Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report, Mt. Sterling, KY

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 13, 2023

790 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 7-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $189.75/cwt ≈ $1,334/hd at 703 lb · 78 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $203.47/cwt +1.38 vs last sale · ≈ $1,169/hd at 574 lb · 40 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $210.70/cwt +4.33 vs last sale · ≈ $1,409/hd at 669 lb · 36 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	790	1,068	1,186
Feeder cattle	635	930	1,051
Slaughter cattle	109	118	108
Replacement cattle	46	20	27

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers under 600 lbs sold 5.00 to 10.00 higher with very good demand for attractive quality calf packages; over 600 lbs sold steady to 3.00 lower in a light test. Feeder heifers sold unevenly steady with moderate demand. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00 to 3.00 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
325	325	1	262.50	$262.50	$853	+22.50
365 fancy	365	1	290.00	$290.00	$1,058	—
375–390	383	4	258.00–272.50	$265.39	$1,016	+12.85
415 fancy	415	1	290.00	$290.00	$1,204	—
407–445 value added	435	14	246.00–290.00	$257.37	$1,120	+2.64
450–477 value added	470	24	240.00–270.00	$258.55	$1,215	+4.61
523–543 value added	532	27	240.00–257.00	$249.92	$1,330	+9.73
550–565 value added	558	7	240.00–243.00	$241.71	$1,349	+10.97
579	579	28	236.00	$236.00	$1,366	—
605–632 value added	625	24	214.00–224.00	$219.67	$1,373	+1.78
620–631	626	6	200.00	$200.00	$1,252	-7.08
664–680	667	15	191.00–203.00	$200.56	$1,338	-4.86
666–677 value added	670	21	213.00–219.50	$217.94	$1,460	+9.94
722 value added	722	4	199.00	$199.00	$1,437	-3.50
731–739	737	13	188.50–190.00	$188.96	$1,393	—
795	795	1	189.00	$189.00	$1,503	+0.71
829	829	5	183.00	$183.00	$1,517	-5.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
220	220	1	180.00	$180.00	$396	—
370–390	380	2	237.50–241.00	$239.20	$909	—
400–430	420	3	222.50–227.50	$224.09	$941	—
477	477	2	231.00	$231.00	$1,102	+7.81
510–520	515	4	226.00–233.00	$228.23	$1,175	+4.44
550–560	555	5	223.00–236.00	$228.59	$1,269	+4.74
633	633	3	174.00	$174.00	$1,101	-28.00
705	705	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,269	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
672	672	2	189.00	$189.00	$1,270	—
700–717	709	4	181.00–182.00	$181.49	$1,287	—
923	923	3	152.00	$152.00	$1,403	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300–345 value added	323	2	215.00–216.00	$215.53	$696	—
400–402	401	4	190.00–192.00	$191.00	$766	-5.34
426–448 value added	444	27	208.00–215.00	$208.75	$927	-8.47
450–475	459	7	190.00–198.00	$195.51	$897	+5.51
450–488 value added	468	9	202.00–212.00	$206.56	$967	+6.56
500	500	5	184.00–191.00	$188.20	$941	-3.13
526–535 value added	529	20	200.00–214.00	$207.52	$1,098	-2.03
550–580	564	5	185.00–192.00	$189.28	$1,068	+5.30
553–591 value added	576	35	200.00–214.00	$205.50	$1,184	+1.34
608–636 value added	622	18	190.00–206.00	$198.18	$1,233	-6.36
615–624	623	7	170.00–181.00	$171.55	$1,069	—
690–695	690	18	170.00–174.00	$170.22	$1,175	-14.28
703 value added	703	78	189.75	$189.75	$1,334	—
852	852	5	143.00	$143.00	$1,218	—
1015	1015	2	135.00	$135.00	$1,370	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
270	270	1	180.00	$180.00	$486	—
330–340	335	4	165.00–182.50	$178.06	$597	+9.63
365–395	376	4	160.00–185.00	$174.02	$654	+0.40
435–445	439	4	152.50–165.00	$156.85	$689	-25.58
450–485	461	6	162.50–185.00	$172.71	$796	-5.19
505–540	530	4	171.00–182.50	$176.03	$933	+3.83
555–575	565	2	169.00–180.00	$174.40	$985	+1.80
605–615	608	3	141.00–159.00	$147.07	$894	-10.51
662–698	681	7	140.00–155.00	$143.94	$980	—
740	740	3	148.00	$148.00	$1,095	+7.21

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
305	305	1	180.00	$180.00	$549	—
475	475	1	160.00	$160.00	$760	—
564	564	6	160.00	$160.00	$902	-10.00
792	792	7	162.00	$162.00	$1,283	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	1	142.50	$142.50	$534	—
405	405	1	136.00	$136.00	$551	—
500–517	509	4	120.00–142.00	$130.82	$666	—
600	600	1	110.00	$110.00	$660	-15.06

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
360–365	363	3	240.00–260.00	$251.72	$914	+14.91
427	427	2	230.00	$230.00	$982	-1.42
475	475	1	212.50	$212.50	$1,009	-18.44
562–590	577	5	200.00–223.00	$212.99	$1,229	-7.16
622–635	628	5	175.00–183.00	$178.62	$1,122	-14.37
650–695	684	4	161.00–186.00	$178.93	$1,224	-1.42
740	740	1	168.00	$168.00	$1,243	-16.65
760–770	763	3	161.00–170.00	$166.97	$1,274	+7.35

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
265	265	1	200.00	$200.00	$530	—
325	325	1	185.00	$185.00	$601	-5.00
470–480	473	3	170.00–187.50	$179.93	$851	-21.64
500–535	511	4	181.00–195.00	$189.06	$966	-1.32
550–590	570	2	172.00–197.00	$184.94	$1,054	-17.92
605	605	1	162.50	$162.50	$983	—
690	690	1	157.50	$157.50	$1,087	-3.50
940	940	1	109.00	$109.00	$1,025	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	1	157.50	$157.50	$528	—
360	360	1	155.00	$155.00	$558	—
427	427	2	135.00	$135.00	$576	+10.00
487	487	2	152.00	$152.00	$740	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
865	865	1	142.00	$142.00	$1,228	—
905	905	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,176	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1095	1095	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	1,500.00	$1,500.00	—
1685	1685	Young (2-4 yrs)	N/A	1	2,200.00	$2,200.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105–1540	1336	75-80%	10	74.00–82.00	$78.99	$1,055	—
1125–1690	1419	75-80%	12	83.00–87.50	$84.99	$1,206	—
1195–1870	1616	75-80%	18	88.00–105.00	$97.40	$1,574	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
915–1085	986	85-90%	6	58.00–69.00	$64.66	$638	—
815–1245	1054	85-90%	12	70.00–74.00	$72.32	$762	-9.56
890–1245	1070	85-90%	12	75.00–82.50	$78.58	$841	-3.30

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
995–1290	1141	80-85%	6	76.00–82.50	$80.47	$918	—
975–1475	1188	80-85%	13	83.00–86.50	$84.53	$1,004	—
1120–1555	1318	80-85%	9	88.00–94.50	$90.61	$1,194	+4.08

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1067–1440	1242	4	97.00–103.00	$99.30	$1,233	—
1430–1875	1584	7	110.00–119.00	$112.87	$1,788	—
1795	1795	1	123.00	$123.00	$2,208	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1020	1020	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	935.00	$935.00
735–1255	1037	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	11	725.00–1,000.00	$905.96
1210	1210	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	925.00	$925.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
990–1270	1066	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	7	1,060.00–1,500.00	$1,275.55
1070–1465	1268	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,075.00–1,335.00	$1,225.26

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
925	925	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,100.00	$1,100.00
975	975	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,200.00	$1,200.00
985–1015	1000	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,125.00–1,175.00	$1,150.38

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
850	850	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	835.00	$835.00

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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
1565	1565	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,550.00	$1,550.00	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1175	1175	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	950.00	$950.00	—

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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.