Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, July 21, 2021

704 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $150.45/cwt +11.09 vs last sale · ≈ $895/hd at 595 lb · 96 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $156.38/cwt +12.95 vs last sale · ≈ $815/hd at 521 lb · 91 head

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $152.08/cwt +0.35 vs last sale · ≈ $944/hd at 621 lb · 25 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	704	766	333
Feeder cattle	519	668	271
Slaughter cattle	114	71	37
Replacement cattle	71	27	25

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers sold 2.00 to 3.00 lower with moderate demand. Feeder heifers sold steady with good demand. Slaughter cows sold 2.00 to 4.00 lower with moderate demand. Slaughter bulls sold 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
400–445 value added	423	2	157.00–161.00	$158.89	$672	-3.34
470 value added	470	7	156.00	$156.00	$733	-3.36
485	485	5	152.00	$152.00	$737	-2.30
505–525	515	2	150.00	$150.00	$772	-3.29
510–526 value added	522	6	154.00–156.00	$155.51	$812	-11.00
555–560	558	3	153.00–154.00	$153.67	$857	+4.65
600–626 value added	618	17	151.00–161.00	$155.56	$961	-3.04
613–645	627	8	140.00–149.00	$144.69	$907	+0.86
660 value added	660	6	150.00	$150.00	$990	-1.71
662–680	671	4	143.00–144.00	$143.49	$963	+3.00
705	705	3	137.00	$137.00	$966	-1.00
765	765	2	135.00	$135.00	$1,033	+0.82

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
318–335	325	5	142.50–152.50	$148.37	$482	—
475–490	483	2	144.00–145.00	$144.49	$698	—
620	620	1	130.00	$130.00	$806	—
975	975	1	106.00	$106.00	$1,034	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
700–730	712	3	128.00–133.00	$129.98	$925	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
330 value added	330	1	162.50	$162.50	$536	—
375 value added	375	1	162.50	$162.50	$609	+7.67
372–395	380	4	145.00–148.00	$146.27	$556	—
432	432	2	142.50	$142.50	$616	+0.88
425–439 value added	438	17	143.00–145.00	$144.89	$635	-11.38
450–485 value added	463	9	146.00–148.00	$146.72	$679	-4.19
460–485	472	6	137.50–144.00	$139.69	$659	+3.02
510–535 value added	521	83	139.00–160.00	$158.12	$824	+12.71
500–545	526	8	137.00–139.00	$138.36	$728	+5.08
560–595	586	4	130.00–139.00	$135.72	$795	+0.72
550–598 value added	595	92	139.00–152.00	$151.09	$899	+11.39
605–640 value added	618	11	132.00–139.50	$138.38	$855	+1.40
660	660	1	130.00	$130.00	$858	+0.98
660–685 value added	671	7	130.00–138.00	$134.71	$904	-2.94
705–715	710	2	119.00–121.00	$119.99	$852	-6.01
770	770	1	117.00	$117.00	$901	-11.00
808	808	3	110.00	$110.00	$889	—
935	935	1	104.00	$104.00	$972	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
642	642	2	129.00	$129.00	$828	—
785	785	7	118.00	$118.00	$926	+1.72
850	850	1	103.00	$103.00	$876	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
265	265	1	128.00	$128.00	$339	—
300	300	1	125.00	$125.00	$375	—
493	493	3	137.00	$137.00	$675	—
525	525	1	125.00	$125.00	$656	-2.01
600	600	1	118.00	$118.00	$708	—
685	685	1	114.00	$114.00	$781	-2.00
790	790	1	94.00	$94.00	$743	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
230	230	1	175.00	$175.00	$402	—
297	297	2	172.50	$172.50	$512	—
310	310	1	152.50	$152.50	$473	-5.00
365–380	374	4	151.00–162.50	$154.29	$577	—
425	425	3	147.00–157.50	$152.17	$647	-4.51
480–485	483	2	144.00–150.00	$147.02	$710	+2.11
500–542	520	11	140.00–145.00	$143.16	$744	-5.32
553–586	563	22	138.00–150.00	$146.49	$825	-0.06
610 value added	610	2	145.00	$145.00	$884	+4.50
600–635	615	5	136.00–139.50	$137.97	$849	+7.97
651 value added	651	3	147.00	$147.00	$957	—
670–672	671	4	133.00–136.00	$134.50	$902	—
705–740	724	8	120.00–126.00	$124.14	$899	+5.14
890	890	1	114.00	$114.00	$1,015	+4.50
925	925	1	104.00	$104.00	$962	—
980	980	1	92.00	$92.00	$902	—
1045	1045	1	100.00	$100.00	$1,045	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
290	290	1	132.50	$132.50	$384	—
315–325	322	3	137.50	$137.50	$443	—
382	382	2	135.00	$135.00	$516	-5.72
440	440	1	132.50	$132.50	$583	-13.34
465–485	475	2	132.00–137.00	$134.45	$639	-2.17
500–545	520	3	131.00–138.00	$135.43	$704	—
550	550	1	137.00	$137.00	$754	+6.24
610	610	1	116.00	$116.00	$708	—
660	660	1	118.00	$118.00	$779	—
725	725	1	110.00	$110.00	$798	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
330	330	1	145.00	$145.00	$478	-5.00
412–447	439	9	130.00–145.00	$141.87	$623	—
635	635	2	125.00	$125.00	$794	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
380	380	1	110.00	$110.00	$418	—
430	430	1	120.00	$120.00	$516	-10.00
455	455	1	114.00	$114.00	$519	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1075	1075	Young (2-4 yrs)	N/A	1	1,200.00	$1,200.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
885–1475	1158	80-85%	6	54.00–63.00	$57.54	$666	-4.76
985–1460	1176	80-85%	12	69.00–72.50	$71.00	$835	+8.70
1015–1440	1187	80-85%	14	64.00–68.50	$65.93	$783	+3.63

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
795–1130	924	85-90%	14	52.00–59.00	$55.58	$514	—
850–1160	1012	85-90%	9	60.00–64.50	$62.70	$635	—
965–1120	1046	85-90%	4	66.00–70.00	$68.01	$711	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1045–1410	1271	75-80%	7	64.00–68.00	$65.80	$836	+1.80
950–1660	1330	75-80%	11	69.50–76.00	$71.41	$950	—
1105–1490	1334	75-80%	4	61.00–63.50	$62.37	$832	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1135–1370	1263	3	78.00–85.00	$81.89	$1,034	—
1155–2200	1717	17	97.00–112.50	$103.55	$1,778	—
1975	1975	1	93.00	$93.00	$1,837	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
940–1355	1067	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	6	900.00–1,075.00	$952.95
1031–1240	1113	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	11	800.00–1,050.00	$933.00
1050–1270	1180	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	900.00–1,235.00	$1,081.46

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
820–1050	898	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	650.00–775.00	$703.34
945–990	968	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	600.00–635.00	$617.09
955–1050	1003	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	600.00–800.00	$695.15
895–1270	1033	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	650.00–810.00	$722.77

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
980–1070	1025	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	925.00	$925.00

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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
1505–1525	1515	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	1,425.00–1,500.00	$1,462.25	—
1565 fancy	1565	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,700.00	$1,700.00	—
1610	1610	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,275.00	$1,275.00	—
1910	1910	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,525.00	$1,525.00	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1070–1180	1125	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	800.00–840.00	$819.02	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
560	560	2	83.00	$83.00	$465	—
910	910	1	70.00	$70.00	$637	—

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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.