Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 14, 2022

1,186 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $169.22/cwt +24.95 vs last sale · ≈ $832/hd at 492 lb · 171 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $161.37/cwt +21.37 vs last sale · ≈ $1,085/hd at 672 lb · 87 head

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $164.42/cwt +5.94 vs last sale · ≈ $1,026/hd at 624 lb · 71 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,186	661	1,151
Feeder cattle	1,051	485	1,061
Slaughter cattle	108	128	73
Replacement cattle	27	48	17

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers and heifers sold unevenly steady with good demand for weaned calf packages. Off-color, fleshy, and bawling calves facing discounts. Slaughter cows sold 2.00 to 4.00 lower with light to moderate demand. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00 to 3.00 lower with light to 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 $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
325	325	1	187.50	$187.50	$609	—
375–382	377	8	179.00–185.00	$182.87	$689	-0.13
400–443 value added	422	30	175.00–206.00	$185.24	$782	+10.61
423–445	429	4	162.50–164.00	$162.89	$699	-6.11
455–469 value added	463	13	178.50–181.00	$179.64	$832	+7.60
470–485	481	14	160.00–167.00	$165.01	$794	-0.19
500–548 value added	515	29	164.00–175.50	$169.34	$872	-2.95
525–530	527	3	156.00–162.00	$159.32	$840	-4.72
557–588 value added	576	44	170.00–177.00	$171.97	$991	+4.70
555–592	577	5	152.00–164.00	$160.50	$926	+2.59
600–642 value added	624	66	158.00–169.00	$165.41	$1,032	+2.93
600–645	625	5	147.00–154.00	$151.35	$946	+7.86
655–675	662	5	141.00–149.00	$146.60	$970	-2.49
660–694 value added	686	27	152.00–164.00	$160.40	$1,100	—
715–735 value added	727	15	153.00–167.00	$157.30	$1,144	-0.35
755–790 value added	764	7	156.00–163.00	$158.14	$1,208	—
800	800	1	161.00	$161.00	$1,288	—
889–890	889	7	151.00–155.50	$154.86	$1,377	—
940	940	1	141.00	$141.00	$1,325	—
1090	1090	1	136.00	$136.00	$1,482	+2.00
1130	1130	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,469	+2.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
390	390	1	160.00	$160.00	$624	—
445	445	1	131.00	$131.00	$583	-19.00
485	485	1	151.00	$151.00	$732	—
507	507	2	151.00	$151.00	$766	—
610	610	1	146.00	$146.00	$891	+10.00
680–685	683	2	135.00–136.00	$135.50	$925	—
720	720	2	135.00	$135.00	$972	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
565	565	1	158.00	$158.00	$893	—
600–633	620	5	145.00–153.00	$149.90	$929	+7.97
975	975	1	136.00	$136.00	$1,326	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
220–230	224	4	138.00–155.00	$147.36	$330	—
262–295	288	5	147.00–152.00	$147.91	$426	—
340–345	343	2	147.00–155.00	$151.03	$518	—
357–375 value added	365	12	155.00–159.00	$156.71	$572	—
360–390	379	12	141.00–148.00	$143.72	$545	-3.80
415	415	1	146.00	$146.00	$606	+3.22
400–435 value added	419	20	150.00–159.00	$156.30	$655	+2.30
456–495	479	22	140.00–147.00	$143.91	$689	+3.67
467–495 value added	483	43	148.00–154.50	$150.80	$728	+0.47
498 fancy	498	106	181.95	$181.95	$906	—
507–536 value added	515	43	146.00–155.50	$152.15	$784	+2.30
517–545	536	6	139.00–145.00	$143.07	$767	+3.01
553–587 value added	570	32	144.00–150.50	$146.84	$837	-5.16
572–587	579	6	141.00–144.00	$142.01	$822	-2.03
604–648 value added	610	38	139.00–148.25	$144.95	$884	+0.74
610–631	619	12	130.00–137.00	$132.40	$820	-1.63
667 value added	667	2	146.00	$146.00	$974	+6.00
671 thin fleshed	671	74	167.00	$167.00	$1,121	—
650–687	680	11	122.00–131.00	$126.32	$859	—
700	700	1	130.00	$130.00	$910	—
715–725	721	5	116.00–129.00	$120.99	$872	—
790	790	14	135.00	$135.00	$1,066	—
830	830	1	107.00	$107.00	$888	—
880	880	1	101.00	$101.00	$889	—
1030	1030	1	90.00	$90.00	$927	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
295	295	1	125.00	$125.00	$369	-12.50
337–345	340	3	125.00–130.00	$128.31	$436	—
355	355	1	122.00	$122.00	$433	-0.31
440	440	1	136.00	$136.00	$598	+5.31
452–495	479	7	124.00–139.00	$132.33	$634	+4.39
500–535	510	16	124.00–138.00	$127.32	$649	+3.15
555–571	566	5	122.50–135.00	$130.76	$740	+24.61
631	631	3	99.00	$99.00	$625	-15.00
690	690	2	110.00	$110.00	$759	-3.86
735–740	738	2	95.00–115.00	$104.97	$775	-6.03
755–765	760	2	111.00–115.00	$112.99	$859	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310	310	1	117.50	$117.50	$364	—
365	365	1	102.50	$102.50	$374	—
435–443	441	4	110.00–112.50	$110.62	$488	—
555	555	2	110.00	$110.00	$610	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
265–275	268	4	151.00–152.50	$152.11	$408	-7.89
315 value added	315	4	178.00	$178.00	$561	—
345	345	2	162.00	$162.00	$559	+14.42
365–385	375	3	170.00–181.00	$175.28	$657	+13.66
400–447	432	9	152.50–162.50	$155.59	$672	+1.66
443 value added	443	11	169.50	$169.50	$751	—
450–487	475	4	141.00–155.00	$145.32	$690	-5.68
475 value added	475	1	167.00	$167.00	$793	+2.37
502–518 value added	515	17	154.00–159.00	$158.01	$814	-3.99
531	531	6	143.50	$143.50	$762	-3.54
551–565 value added	555	4	156.00–158.00	$157.49	$874	+0.49
565–575	569	4	140.00–151.00	$143.53	$817	+4.86
625–630	628	2	132.00–138.00	$134.99	$848	+0.90
603–645 value added	632	21	139.00–146.00	$140.84	$890	—
650 value added	650	1	141.00	$141.00	$916	—
700–730	709	7	123.00–136.00	$131.44	$932	+5.70
750–795	768	8	124.00–132.00	$128.72	$989	+7.72
815–835	825	2	120.00–126.00	$122.96	$1,014	—
855–887	873	5	113.00–126.00	$120.61	$1,053	+4.61
965–970	968	2	118.00–135.00	$126.52	$1,225	—
1038	1038	3	109.00	$109.00	$1,131	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
190	190	1	160.00	$160.00	$304	—
325–331	330	4	137.50–153.00	$149.18	$492	+9.18
370–395	381	5	135.00–157.50	$147.09	$560	+9.85
400–445	427	5	133.00–148.00	$139.52	$596	+3.93
460–490	478	3	130.00–140.00	$133.75	$639	-2.38
525–545	535	3	140.00–141.00	$140.33	$751	+12.49
560–580	572	3	139.00–145.00	$141.35	$809	+6.35
600–645	617	5	118.00–128.00	$121.31	$748	+1.75
655–695	675	2	125.00	$125.00	$844	+11.09
740	740	1	116.00	$116.00	$858	—
975	975	1	85.00	$85.00	$829	-7.00

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300–320	310	2	112.50–122.50	$117.66	$365	—
490–495	493	2	101.00–122.00	$111.45	$549	—
515–520	518	2	110.00–116.00	$112.99	$585	+12.05
575–595	583	3	105.00–121.00	$112.08	$653	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
630	630	3	122.00	$122.00	$769	—
780	780	1	120.00	$120.00	$936	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
795–1265	1020	85-90%	12	36.00–53.00	$46.80	$477	-17.35
915–1165	1055	85-90%	14	60.00–67.00	$62.93	$664	—
795–1165	1059	85-90%	15	54.00–59.00	$56.37	$597	—
1125–1230	1178	85-90%	2	68.00–70.00	$69.04	$813	+20.13

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1075–1555	1258	80-85%	13	63.00–68.00	$65.98	$830	+4.02
995–1530	1368	80-85%	9	69.50–84.00	$74.33	$1,017	—
1265–1580	1423	80-85%	2	56.00–59.00	$57.67	$821	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1350	1350	75-80%	1	62.00	$62.00	$837	-5.86
1180–1570	1403	75-80%	6	64.50–67.00	$65.97	$926	—
1205–1750	1479	75-80%	16	68.00–75.00	$70.56	$1,044	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1270–2085	1512	8	74.00–87.50	$83.01	$1,255	—
1475–2215	1741	7	90.00–96.00	$92.90	$1,617	—
1570–1935	1760	4	98.00–109.50	$105.35	$1,854	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
950	950	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	71.00	$71.00	$674

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
915–1415	1175	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	8	820.00–1,285.00	$966.28
1200–1465	1323	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	885.00–1,350.00	$1,053.84

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1005–1155	1080	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	675.00–720.00	$699.06
1060–1145	1103	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	710.00–730.00	$719.61

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
800	800	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	500.00	$500.00
970	970	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	540.00	$540.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
980	980	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	785.00	$785.00

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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.