Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 8, 2021

1,084 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $147.30/cwt +18.61 vs last sale · ≈ $859/hd at 583 lb · 127 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $137.31/cwt +5.31 vs last sale · ≈ $711/hd at 518 lb · 85 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $159.45/cwt +13.26 vs last sale · ≈ $914/hd at 573 lb · 78 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,084	1,307	1,741
Feeder cattle	976	1,134	1,597
Slaughter cattle	85	118	132
Replacement cattle	23	55	12

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week feeder steers and heifers sold 2.00 to 5.00 higher with very good demand for weaned 4-weight packages. Slaughter cows and 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
305	305	1	160.00	$160.00	$488	±0.00
310–325 fancy	318	2	181.00–190.00	$185.39	$590	—
358 fancy	358	6	175.00	$175.00	$626	—
400–431 value added	417	22	160.00–186.00	$171.23	$714	+4.07
426–445	431	4	150.00–155.00	$151.29	$652	-1.40
460–480	470	2	154.00–160.00	$157.06	$738	+4.21
450–490 value added	477	31	163.00–185.00	$169.38	$808	+11.44
500–544 value added	528	36	155.00–170.00	$162.33	$857	+9.24
530	530	1	140.00	$140.00	$742	-6.51
550–592 value added	573	76	151.00–168.50	$159.81	$916	+6.46
555–595	575	2	142.00–150.00	$145.86	$839	+0.49
600–644 value added	628	54	145.00–160.00	$150.54	$945	+0.86
645	645	1	141.00	$141.00	$909	+5.76
664	664	16	141.00	$141.00	$936	+6.00
665–697 value added	679	16	145.00–155.00	$149.18	$1,013	+8.18
710 value added	710	1	140.00	$140.00	$994	-9.75
760	760	1	137.00	$137.00	$1,041	—
792 value added	792	12	142.00	$142.00	$1,125	-4.57
1030	1030	1	108.00	$108.00	$1,112	-14.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
580	580	1	141.00	$141.00	$818	+16.00
613	613	8	141.00	$141.00	$864	+15.22

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
445	445	1	137.50	$137.50	$612	+1.06
510	510	2	137.00	$137.00	$699	+6.50
580	580	3	134.00	$134.00	$777	+9.84
620	620	1	132.00	$132.00	$818	+8.00
750	750	1	125.00	$125.00	$938	+5.00

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505	505	1	140.00	$140.00	$707	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
230–245	239	4	130.00–147.50	$135.50	$324	+9.12
267–290	277	4	126.00–131.00	$127.69	$354	—
305–345	323	9	125.00–140.00	$130.58	$422	-3.24
328 fancy	328	5	144.00	$144.00	$472	—
371–385	378	7	137.50–142.00	$139.38	$527	+9.85
382–395 fancy	389	6	140.00–150.00	$143.94	$560	—
395–398 value added	398	6	146.00–150.00	$146.66	$584	+1.66
401–428 value added	413	27	135.00–152.00	$145.79	$602	+5.78
400–448	434	8	125.00–133.00	$128.74	$559	+0.49
455–488 value added	469	37	135.00–142.00	$138.77	$651	+0.51
450–495	481	14	125.00–134.00	$131.15	$631	+3.23
500–545 value added	518	85	127.00–143.50	$137.31	$711	+2.84
550–597 value added	583	127	128.00–153.00	$147.30	$859	+16.54
610–635	620	16	120.00–126.00	$122.85	$762	-1.10
606–637 value added	623	26	129.50–133.75	$132.16	$823	+2.16
655–680	674	8	110.00–123.00	$120.69	$813	+1.33
705–715	713	4	117.00–121.00	$117.99	$841	+9.36
755	755	2	102.00	$102.00	$770	-11.00
755 value added	755	1	131.00	$131.00	$989	—
810 value added	810	1	121.00	$121.00	$980	—
880	880	1	113.00	$113.00	$994	+11.00
970	970	1	92.00	$92.00	$892	—
1020	1020	2	95.00	$95.00	$969	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
200–240	220	2	109.00–129.00	$118.09	$260	—
270–277	275	3	122.50–127.00	$123.97	$341	—
330	330	1	120.00	$120.00	$396	—
350–375	361	4	111.00–122.50	$116.37	$420	+5.06
480	480	1	121.00	$121.00	$581	+6.64
520–545	533	4	110.00–114.00	$112.05	$597	-2.26
550	550	1	116.00	$116.00	$638	+13.00
645	645	1	110.00	$110.00	$710	+2.50
660	660	2	105.00	$105.00	$693	+6.87
705–744	734	7	76.00–93.00	$80.42	$590	-11.95
875	875	1	88.00	$88.00	$770	—
905	905	2	61.00	$61.00	$552	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	2	100.00	$100.00	$335	—
645	645	1	100.00	$100.00	$645	—
792	792	2	121.00	$121.00	$958	+20.00

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	1	100.00	$100.00	$375	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
315–340	328	3	147.00–152.50	$150.74	$494	+3.09
370–385	375	3	145.00	$145.00	$544	-6.60
400–427	416	4	147.50–157.50	$152.63	$635	+6.34
425–440 value added	433	2	164.00–176.00	$169.90	$736	—
451 fancy	451	4	149.00	$149.00	$672	—
450–490	470	7	137.00–143.00	$140.50	$660	-6.89
501–545	523	23	131.00–150.00	$138.76	$726	+4.23
560	560	1	136.00	$136.00	$762	-0.07
600–640	619	18	125.00–134.00	$128.93	$798	+7.03
655–690	672	5	125.00–132.00	$128.22	$862	+8.72
687	687	2	115.00	$115.00	$790	-4.50
705–710	707	5	114.00–116.00	$115.20	$814	+1.02
840	840	2	112.00–113.00	$112.50	$945	+3.52
865	865	1	107.00	$107.00	$926	-4.49
945	945	1	106.00	$106.00	$1,002	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
222–225	223	3	126.00–140.00	$135.29	$302	-7.21
280	280	1	140.00	$140.00	$392	—
310	310	1	137.50	$137.50	$426	±0.00
415	415	1	131.00	$131.00	$544	-4.11
505–531	520	8	120.00–128.00	$125.06	$650	+1.51
560	560	1	127.00	$127.00	$711	+2.55
620	620	1	111.00	$111.00	$688	+3.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
430	430	1	130.00	$130.00	$559	±0.00
590	590	1	130.00	$130.00	$767	-0.78
630–645	635	3	120.00–122.00	$121.32	$770	+0.32
687	687	2	119.00	$119.00	$818	—
785	785	1	109.00	$109.00	$856	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
295	295	1	120.00	$120.00	$354	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1050–1360	1236	80-85%	11	52.00–58.50	$55.46	$685	+7.86
1060–1485	1306	80-85%	7	59.00–67.00	$62.33	$814	+1.06
1145–1530	1338	80-85%	2	48.00–50.00	$48.86	$654	-12.41

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1090–1560	1340	75-80%	3	46.00–52.00	$50.03	$670	—
1205–1625	1414	75-80%	7	54.00–58.00	$56.57	$800	-5.31
1265–1780	1512	75-80%	9	63.00–67.50	$64.76	$979	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
710–990	848	85-90%	3	53.00–57.00	$54.89	$465	—
940–1075	1008	85-90%	2	49.00–51.50	$50.33	$507	—
940–1355	1107	85-90%	12	32.00–47.00	$40.93	$453	-18.14

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1345–1825	1544	5	80.50–90.00	$85.23	$1,316	—
1435–1905	1694	6	90.00–99.00	$94.78	$1,606	—
2320	2320	1	72.00	$72.00	$1,670	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
995–1410	1170	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	875.00–950.00	$898.61
990–1480	1194	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	6	800.00–850.00	$835.17

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
975	975	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	725.00	$725.00
975–1340	1166	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	720.00–775.00	$748.75

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
780	780	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	650.00	$650.00

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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
1330	1330	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,050.00	$1,050.00	—

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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.