Cattle Market Pulse

Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, July 28, 2021

446 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $175.25/cwt +21.58 vs last sale · ≈ $973/hd at 555 lb · 56 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $151.81/cwt -4.57 vs last sale · ≈ $799/hd at 526 lb · 55 head
light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $162.60/cwt +10.52 vs last sale · ≈ $1,009/hd at 620 lb · 37 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 446 704 716
Feeder cattle 383 519 573
Slaughter cattle 46 114 128
Replacement cattle 17 71 15

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers under 700 lbs sold 5.00 to 10.00 higher with very good demand; over 700 lbs light test. Feeder heifers sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher on 400-500 lbs with very demand. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold steady with moderate 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
240 240 1 177.50 $177.50 $426 —
241 value added 241 3 187.50 $187.50 $452 —
330 value added 330 4 182.50 $182.50 $602 —
380 value added 380 2 176.00 $176.00 $669 —
408–431 value added 416 10 170.00–172.50 $171.76 $715 +12.87
420 420 1 157.50 $157.50 $662 —
480 480 1 160.00 $160.00 $768 +8.00
458–489 value added 484 18 161.00–170.00 $168.58 $816 +12.58
555 value added 555 56 175.25 $175.25 $973 —
618–635 value added 619 30 148.00–171.00 $167.01 $1,034 +11.45
622–637 626 7 143.00–144.00 $143.71 $900 -0.98
655–690 value added 673 17 144.00–156.00 $154.87 $1,042 +4.87
705–710 value added 707 3 141.00–144.00 $142.00 $1,004 —
740 740 1 140.00 $140.00 $1,036 +3.00
795 795 1 133.00 $133.00 $1,057 -2.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
545 545 1 141.00 $141.00 $768 —
654 654 7 137.00 $137.00 $896 —
827 827 2 132.00 $132.00 $1,092 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
540 540 1 150.00 $150.00 $810 —
830 830 1 130.00 $130.00 $1,079 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
250–272 265 3 155.00–157.50 $156.71 $415 —
300 300 1 149.00 $149.00 $447 —
325 value added 325 1 156.00 $156.00 $507 -6.50
365 365 1 150.00 $150.00 $548 +3.73
353–390 value added 371 6 155.00–162.00 $160.09 $594 -2.41
425–440 value added 433 10 150.00–162.50 $154.86 $671 +9.97
450–487 value added 472 14 150.00–156.00 $153.03 $722 +6.31
487–490 488 3 144.00–145.00 $144.33 $704 +4.64
500–529 value added 526 55 147.00–152.00 $151.81 $799 -6.31
557–593 value added 572 13 142.00–147.00 $143.74 $822 -7.35
565–585 575 2 134.00–139.00 $136.46 $785 +0.74
603–625 value added 609 10 137.00–142.00 $139.78 $851 +1.40
665 665 1 129.00 $129.00 $858 -1.00
692 value added 692 6 131.00 $131.00 $907 -3.71
710 value added 710 2 126.00 $126.00 $895 —
710 710 1 115.00 $115.00 $816 -4.99
795 795 1 116.00 $116.00 $922 -1.00
810 810 3 123.50 $123.50 $1,000 +13.50
930 930 1 91.00 $91.00 $846 -13.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
265 265 1 135.00 $135.00 $358 +7.00
345–347 346 3 133.00 $133.00 $460 —
515 515 1 122.50 $122.50 $631 -2.50
550 550 1 121.00 $121.00 $666 —
655–685 670 2 115.00–116.00 $115.51 $774 +1.51
705–715 710 2 98.00–109.00 $103.54 $735 —
785–795 788 3 109.00 $109.00 $859 +15.00
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
685 685 3 123.00 $123.00 $843 —
817 817 2 100.00 $100.00 $817 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350–380 368 3 152.50–162.50 $157.61 $580 +3.32
448 448 3 155.00 $155.00 $694 +2.83
480–495 486 5 145.00–149.00 $147.01 $714 -0.01
535 535 1 145.00 $145.00 $776 +1.84
550–590 570 4 146.00–148.00 $146.77 $837 +0.28
635 635 1 139.00 $139.00 $883 +1.03
675 675 1 131.00 $131.00 $884 -3.50
707–710 708 3 121.00–125.00 $122.34 $866 -1.80
835–845 838 3 104.00–108.00 $105.34 $883 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
565 565 1 133.00 $133.00 $751 —
660 660 1 115.00 $115.00 $759 —
705–745 722 3 106.00–128.00 $116.83 $844 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
290 290 1 157.50 $157.50 $457 +25.00
550–580 563 4 121.00–135.00 $131.39 $740 -5.61
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
560–582 571 4 105.00–113.00 $110.30 $630 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1265–1895 1489 75-80% 9 68.50–75.50 $71.92 $1,071 —
1255–1745 1518 75-80% 8 65.00–68.50 $67.42 $1,023 —
1565–1595 1580 75-80% 2 60.00–63.00 $61.51 $972 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1145–1155 1150 80-85% 2 65.00–68.00 $66.49 $765 +8.95
1080–1380 1221 80-85% 5 54.00–61.00 $57.46 $702 —
1190–1595 1339 80-85% 4 70.50–74.50 $71.91 $963 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
965 965 85-90% 1 61.00 $61.00 $589 —
940–1205 1066 85-90% 7 43.00–55.50 $49.35 $526 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1120–1550 1290 4 89.00–95.00 $93.40 $1,205 +11.51
1640 1640 1 82.00 $82.00 $1,345 —
1775–2055 1915 2 96.00–109.00 $102.02 $1,954 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1040 1040 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 900.00 $900.00
1190 1190 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 900.00 $900.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1090 1090 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 2 800.00–810.00 $805.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
910 910 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 825.00 $825.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1555 1555 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 1,160.00 $1,160.00 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1230 1230 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 1,040.00 $1,040.00 —

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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.