Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, October 11, 2023

734 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $237.98/cwt -5.02 vs last sale · ≈ $2,018/hd at 848 lb · 98 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $216.84/cwt -4.16 vs last sale · ≈ $1,152/hd at 531 lb · 30 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $214.23/cwt +2.59 vs last sale · ≈ $1,029/hd at 480 lb · 29 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	734	612	583
Feeder cattle	593	423	420
Slaughter cattle	111	119	123
Replacement cattle	30	70	40

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steer and heifer calves sold 5.00 to 8.00 lower with light demand on a mostly fleshy, average quality, offering. Yearlings limited comparison. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher with moderate demand. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 2.00 lower 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 $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
360 value added	360	1	265.00	$265.00	$954	-6.93
370–385	380	3	250.00–255.00	$251.62	$956	-30.88
400–416 value added	410	6	254.00–267.50	$263.16	$1,079	-8.66
415–448	430	8	230.00–249.00	$241.93	$1,040	-9.67
450–470	462	3	240.00–245.00	$242.70	$1,121	-3.50
450–490 value added	479	5	247.50–263.00	$251.04	$1,202	-7.94
526–543 value added	532	10	242.00–245.00	$242.45	$1,290	—
523–548	535	10	236.00–242.00	$238.38	$1,275	+5.22
565–593 value added	577	10	242.50–248.00	$245.76	$1,418	—
585	585	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,375	+2.67
630 value added	630	4	244.00–245.00	$244.25	$1,539	-9.09
652	652	2	230.00	$230.00	$1,500	—
760	760	2	223.00	$223.00	$1,695	—
847–848	848	98	234.75–239.85	$237.98	$2,018	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
385	385	1	235.00	$235.00	$905	+42.50
455–485	468	6	210.00–230.00	$226.54	$1,060	+13.94
535–545	540	2	234.00–236.00	$234.99	$1,269	+34.99
550	550	1	233.00	$233.00	$1,282	+5.00
605–610	608	2	194.00–221.00	$207.44	$1,261	—
657–685	670	5	197.00–221.00	$216.23	$1,449	—
700–735	710	5	177.00–211.00	$203.70	$1,446	+2.70

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505	505	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,162	+45.00
650	650	1	191.00	$191.00	$1,242	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310	310	1	159.00	$159.00	$493	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375–395 value added	380	4	240.00–241.00	$240.26	$913	—
375–395	385	3	220.00–225.00	$222.48	$857	+22.37
405 value added	405	3	227.50	$227.50	$921	—
410–440	431	8	190.00–215.00	$200.36	$864	-14.54
450–495	477	17	195.00–217.50	$207.45	$990	-5.86
480–497 value added	485	12	220.00–230.00	$223.84	$1,086	—
512–540	526	12	187.00–214.00	$199.88	$1,051	—
509–549 value added	535	18	220.00–234.00	$228.14	$1,221	+7.14
550–587	576	14	181.00–219.00	$207.61	$1,196	+2.61
600–612	608	8	184.00–193.00	$187.76	$1,142	-14.24
640 value added	640	2	210.00	$210.00	$1,344	—
665	665	1	200.00	$200.00	$1,330	-1.41

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
315–345	337	11	156.00–182.00	$165.82	$559	-10.85
370–395	387	4	150.00–180.00	$170.28	$659	-14.72
415–445	430	2	182.00–187.50	$184.65	$794	-2.87
462–492	479	5	180.00–190.00	$186.33	$893	+5.61
505–545	528	3	170.00–189.00	$180.04	$951	—
562–580	569	5	170.00–180.00	$175.46	$998	-3.48
610	610	2	175.00	$175.00	$1,068	+5.00
660	660	1	170.00	$170.00	$1,122	-12.00
775–790	783	2	132.00–140.00	$135.96	$1,065	—
802	802	2	164.00	$164.00	$1,315	—
880–882	881	3	121.00	$121.00	$1,066	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
315	315	1	130.00	$130.00	$410	+10.00
405–440	422	3	142.50–165.00	$149.97	$633	—
495	495	1	127.50	$127.50	$631	—
520–540	532	3	120.00–140.00	$130.21	$693	-35.79
577–595	582	4	147.00–158.00	$155.26	$904	—
670–675	673	2	133.00–140.00	$136.49	$919	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
392	392	2	190.00	$190.00	$745	—
495	495	1	181.00	$181.00	$896	—
533	533	3	170.00	$170.00	$906	—
662	662	2	151.00	$151.00	$1,000	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
355–395	375	9	240.00–252.50	$243.22	$912	-24.78
415–423 value added	421	4	242.50	$242.50	$1,021	—
420–445	437	3	220.00–237.50	$225.61	$986	-18.15
475 value added	475	1	244.00	$244.00	$1,159	—
462–495	476	5	220.00–239.00	$229.33	$1,092	+1.26
500–542	531	12	220.00–236.00	$225.49	$1,197	-4.65
550–587	574	18	211.00–231.00	$223.34	$1,282	—
605–635	620	12	187.50–214.00	$201.52	$1,249	+4.75
660 value added	660	1	208.00	$208.00	$1,373	—
665	665	1	198.00	$198.00	$1,317	—
725–740	733	2	175.00–203.00	$188.86	$1,384	+8.90
755–768	763	7	170.00–175.00	$171.84	$1,311	—
882	882	2	176.00	$176.00	$1,552	—
955	955	2	170.00	$170.00	$1,624	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
280–295	288	3	175.00–202.50	$192.77	$555	—
320	320	1	190.00	$190.00	$608	±0.00
355–382	367	5	180.00–224.00	$210.72	$773	+5.65
400–415	413	6	181.00–220.00	$199.74	$825	—
452–495	472	6	180.00–215.00	$196.28	$926	+4.28
515–540	523	12	182.50–210.00	$200.73	$1,050	+3.18
550–582	571	6	180.00–210.00	$193.72	$1,106	+11.72
625–635	630	2	151.00–180.00	$165.62	$1,043	-3.49
655–685	672	5	162.00–180.00	$172.79	$1,161	+2.79
700–740	727	3	140.00–170.00	$158.85	$1,155	+1.86
780	780	1	160.00	$160.00	$1,248	—
860	860	3	153.00–163.00	$156.33	$1,344	+25.33
915	915	1	121.00	$121.00	$1,107	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
555	555	2	205.00	$205.00	$1,138	+17.52
620	620	2	180.00	$180.00	$1,116	-5.00
665	665	1	191.00	$191.00	$1,270	—
743	743	3	170.00	$170.00	$1,263	—
810	810	1	160.00	$160.00	$1,296	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
220	220	1	170.00	$170.00	$374	—
275	275	1	175.00	$175.00	$481	—
310	310	2	170.00	$170.00	$527	—
455	455	1	150.00	$150.00	$682	—
590	590	1	181.00	$181.00	$1,068	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1240–1420	1311	75-80%	4	84.50–87.50	$86.53	$1,134	+0.12
1110–1560	1341	75-80%	10	93.00–96.50	$94.93	$1,273	+8.52
1365	1365	75-80%	1	76.00	$76.00	$1,037	—
1235–1750	1465	75-80%	17	97.50–105.50	$100.79	$1,477	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
710–1195	926	85-90%	4	64.00–74.00	$67.15	$622	—
765–1240	1010	85-90%	12	84.00–93.00	$87.98	$889	—
855–1115	1020	85-90%	3	94.00–95.00	$94.64	$965	—
925–1390	1081	85-90%	11	78.00–83.50	$81.56	$882	-1.41

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1060–1235	1174	80-85%	4	88.00–94.00	$91.88	$1,079	—
1230–1310	1270	80-85%	2	86.00	$86.00	$1,092	+2.30
1095–1550	1332	80-85%	9	97.00–110.50	$103.07	$1,373	+6.61

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1220–1570	1353	7	103.00–110.50	$107.29	$1,452	—
1560–2050	1797	9	115.00–124.00	$119.50	$2,147	—
1835–2015	1895	4	127.00–134.00	$130.78	$2,478	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
850–1000	910	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	3	103.00–124.00	$112.47	$1,023

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1100	1100	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,200.00	$1,200.00
1120–1280	1175	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,050.00–1,300.00	$1,147.59
1075–1335	1230	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,025.00–1,150.00	$1,113.58

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1020	1020	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	825.00	$825.00
1035–1155	1085	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	875.00–950.00	$912.74

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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
1390–1680	1477	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	6	1,425.00–1,600.00	$1,519.59	-107.80

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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.