Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, July 24, 2024

677 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $296.68/cwt +31.74 vs last sale · ≈ $1,667/hd at 562 lb · 92 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $257.35/cwt +24.35 vs last sale · ≈ $1,705/hd at 663 lb · 68 head

light 8-weight M&L 1-2 steers $261.75/cwt ≈ $2,128/hd at 813 lb · 62 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	677	303	433
Feeder cattle	579	260	363
Slaughter cattle	66	36	45
Replacement cattle	32	7	25

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady on similar quality with good demand for weaned packages and yearlings. Off-color, plain, and new crop fleshy bawling calves facing discounts. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher with good demand. Slaughter bulls sold steady with 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
235	235	1	315.00	$315.00	$740	—
355–385	371	4	310.00–340.00	$322.02	$1,195	—
410	410	2	290.00	$290.00	$1,189	—
405–422 value added	419	5	310.00–314.50	$313.63	$1,314	-2.47
465–485	475	2	295.00–296.00	$295.49	$1,404	-4.51
480–485 value added	484	4	298.00–317.00	$302.71	$1,465	-8.67
509–545 value added	520	16	286.00–290.00	$287.48	$1,495	-0.10
525–535	531	4	270.00–280.00	$272.47	$1,447	-7.53
552–560	555	3	278.00–280.00	$278.67	$1,547	+5.39
570–575 value added	573	2	286.00–287.00	$286.50	$1,642	-19.50
645 value added	645	1	283.00	$283.00	$1,825	—
712 value added	712	2	258.00	$258.00	$1,837	—
766	766	3	246.00	$246.00	$1,884	—
813 fancy	813	62	261.75	$261.75	$2,128	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
611	611	3	236.00	$236.00	$1,442	—
707–717	712	4	230.00–245.00	$237.45	$1,691	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
435	435	1	260.00	$260.00	$1,131	—
475	475	1	265.00	$265.00	$1,259	+3.00
500–510	505	2	240.00–250.00	$245.05	$1,238	-9.95
555	555	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,332	—
860	860	1	200.00	$200.00	$1,720	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
425	425	1	230.00	$230.00	$978	—
655	655	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,441	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
290	290	2	290.00	$290.00	$841	±0.00
375–390	386	4	295.00–297.00	$296.01	$1,143	—
370–395 value added	389	4	302.50–304.00	$303.64	$1,181	-3.86
400–435 value added	417	11	271.00–300.00	$287.18	$1,198	-15.80
400–430	417	3	256.00–260.00	$257.97	$1,076	-2.03
465–490	479	6	250.00–260.00	$254.22	$1,218	-14.16
460–495 value added	486	21	260.00–279.00	$274.66	$1,335	-4.08
500–530 value added	507	16	261.00–274.00	$269.78	$1,368	-3.17
505–530	516	6	250.00–260.00	$257.54	$1,329	+3.61
561 thin fleshed	561	86	299.00	$299.00	$1,677	—
560–592 value added	577	6	260.00–277.00	$263.42	$1,520	-1.52
600–640 value added	609	7	240.00–262.00	$252.46	$1,537	+1.46
652	652	2	236.00	$236.00	$1,539	+3.00
663 value added	663	66	258.00	$258.00	$1,711	—
750	750	1	208.00	$208.00	$1,560	-16.00
912	912	2	180.00	$180.00	$1,642	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
390	390	1	270.00	$270.00	$1,053	—
465–485	474	10	220.00–246.00	$237.71	$1,127	—
500–535	519	7	230.00–245.00	$237.93	$1,235	—
553–580	562	6	225.00–247.00	$233.09	$1,310	—
605–620	610	3	210.00	$210.00	$1,281	-13.26
750	750	1	197.00	$197.00	$1,478	—
915	915	1	172.00	$172.00	$1,574	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
440	440	1	220.00	$220.00	$968	—
486	486	3	227.00	$227.00	$1,103	—
520–530	525	2	220.00–222.00	$220.99	$1,160	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
330	330	1	245.00	$245.00	$808	—
375	375	1	274.00	$274.00	$1,028	—
565	565	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,412	—
720	720	2	191.00	$191.00	$1,375	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310	310	1	312.00	$312.00	$967	+12.00
393–395	394	4	300.00–322.00	$305.52	$1,204	—
410–415	414	4	275.00–310.00	$299.49	$1,240	+14.45
411–445 value added	420	5	296.00–302.00	$299.74	$1,259	-1.59
460 value added	460	1	297.00	$297.00	$1,366	—
455–470	462	3	285.00–290.00	$288.34	$1,332	+28.34
516–542 value added	525	6	275.00–278.00	$276.97	$1,454	-1.53
500–547	529	13	256.00–278.00	$268.39	$1,420	+7.67
552–595	566	13	257.00–275.00	$263.53	$1,492	+3.15
575 value added	575	1	270.00	$270.00	$1,552	—
610–640	635	6	230.00–240.00	$232.86	$1,479	+0.40
650	650	2	238.00	$238.00	$1,547	—
700–715	708	10	195.00–230.00	$220.10	$1,558	-13.90
925	925	1	192.00	$192.00	$1,776	—
1000	1000	1	157.00	$157.00	$1,570	-45.50

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
355–375	365	2	245.00–290.00	$266.88	$974	—
410	410	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,025	—
450–485	462	3	240.00–270.00	$259.49	$1,199	—
535	535	1	248.00	$248.00	$1,327	+8.00
575–585	580	3	240.00–250.00	$243.36	$1,411	+16.86
637	637	2	230.00	$230.00	$1,465	—
675–690	683	2	220.00–221.00	$220.51	$1,506	—
865	865	1	146.00	$146.00	$1,263	-48.00
900–940	913	3	151.00–174.00	$166.11	$1,517	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400	400	1	285.00	$285.00	$1,140	—
600	600	1	234.00	$234.00	$1,404	—
660	660	1	224.00	$224.00	$1,478	—
780	780	3	211.00	$211.00	$1,646	—
927	927	2	155.00	$155.00	$1,437	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
330	330	1	265.00	$265.00	$874	—
480	480	2	220.00–227.00	$223.50	$1,073	—
505	505	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,111	—
642	642	2	221.00	$221.00	$1,419	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
850–915	892	85-90%	3	82.00–90.00	$87.28	$779	-14.72
840–1015	928	85-90%	2	101.00–105.00	$102.81	$954	—
860–1320	1055	85-90%	8	107.50–118.00	$113.42	$1,197	-1.05
1045–1280	1122	85-90%	6	121.50–130.00	$124.77	$1,400	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105–1620	1358	75-80%	6	127.50–132.00	$129.58	$1,760	—
1110–1695	1424	75-80%	5	113.00–127.00	$117.34	$1,671	—
1235–1850	1478	75-80%	8	135.50–145.00	$138.20	$2,043	+4.01

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1070–1320	1196	80-85%	7	129.00–135.00	$132.23	$1,581	—
1120–1270	1217	80-85%	3	124.50–129.00	$127.13	$1,547	—
1030–1525	1298	80-85%	6	138.00–144.50	$141.71	$1,839	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1390–2135	1693	6	153.00–167.00	$159.54	$2,701	—
1670–1780	1725	2	174.50–184.00	$179.40	$3,095	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1045–1170	1108	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,725.00–1,835.00	$1,783.10
1265	1265	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,700.00–1,975.00	$1,837.50

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
980–1150	1065	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,375.00–1,525.00	$1,455.99

Small 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
910	910	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,250.00	$1,250.00

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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
1320	1320	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	1,735.00	$1,735.00	—
1495	1495	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	3,025.00	$3,025.00	—
1570–1655	1622	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	3	2,500.00–2,750.00	$2,617.32	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
965	965	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,235.00	$1,235.00	—

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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.