Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, May 12, 2021

557 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $128.18/cwt ≈ $859/hd at 670 lb · 81 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $143.72/cwt +8.03 vs last sale · ≈ $681/hd at 474 lb · 31 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $135.09/cwt -1.84 vs last sale · ≈ $775/hd at 574 lb · 29 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	557	417	549
Feeder cattle	431	336	500
Slaughter cattle	89	58	40
Replacement cattle	37	23	9

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers and heifers traded unevenly steady with good demand for weaned packages. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 lower and slaughter bulls sold mostly steady 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 $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
362–380	369	4	155.00–158.00	$155.77	$575	-4.74
395 value added	395	4	164.00	$164.00	$648	—
402–445	414	4	145.00–154.00	$149.22	$618	-7.82
440 value added	440	2	155.00	$155.00	$682	-7.00
460 value added	460	1	154.00	$154.00	$708	-5.00
500–540	512	9	146.00–151.00	$148.97	$763	+1.28
510–535 value added	526	8	155.00–164.00	$158.80	$835	+4.14
563–572 value added	568	15	145.00–155.00	$149.53	$849	-6.47
550–595	585	10	136.00–142.50	$140.44	$822	-9.56
600–640 value added	616	22	137.00–150.00	$141.55	$872	-5.47
640	640	1	136.00	$136.00	$870	—
660 value added	660	2	141.00	$141.00	$931	+1.50
658–685	664	7	130.00–135.00	$133.98	$890	+6.48
700–747 value added	724	6	125.00–131.00	$127.95	$926	+1.95
725	725	1	122.00	$122.00	$884	±0.00
775–785	782	3	119.00–123.00	$121.68	$952	-1.32
807–835	822	6	118.00–125.00	$120.70	$992	—
910	910	2	107.00	$107.00	$974	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
440–445	443	2	130.00–144.00	$137.04	$607	—
542	542	2	137.00	$137.00	$743	—
600	600	1	127.00	$127.00	$762	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
555	555	1	135.00	$135.00	$749	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
321–335	325	4	134.00–138.00	$136.97	$445	-7.75
350–397	373	9	132.00–140.00	$137.47	$513	-2.90
378 value added	378	3	142.00	$142.00	$537	—
400–430 value added	418	8	140.00–144.00	$142.49	$596	-0.66
435	435	1	135.00	$135.00	$587	—
452–492 value added	474	25	139.00–153.00	$145.79	$691	+7.79
455–490	474	6	129.00–138.00	$135.07	$640	-0.15
500–545 value added	513	7	141.00–145.00	$143.28	$735	+3.12
505–545	526	7	125.00–134.00	$130.51	$686	-3.49
555–580	568	5	121.00–127.00	$123.57	$702	—
557–589 value added	575	24	132.00–142.00	$137.49	$791	+0.56
600–625 value added	608	8	123.00–137.00	$132.68	$807	-2.51
650–685	659	10	108.00–124.00	$115.66	$762	—
670–672 value added	672	71	126.00–130.00	$129.94	$873	—
701 value added	701	4	120.00	$120.00	$841	—
710	710	2	112.00	$112.00	$795	+3.00
710–715	712	3	103.00–111.00	$105.68	$752	-3.32
750–770	760	2	111.00–116.00	$113.47	$862	-5.53
800–831	816	6	108.00–116.00	$112.08	$915	-3.25
856–885	863	4	109.00–115.00	$113.46	$979	—
900	900	1	95.00	$95.00	$855	—
965	965	1	80.00	$80.00	$772	—
1030	1030	1	100.00	$100.00	$1,030	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320–335	328	2	117.50–127.50	$122.39	$401	—
400–445	423	3	125.00–127.50	$126.54	$535	—
525–545	535	2	122.00–125.00	$123.47	$661	+3.91
570–597	590	5	110.00–121.00	$116.39	$687	-6.61
605–635	625	3	100.00–107.50	$102.42	$640	—
663	663	3	106.00	$106.00	$703	—
705	705	1	95.00	$95.00	$670	—
760	760	2	84.00–95.00	$89.50	$680	-3.50

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
580	580	1	127.00	$127.00	$737	+7.00

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505	505	1	101.00	$101.00	$510	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
370	370	1	152.50	$152.50	$564	+1.75
415–445	434	4	146.00–150.00	$148.50	$644	+1.74
450–490	469	10	139.00–150.00	$143.18	$672	-1.94
500–523	514	7	135.00–143.00	$140.00	$720	+0.79
552–596	576	8	134.00–147.00	$137.66	$793	+2.04
602–640	617	4	119.00–127.00	$124.49	$768	-2.00
660–662 value added	661	3	127.00–128.00	$127.67	$844	—
655–685	672	6	116.00–125.00	$120.95	$813	—
705–747	732	8	109.00–114.00	$111.90	$819	+0.52
783	783	3	99.00	$99.00	$775	—
800–847	835	6	99.00–104.00	$101.47	$847	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
370–380	375	2	134.00–137.50	$135.77	$509	+1.77
450–470	460	2	130.00–138.00	$134.09	$617	+1.12
545	545	1	124.00	$124.00	$676	-4.00
565	565	1	131.00	$131.00	$740	+9.37
685	685	1	115.00	$115.00	$788	+5.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
600	600	1	112.00	$112.00	$672	-6.00
700	700	1	116.00	$116.00	$812	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1195–1375	1285	Young (2-4 yrs)	N/A	2	1,230.00–1,450.00	$1,332.30	+347.30

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
240	240	1	127.50	$127.50	$306	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1125–1265	1193	80-85%	3	58.50–65.00	$62.63	$747	—
1160–1510	1338	80-85%	15	65.00–74.00	$68.80	$921	-0.49

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
915–1025	970	85-90%	2	46.00–48.50	$47.32	$459	—
1015–1315	1119	85-90%	4	60.00–68.50	$64.82	$725	-4.30
1195	1195	85-90%	1	57.00	$57.00	$681	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1315–1670	1488	75-80%	6	65.50–69.50	$66.94	$996	-2.32

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1155	1155	1	90.00	$90.00	$1,040	—
1565–2000	1745	5	93.00–101.50	$95.78	$1,671	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1100	1100	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,000.00	$1,000.00
1160–1550	1398	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	900.00–1,075.00	$992.66

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1000–1075	1038	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	670.00–740.00	$706.27

Small 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1020	1020	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	560.00	$560.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1360	1360	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	1	1,080.00	$1,080.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1180	1180	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,100.00	$1,100.00	—

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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.