Cattle Market Pulse

Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 21, 2021

627 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $148.39/cwt +1.10 vs last sale · ≈ $706/hd at 476 lb · 54 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $160.35/cwt -2.62 vs last sale · ≈ $843/hd at 526 lb · 31 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 steers $164.11/cwt -0.91 vs last sale · ≈ $804/hd at 490 lb · 30 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 627 963 376
Feeder cattle 473 841 311
Slaughter cattle 130 90 40
Replacement cattle 24 32 25

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers and heifers sold steady to 2.00 lower with good demand on a good through attractive quality offering. Slaughter cows sold 10.00 lower under heavy supply. Slaughter bulls sold 5.00 lower with light 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
260–280 270 2 162.50–170.00 $166.11 $448 +6.11
365–395 377 3 170.00–172.50 $170.82 $644 +8.22
415–432 424 4 153.00–154.00 $153.49 $651 -1.83
421–446 value added 432 7 165.00–174.00 $168.90 $730 -1.22
450–499 value added 490 30 160.00–174.00 $164.11 $804 -3.08
500–535 509 5 152.00–155.00 $152.81 $778 -2.19
512–549 value added 529 26 156.00–169.00 $161.80 $856 -2.03
562–580 value added 568 6 158.00–163.00 $161.30 $916 +1.18
600–640 value added 612 24 140.00–153.00 $148.77 $910 +6.06
615 615 1 135.00 $135.00 $830 -2.24
655–665 658 3 130.00–137.00 $134.64 $886 —
667 value added 667 2 142.50 $142.50 $950 -1.23
706–731 value added 711 19 135.00–141.00 $139.52 $992 +6.92
816 816 4 130.00 $130.00 $1,061 +3.64
915–930 923 2 120.00–121.00 $120.50 $1,112 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 335 1 155.00 $155.00 $519 —
385 385 1 156.00 $156.00 $601 —
555–595 575 2 139.00–140.00 $139.52 $802 +1.20
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
545 545 1 144.00 $144.00 $785 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
240 240 1 149.00 $149.00 $358 +16.50
255–285 276 4 142.00–150.00 $144.29 $398 -3.21
316–320 value added 318 5 150.00–155.00 $152.98 $486 —
350–385 370 7 137.50–147.00 $142.78 $528 -1.53
355–392 value added 385 18 150.00–159.00 $156.61 $603 +4.55
400–425 value added 418 9 142.50–152.00 $148.11 $619 -2.13
415–445 435 6 139.00–140.00 $139.32 $606 +5.30
450–495 463 5 136.00–139.00 $137.78 $638 +0.44
460–498 value added 477 49 141.00–155.00 $149.47 $713 +0.70
500–537 value added 520 21 140.00–151.00 $144.34 $751 -1.43
520 520 3 133.00 $133.00 $692 -1.85
565–587 value added 579 11 135.00–139.00 $137.83 $798 -7.98
585 585 1 130.00 $130.00 $760 -8.23
600–615 value added 609 18 128.00–134.50 $133.34 $812 +2.00
600–640 620 2 116.00–120.00 $117.94 $731 -1.06
670 670 1 124.00 $124.00 $831 +7.02
670–675 value added 674 10 126.50–127.00 $126.60 $853 -1.60
685–690 688 2 112.00–122.00 $117.02 $805 +0.04
762–770 765 3 111.00–116.00 $114.32 $875 -5.09
785 785 1 104.00 $104.00 $816 -15.41
808 808 3 114.00 $114.00 $921 -1.00
940 940 1 96.00 $96.00 $902 -2.01
950 950 1 97.00 $97.00 $922 -4.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
345 345 1 127.50 $127.50 $440 -7.78
460–495 479 4 124.00–128.00 $125.48 $601 —
500–545 523 2 115.00–129.00 $122.30 $640 +5.72
565–575 572 3 129.00 $129.00 $738 —
605–630 613 3 103.00–107.00 $104.37 $640 +11.87
675 675 1 101.00 $101.00 $682 -2.00
725 725 1 91.00 $91.00 $660 —
900 900 1 85.00 $85.00 $765 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
510 510 1 123.00 $123.00 $627 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
285 285 1 165.00 $165.00 $470 +9.45
340–345 343 2 155.00–157.50 $156.24 $536 —
352–395 379 8 152.00–172.50 $161.29 $611 +4.82
390 value added 390 4 166.00 $166.00 $647 —
462–480 468 3 145.00–162.00 $156.19 $731 +6.19
460–498 value added 485 6 159.00–160.50 $159.47 $773 +3.47
511–525 value added 514 7 150.00–156.00 $151.45 $778 -8.55
505–540 515 4 132.00–153.00 $142.57 $734 -5.36
550 550 1 133.00 $133.00 $732 -14.45
555–595 586 22 138.00–150.00 $147.68 $865 +0.23
590 value added 590 1 143.00 $143.00 $844 -12.39
655–670 value added 663 2 133.00–134.00 $133.51 $885 -3.18
690 690 1 124.00 $124.00 $856 -4.00
700–713 value added 711 17 126.00–135.50 $134.40 $956 —
965 965 1 94.00 $94.00 $907 +9.00
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
295 295 1 142.50 $142.50 $420 —
370 370 3 147.50 $147.50 $546 —
455 455 1 143.00 $143.00 $651 -3.00
535–543 541 4 136.00–138.00 $136.49 $738 -3.51
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310 310 1 145.00 $145.00 $450 —
430 430 1 137.50 $137.50 $591 -2.50
450–485 467 3 135.00–137.00 $135.99 $635 +6.99
550–555 553 2 130.00–131.00 $130.50 $722 -3.81
635 635 1 121.00 $121.00 $768 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1315 fancy 1315 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 1 1,800.00 $1,800.00 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
520 520 1 117.50 $117.50 $611 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1050–1420 1263 80-85% 20 60.00–72.00 $64.31 $812 +4.31
1010–1510 1275 80-85% 16 55.50–59.50 $57.79 $737 -18.47
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1100–1620 1388 75-80% 13 52.00–57.50 $55.79 $774 —
1215–1720 1449 75-80% 10 58.00–61.00 $59.49 $862 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
920–1170 1009 85-90% 5 48.00–50.00 $48.40 $488 -14.62
960–1115 1025 85-90% 8 51.00–61.00 $55.65 $570 -7.37
1055–1360 1226 85-90% 9 62.00–73.00 $67.54 $828 -0.81

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1200–1790 1515 4 81.00–86.00 $83.00 $1,257 —
1370–2075 1635 10 91.50–96.50 $94.75 $1,549 —
1320–2135 1678 9 70.00–77.00 $74.63 $1,252 -13.24

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1010–1225 1136 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 4 62.00–67.00 $64.86 $737

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1020–1410 1215 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 2 900.00–1,010.00 $963.83
975–1505 1309 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 6 850.00–1,040.00 $913.13
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1070 1070 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 685.00 $685.00
1100 1100 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 800.00 $800.00

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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
1150–1750 1473 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 4 1,260.00–1,400.00 $1,359.78 —

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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.