283	80-85%	21	71.50–82.00	$76.26	$978	+19.26

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
910–1260	1032	85-90%	9	60.00–65.00	$63.02	$650	+2.18
875–1300	1072	85-90%	5	53.00–57.00	$55.60	$596	—
1025–1370	1203	85-90%	3	67.50–69.00	$68.35	$822	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1175–1815	1462	75-80%	3	69.00–70.00	$69.73	$1,019	-0.94
1250–1690	1508	75-80%	10	72.00–79.00	$74.85	$1,129	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1230–2510	1675	4	84.00–94.00	$87.87	$1,472	—
1380–2130	1690	14	96.00–110.00	$101.89	$1,722	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
955–1295	1170	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	825.00–960.00	$884.50
1280	1280	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	785.00	$785.00
1200–1370	1285	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	835.00–960.00	$893.37

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1050	1050	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	600.00	$600.00
1015–1145	1080	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	650.00–675.00	$663.25
1195	1195	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	700.00	$700.00
1320	1320	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	675.00	$675.00

Small 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
910	910	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	550.00	$550.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
750	750	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	875.00	$875.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1045	1045	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,375.00	$1,375.00	—

Small 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
750	750	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	685.00	$685.00	—

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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.