Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report, Mt. Sterling, KY

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, May 24, 2023

515 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $228.60/cwt +11.22 vs last sale · ≈ $1,351/hd at 591 lb · 98 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $197.25/cwt ≈ $1,499/hd at 760 lb · 71 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $207.92/cwt +6.49 vs last sale · ≈ $1,092/hd at 525 lb · 17 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	515	664	400
Feeder cattle	412	611	297
Slaughter cattle	84	49	82
Replacement cattle	19	4	21

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers sold steady with very good demand. Feeder heifers sold mostly 3.00 to 8.00 higher some sharply higher with very good demand. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold 5.00 higher with very 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
310	310	1	212.50	$212.50	$659	—
340 value added	340	2	225.00–261.00	$243.00	$826	+11.07
380	380	1	222.50	$222.50	$846	—
385 value added	385	1	220.00	$220.00	$847	-16.08
400–445 value added	426	9	225.00–247.50	$239.24	$1,019	+5.44
460–495 value added	482	12	227.00–242.00	$234.91	$1,132	+2.15
555–595 value added	576	9	220.00–243.00	$231.76	$1,335	-4.59
615	615	1	193.00	$193.00	$1,187	-2.00
605–627 value added	617	4	211.00–240.00	$222.74	$1,374	-2.31
653 value added	653	8	235.00	$235.00	$1,535	—
700	700	1	199.00	$199.00	$1,393	—
702 thin fleshed	702	10	212.50	$212.50	$1,492	—
775	775	1	195.00	$195.00	$1,511	+1.00
810	810	1	194.00	$194.00	$1,571	+4.00
940	940	1	191.00	$191.00	$1,795	+4.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
250	250	1	200.00	$200.00	$500	—
452–495	466	3	172.50–180.00	$175.15	$816	-3.85
553	553	4	200.00	$200.00	$1,106	—
755	755	1	165.00	$165.00	$1,246	—
815	815	1	162.50	$162.50	$1,324	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
490 value added	490	1	224.00	$224.00	$1,098	—
575	575	1	195.00	$195.00	$1,121	—
620 value added	620	1	214.00	$214.00	$1,327	—
622	622	2	192.00	$192.00	$1,194	—
700	700	2	192.00	$192.00	$1,344	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
295	295	2	200.00	$200.00	$590	—
320–325	323	2	200.00–202.50	$201.26	$650	+4.26
340–341 value added	341	4	220.00–221.00	$220.75	$753	—
350–392	376	5	197.00–205.00	$200.35	$753	—
365–395 value added	390	7	211.00–216.00	$212.44	$829	-8.65
405	405	2	192.00	$192.00	$778	+5.00
400–449 value added	435	8	207.50–215.00	$213.38	$928	+0.92
453–485	458	7	199.00–210.00	$200.67	$919	+12.30
450–487 value added	471	7	210.00–218.00	$213.95	$1,008	+3.33
506–545 value added	525	14	200.00–224.00	$211.77	$1,112	+5.70
500–545	527	3	185.00–192.50	$189.95	$1,001	+8.61
550–593	580	10	191.00–197.00	$192.42	$1,116	+2.42
560–594 value added	592	88	200.00–234.85	$232.71	$1,378	+15.08
620–645 value added	633	3	186.00–202.00	$192.22	$1,217	-13.08
682	682	2	172.00	$172.00	$1,173	—
695 value added	695	1	185.00	$185.00	$1,286	-24.56
730	730	2	172.00	$172.00	$1,256	—
741–745 value added	742	6	185.00–185.50	$185.42	$1,376	-3.58
760 value added	760	71	197.25	$197.25	$1,499	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
200	200	1	170.00	$170.00	$340	—
255	255	1	167.50	$167.50	$427	+2.50
345	345	1	170.00	$170.00	$586	-7.50
840	840	1	127.00	$127.00	$1,067	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
405	405	1	172.50	$172.50	$699	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
315–335 value added	325	2	241.00–242.50	$241.77	$786	+16.84
385–395 value added	390	2	240.00–245.00	$242.53	$946	+7.03
400–416 value added	413	7	232.00–236.00	$235.43	$972	+0.68
452–490 value added	463	7	221.00–237.00	$229.68	$1,063	+0.15
495	495	1	210.00	$210.00	$1,040	±0.00
505–520 value added	512	7	218.00–225.00	$222.87	$1,141	-0.30
550–570 value added	563	6	220.00–226.00	$221.51	$1,247	+4.74
575	575	1	209.00	$209.00	$1,202	—
605–645 value added	625	2	195.00–201.00	$198.10	$1,238	-9.22
655–690 value added	677	6	192.00–201.00	$195.26	$1,322	-3.74
675–690	683	2	181.00–191.00	$186.05	$1,271	—
715–730	723	2	175.00–187.00	$181.06	$1,309	—
1005	1005	2	137.00	$137.00	$1,377	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
455–480	468	2	177.50–178.00	$177.76	$832	+8.78
520	520	1	173.00	$173.00	$900	-2.00
925	925	1	122.50	$122.50	$1,133	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310–330	320	2	125.00–162.50	$143.16	$458	—
365	365	1	157.50	$157.50	$575	+5.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
770	770	2	173.00	$173.00	$1,332	+4.00

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
985–1620	1286	80-85%	25	103.50–129.50	$115.59	$1,486	—
1340	1340	80-85%	1	97.00	$97.00	$1,300	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
815	815	85-90%	1	75.00	$75.00	$611	—
800–965	874	85-90%	7	79.00–85.50	$81.96	$716	—
810–1085	974	85-90%	6	86.00–94.00	$90.81	$884	—
935–1275	1126	85-90%	10	96.00–109.00	$102.31	$1,152	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1205–1955	1476	75-80%	20	103.00–127.00	$115.20	$1,700	+7.10

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1220–1605	1414	6	116.00–124.00	$120.84	$1,709	—
1455–1980	1807	7	128.00–146.50	$136.08	$2,459	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
975	975	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	114.00	$114.00	$1,112

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
900–1085	993	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	1,025.00–1,100.00	$1,065.99
1185	1185	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,160.00	$1,160.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1015	1015	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	950.00	$950.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
805	805	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	910.00	$910.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
645–685	665	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	975.00–985.00	$980.15	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
720	720	1	134.00	$134.00	$965	—

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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.