Cattle Market Pulse

Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, October 6, 2021

852 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $129.89/cwt -1.60 vs last sale · ≈ $675/hd at 520 lb · 73 head
light 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $143.48/cwt +3.48 vs last sale · ≈ $1,052/hd at 733 lb · 60 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $130.15/cwt -2.53 vs last sale · ≈ $605/hd at 465 lb · 41 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 852 854 848
Feeder cattle 721 745 713
Slaughter cattle 91 86 98
Replacement cattle 40 23 37

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers uneven with lightweight calves steady to weak; calves over 500 lbs trading 2.00 to 4.00 higher with better quality calves on offer compared to last week. Feeder heifers sold unevenly steady. Slaughter cows sold 1.00 to 3.00 lower with light 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 $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
385 385 1 162.50 $162.50 $626 +8.50
405–434 value added 430 18 155.00–158.50 $158.21 $680 -5.25
420–445 438 7 148.00–150.00 $148.56 $651 -1.32
453 value added 453 8 160.00 $160.00 $725 —
480 480 2 140.00–149.00 $144.50 $694 -1.24
500–510 502 9 143.00–148.00 $145.88 $732 —
561–585 566 21 141.00–147.00 $142.86 $809 +1.82
565–597 value added 585 18 157.25–161.00 $158.13 $925 +8.13
612–635 value added 631 15 145.00–153.00 $151.03 $953 +2.75
635–645 640 2 140.00 $140.00 $896 +6.02
660–680 673 3 138.00 $138.00 $929 —
700–739 value added 733 60 140.00–149.00 $143.48 $1,052 +3.48
766 766 3 135.50 $135.50 $1,038 -1.51
779 value added 779 7 145.00 $145.00 $1,130 -4.90
805 805 1 133.00 $133.00 $1,071 -2.00
850 850 1 129.00 $129.00 $1,096 -7.50
935 935 1 120.00 $120.00 $1,122 -13.00
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
305 305 2 145.00 $145.00 $442 —
385 385 1 140.00 $140.00 $539 —
460–485 472 3 130.00–137.50 $135.01 $637 +9.05
526–545 531 4 130.00–138.00 $135.95 $722 +6.95
646 646 2 120.00 $120.00 $775 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
566 566 3 134.00 $134.00 $758 ±0.00
730 730 1 116.00 $116.00 $847 —
842 842 2 127.00 $127.00 $1,069 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
360 360 1 120.00 $120.00 $432 —
485 485 1 115.00 $115.00 $558 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
265 fancy 265 4 147.50 $147.50 $391 +5.00
300–315 305 4 135.00–140.00 $136.25 $416 -3.75
317 fancy 317 2 142.50 $142.50 $452 ±0.00
355–390 369 6 128.00–136.00 $132.59 $489 -3.55
350–390 fancy 370 2 140.00 $140.00 $518 -2.59
398 value added 398 3 140.00 $140.00 $557 —
400–443 416 27 127.00–137.50 $134.01 $557 +1.30
427–445 value added 432 7 138.00–144.00 $140.85 $608 -0.21
455–470 value added 463 2 138.00–143.00 $140.46 $650 +4.36
450–495 465 39 122.00–132.50 $129.62 $603 +0.37
500–541 518 29 120.00–128.00 $125.74 $651 -2.96
507–540 value added 521 44 130.00–133.75 $132.62 $691 -2.73
558 value added 558 4 132.00 $132.00 $737 -3.57
565–595 580 2 123.00–125.00 $123.97 $719 -1.18
595 595 3 119.00 $119.00 $708 -6.15
615–640 626 16 116.00–127.00 $122.36 $766 +1.62
650–675 669 10 115.00–124.00 $117.97 $789 -3.54
765–785 778 3 108.00–115.00 $112.71 $877 +7.89
840 840 1 107.00 $107.00 $899 —
975 975 1 96.00 $96.00 $936 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
315–335 325 2 125.00 $125.00 $406 —
360 360 2 115.00–125.00 $120.00 $432 -2.50
440 440 2 120.00 $120.00 $528 +3.39
450–495 461 8 112.00–121.00 $117.10 $540 -3.47
512 512 4 117.00 $117.00 $599 —
560–585 573 5 101.00–110.00 $105.88 $607 -0.07
640–645 643 2 111.00–113.00 $112.00 $720 —
658–670 661 4 110.00–114.00 $112.99 $747 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
537 537 2 107.00 $107.00 $575 -3.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340–345 343 2 145.00–155.00 $150.04 $515 +1.16
350–390 374 8 137.50–140.00 $139.17 $520 -4.51
400–448 432 24 138.00–152.50 $143.46 $620 -0.07
455–477 472 8 140.00–147.00 $144.41 $682 +0.23
481 fancy 481 3 157.50 $157.50 $758 —
500–547 522 32 134.00–147.00 $138.62 $724 -0.80
550–586 579 21 131.00–149.00 $137.97 $799 +0.22
601–630 607 6 124.00–129.00 $127.47 $774 +4.46
605–640 fancy 617 5 132.00–133.00 $132.39 $817 +0.39
680 680 1 129.00 $129.00 $877 +4.40
700–705 702 3 100.00–107.00 $102.34 $718 -13.66
775 775 1 105.00 $105.00 $814 -8.98
815 815 1 94.00 $94.00 $766 -2.68
860–875 868 2 97.00–97.50 $97.25 $844 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 1 136.00 $136.00 $462 +11.00
440 440 1 128.00 $128.00 $563 -5.35
470–490 480 2 125.00–130.00 $127.55 $612 +2.73
500–543 536 15 120.00–132.00 $126.87 $680 +1.37
571 571 3 116.00 $116.00 $662 -6.53
605–615 610 2 111.00–116.00 $113.52 $692 +3.52
672–685 676 7 105.00–111.00 $109.26 $739 +5.26
705 705 2 90.00 $90.00 $634 —
770 770 1 97.00 $97.00 $747 +5.03
830 830 1 80.00 $80.00 $664 -2.00
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
450 450 2 132.00 $132.00 $594 -0.50
565 565 1 130.00 $130.00 $734 +7.00
650 650 2 108.00 $108.00 $702 -12.00
990 990 1 88.00 $88.00 $871 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 1 120.00 $120.00 $408 +5.00
460 460 1 122.50 $122.50 $564 +5.89
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1645 1645 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 1 1,525.00 $1,525.00 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1155 1155 80-85% 1 57.00 $57.00 $658 —
1010–1475 1247 80-85% 15 57.50–64.50 $61.81 $771 —
1035–1615 1362 80-85% 14 65.00–68.50 $66.22 $902 +2.96
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
860–1250 1027 85-90% 17 45.00–50.00 $47.68 $490 +1.52
905–1195 1034 85-90% 8 52.00–59.00 $54.12 $560 +7.96
1210–1240 1225 85-90% 2 60.50 $60.50 $741 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1175–1475 1319 75-80% 6 59.50–65.50 $63.42 $837 —
1325 1325 75-80% 1 58.00 $58.00 $768 —
1415–1735 1578 75-80% 8 65.50–68.50 $66.89 $1,056 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1630–2045 1782 8 83.00–93.00 $86.91 $1,549 —
1580–1965 1806 7 95.50–100.50 $97.93 $1,769 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1120–1255 1188 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 2 825.00–860.00 $841.51
1130–1665 1287 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 10 825.00–1,100.00 $999.08
1020–1670 1354 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 5 875.00–1,000.00 $911.94
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
765–1125 995 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 700.00–750.00 $733.32

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Small 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
960–1080 1020 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 2 610.00–650.00 $631.18 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1350 1350 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 1,435.00 $1,435.00 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1220 1220 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 1,025.00 $1,025.00 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
320 320 2 80.00 $80.00 $256 —

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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.