Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, May 15, 2024

550 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $280.07/cwt +6.08 vs last sale · ≈ $1,369/hd at 489 lb · 50 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $266.29/cwt -7.25 vs last sale · ≈ $1,511/hd at 567 lb · 48 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $315.22/cwt +24.11 vs last sale · ≈ $1,809/hd at 574 lb · 37 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	550	467	664
Feeder cattle	407	400	611
Slaughter cattle	64	48	49
Replacement cattle	79	19	4

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steer and heifer calves sold 5.00 to 10.00 higher; some thin-fleshed packages sharply higher with very good demand. Slaughter cows sold 3.00 to 7.00 higher with very good demand. Slaughter bulls sold 4.00 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
245	245	1	335.00	$335.00	$821	+23.00
380 value added	380	1	352.50	$352.50	$1,340	+35.50
403–445 value added	413	15	317.00–350.00	$340.62	$1,407	+9.07
468–494 value added	490	24	310.00–330.00	$326.81	$1,601	+29.46
505 value added	505	2	308.00	$308.00	$1,555	+3.73
540	540	2	290.00	$290.00	$1,566	—
572–591 value added	574	37	287.00–318.75	$315.22	$1,809	+23.58
600	600	1	266.00	$266.00	$1,596	—
620–630 value added	629	7	284.00–289.00	$288.30	$1,813	+0.23
655 value added	655	1	276.00	$276.00	$1,808	—
657 thin fleshed	657	12	306.00	$306.00	$2,010	—
657	657	2	260.00	$260.00	$1,708	+8.93
710–735	721	5	242.00–248.00	$243.98	$1,759	—
724 value added	724	5	252.00	$252.00	$1,824	+4.00
760	760	3	245.00	$245.00	$1,862	—
832	832	2	234.00	$234.00	$1,947	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
575–582	580	3	270.00–272.00	$270.66	$1,570	—
610	610	1	260.00	$260.00	$1,586	—
790	790	1	238.00	$238.00	$1,880	—
995	995	1	201.00	$201.00	$2,000	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
660	660	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,518	-8.00
725	725	1	238.00	$238.00	$1,726	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1270	1270	1	146.00	$146.00	$1,854	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320–345 value added	334	5	307.00–333.00	$320.15	$1,069	+5.40
375	375	2	290.00	$290.00	$1,088	+8.00
395 value added	395	1	317.00	$317.00	$1,252	+15.68
400–445 value added	412	20	270.00–306.00	$295.33	$1,217	+6.02
480–495	488	2	262.00–267.50	$264.79	$1,292	—
462–495 value added	489	48	270.00–283.50	$280.71	$1,373	+5.22
507–520	514	4	265.00–272.00	$268.54	$1,380	—
500–541 value added	523	11	265.00–274.00	$270.34	$1,414	+0.91
565–570	566	17	259.00–260.00	$259.88	$1,471	—
560–573 value added	568	31	260.00–273.50	$269.81	$1,533	-3.73
600–605	602	3	235.00–240.00	$238.32	$1,435	+8.32
611 value added	611	3	244.00	$244.00	$1,491	—
656–659 value added	657	20	241.00–249.50	$245.67	$1,614	—
730 value added	730	1	238.00	$238.00	$1,737	—
840 value added	840	2	206.00	$206.00	$1,730	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
295	295	1	281.00	$281.00	$829	—
315–345	330	2	255.00–260.00	$257.39	$849	—
380–395	389	5	273.00–282.00	$276.52	$1,076	—
415	415	1	262.00	$262.00	$1,087	+19.00
455–495	471	5	235.00–255.00	$243.30	$1,146	—
507–515	510	4	230.00–245.00	$241.21	$1,230	-6.29
550–580	570	3	238.00–251.00	$242.86	$1,384	-10.17
643	643	3	228.00	$228.00	$1,466	+5.89
660–685	668	3	208.00–220.00	$212.10	$1,417	+1.25
785	785	1	187.00	$187.00	$1,468	—
805	805	1	170.00	$170.00	$1,368	—
855	855	1	157.00	$157.00	$1,342	—
915	915	1	153.00	$153.00	$1,400	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
480	480	1	270.00	$270.00	$1,296	—
547	547	2	265.00	$265.00	$1,450	—
915	915	1	149.00	$149.00	$1,363	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
315–325 value added	320	2	355.00–360.00	$357.54	$1,144	—
360	360	1	335.00	$335.00	$1,206	—
360–385 value added	373	2	345.00–350.00	$347.42	$1,296	+25.42
405–445 value added	425	2	297.00–340.00	$317.49	$1,349	—
452–495 value added	468	10	280.00–325.00	$314.34	$1,471	+10.12
487–490	488	3	298.00–305.00	$300.34	$1,466	+25.04
500–535 value added	522	3	286.00–291.00	$289.31	$1,510	-0.13
535	535	1	274.00	$274.00	$1,466	—
552–575 value added	560	4	276.00–285.00	$280.72	$1,572	-3.28
550–592	568	7	273.00–284.00	$276.45	$1,570	—
600–605	602	5	259.00–279.00	$269.02	$1,620	—
612–645 value added	623	3	258.00–280.00	$272.41	$1,697	+11.95
680 value added	680	2	252.00	$252.00	$1,714	—
800–825	813	2	203.00–207.00	$204.97	$1,666	+9.97
832 fancy	832	2	226.00	$226.00	$1,880	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
270	270	1	297.00	$297.00	$802	—
470–485	478	2	235.00–265.00	$250.24	$1,196	+15.24
530	530	1	242.00	$242.00	$1,283	—
605	605	1	234.00	$234.00	$1,416	—
740	740	1	216.00	$216.00	$1,598	+19.15

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
570	570	1	249.00	$249.00	$1,419	+11.50
840	840	1	203.00	$203.00	$1,705	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1350	1350	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	2,200.00	$2,200.00	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1120	1120	Young (2-4 yrs)	N/A	1	1,825.00	$1,825.00	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
450	450	1	202.00	$202.00	$909	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1010–1450	1210	80-85%	16	129.00–150.00	$136.36	$1,650	+19.99

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1195–1510	1349	75-80%	6	129.00–139.00	$133.40	$1,800	—
1240–1510	1361	75-80%	4	120.00–124.00	$121.10	$1,648	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
975	975	85-90%	1	105.00	$105.00	$1,024	—
995–1240	1087	85-90%	7	122.00–134.00	$127.54	$1,386	+16.85
1125	1125	85-90%	1	113.00	$113.00	$1,271	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
950–1145	1048	2	120.00–134.00	$127.65	$1,338	—
1100–2080	1486	7	135.00–151.00	$142.95	$2,124	—
1370–1965	1701	8	156.00–176.50	$171.12	$2,911	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
950–995	973	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	4	140.00–145.00	$142.27	$1,384

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1065–1225	1112	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	6	1,425.00–1,700.00	$1,608.36
1065–1215	1162	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,425.00–1,700.00	$1,564.82
1035–1460	1263	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	6	1,300.00–2,150.00	$1,725.64

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
905	905	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,000.00	$1,000.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
975	975	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,375.00	$1,375.00
990	990	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,525.00	$1,525.00

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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
1243	1243	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	3	2,375.00	$2,375.00	—
1310	1310	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	2	1,925.00	$1,925.00	—
1127–1710	1378	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	9	2,200.00–2,450.00	$2,400.29	—
1450	1450	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	3,100.00	$3,100.00	—
1570	1570	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	3,225.00	$3,225.00	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1127	1127	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	2,275.00	$2,275.00	—
1220	1220	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	2,000.00	$2,000.00	—

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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.