Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 3, 2024

306 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1-2 steers $250.50/cwt +3.50 vs last sale · ≈ $1,929/hd at 770 lb · 63 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $255.70/cwt -13.72 vs last sale · ≈ $1,219/hd at 477 lb · 11 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	306	458	738
Feeder cattle	254	376	653
Slaughter cattle	45	54	67
Replacement cattle	7	28	18

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers and heifers sold steady on similar quality in a lite test. Slaughter cows sold steady with very good demand. 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
380	380	1	324.00	$324.00	$1,231	+15.00
420	420	1	327.50	$327.50	$1,376	—
450–480	465	2	285.00–297.00	$290.81	$1,352	—
515–542	531	4	264.00–276.00	$267.21	$1,419	+8.21
635	635	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,588	—
770 value added	770	63	250.50	$250.50	$1,929	+3.50
805	805	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,771	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
390	390	1	286.00	$286.00	$1,115	-0.67
410	410	1	265.00	$265.00	$1,086	—
600	600	1	232.00	$232.00	$1,392	—
905–935	920	2	180.00–186.00	$182.95	$1,683	—
980	980	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,274	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1140	1140	1	150.00	$150.00	$1,710	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	1	255.00	$255.00	$956	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
340	340	1	291.00	$291.00	$989	+8.61
371–380	373	5	265.00–278.00	$275.35	$1,027	-12.15
465–480	473	6	248.00–250.00	$249.67	$1,181	-2.33
465–488 value added	481	5	260.00–270.00	$262.94	$1,265	-7.45
507–532 value added	521	7	256.00–269.00	$261.33	$1,362	-6.68
600	600	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,380	—
735	735	1	202.00	$202.00	$1,485	+2.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335–345	342	3	261.00–269.00	$266.39	$911	—
360–395	373	3	250.00–253.00	$251.06	$936	+6.61
400–405	403	2	230.00–245.00	$237.45	$957	—
560–590	580	3	226.00–230.00	$227.29	$1,318	+2.29
625–645	635	2	224.00–226.00	$225.02	$1,429	—
660–685	673	2	151.00–172.00	$161.70	$1,088	-26.04
800	800	1	129.00	$129.00	$1,032	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
512	512	2	244.00	$244.00	$1,249	—
590	590	1	193.00	$193.00	$1,139	—
700	700	2	186.00	$186.00	$1,302	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
235	235	1	240.00	$240.00	$564	—
290	290	1	204.00	$204.00	$592	—
365	365	1	217.00	$217.00	$792	+7.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
275	275	1	306.00	$306.00	$842	+30.00
347	347	2	285.00	$285.00	$989	—
547	547	2	252.00	$252.00	$1,378	-6.00
570	570	2	260.00	$260.00	$1,482	-17.00
605	605	2	229.00–236.00	$232.50	$1,407	—
607 value added	607	2	241.00	$241.00	$1,463	-28.84
775	775	1	217.00	$217.00	$1,682	—
810	810	1	181.00	$181.00	$1,466	-31.55
1005	1005	1	161.00	$161.00	$1,618	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	1	245.00	$245.00	$821	+11.00
355	355	1	255.00	$255.00	$905	+30.00
460–470	463	3	240.00–249.00	$243.04	$1,125	+9.04
555	555	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,304	—
745	745	1	200.00	$200.00	$1,490	—
757–780	765	3	200.00–206.00	$202.04	$1,546	—
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
460	460	1	219.00	$219.00	$1,007	—
510	510	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,122	-5.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1040	1040	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	2,025.00	$2,025.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
760–900	830	85-90%	2	76.00–86.00	$81.42	$676	—
870–895	883	85-90%	2	94.00–96.00	$94.99	$839	—
820–1220	1016	85-90%	4	102.00–110.00	$106.61	$1,083	-2.34
785–1250	1029	85-90%	6	113.00–128.00	$118.97	$1,224	+10.02

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1260	1260	75-80%	1	109.00	$109.00	$1,373	—
1120–1630	1439	75-80%	7	115.00–121.00	$117.63	$1,693	-12.48
1160–1855	1563	75-80%	4	122.50–127.50	$125.09	$1,955	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1005	1005	80-85%	1	111.00	$111.00	$1,116	—
1115–1435	1316	80-85%	7	122.00–135.00	$128.63	$1,693	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1160–1325	1243	2	128.00–133.00	$130.33	$1,620	—
1785–2205	2016	6	157.00–178.00	$169.97	$3,427	—

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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
1175	1175	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,900.00	$1,900.00	—
1595	1595	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	2,550.00	$2,550.00	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
800	800	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,085.00	$1,085.00	—

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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.