Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, September 18, 2024

441 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $242.93/cwt +9.19 vs last sale · ≈ $1,154/hd at 475 lb · 34 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $250.70/cwt +8.18 vs last sale · ≈ $920/hd at 367 lb · 20 head

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 steers $273.52/cwt +15.14 vs last sale · ≈ $1,164/hd at 426 lb · 20 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	441	774	1,242
Feeder cattle	336	679	1,052
Slaughter cattle	61	67	135
Replacement cattle	44	28	55

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday feeder steers sold steady to 5.00 higher on weaned packages. Feeder heifers sold 2.00 to 5.00 higher with good demand for weaned packages. Yearlings lightly tested. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold steady 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
335 value added	335	1	279.00	$279.00	$935	—
355 value added	355	7	265.00	$265.00	$941	-7.00
370	370	1	270.00	$270.00	$999	+3.17
405–420	413	2	250.00–253.00	$251.53	$1,039	-4.07
401–445 value added	427	18	267.50–295.00	$275.96	$1,178	+9.96
460–485 value added	479	11	267.00–278.00	$273.87	$1,312	+12.87
535–547 value added	544	12	258.00–266.00	$264.03	$1,436	-3.91
555	555	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,388	+12.53
600–625	611	8	219.00–237.00	$228.05	$1,393	-1.70
967	967	4	206.00	$206.00	$1,992	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300	300	1	226.00	$226.00	$678	—
355	355	1	252.50	$252.50	$896	+7.50
467	467	2	230.00	$230.00	$1,074	±0.00
570–580	575	2	226.00–245.00	$235.42	$1,354	—
655	655	1	205.00	$205.00	$1,343	—
885	885	1	200.00	$200.00	$1,770	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
700	700	1	195.00	$195.00	$1,365	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
500	500	1	205.00	$205.00	$1,025	—

↑ Back to top

Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
295	295	2	245.00	$245.00	$723	—
322 value added	322	4	245.00	$245.00	$789	—
335	335	1	240.00	$240.00	$804	+4.23
350–392 value added	366	17	249.00–262.50	$252.35	$924	—
365–380	373	3	238.00–246.00	$241.37	$900	-1.15
425–445	432	3	230.00–236.00	$233.94	$1,011	+6.04
415–443 value added	437	6	245.00–256.00	$248.85	$1,087	+4.76
463–467	465	5	230.00–238.00	$234.78	$1,092	+2.66
455–490 value added	477	29	240.00–250.00	$244.33	$1,165	+3.33
500–547	524	11	230.00–238.00	$233.82	$1,225	+5.82
580–585	583	5	225.00–232.00	$227.79	$1,328	+0.32
610–645	621	6	197.00–226.00	$205.38	$1,275	-14.34
652	652	2	195.00	$195.00	$1,271	-8.81

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
205	205	1	227.50	$227.50	$466	—
285	285	1	242.50	$242.50	$691	+52.50
300	300	1	226.00	$226.00	$678	—
360–395	369	4	220.00–225.00	$223.66	$825	+36.86
463–475	466	4	195.00–220.00	$213.63	$996	+4.63
550–585	568	7	187.00–229.00	$221.37	$1,257	+11.17
623	623	3	188.00	$188.00	$1,171	—
655–689	683	6	158.00–187.50	$162.71	$1,111	—
725	725	2	172.00	$172.00	$1,247	+22.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
395	395	1	228.00	$228.00	$901	—
430	430	1	223.00	$223.00	$959	—
473	473	3	230.00	$230.00	$1,088	—
510	510	1	232.00	$232.00	$1,183	+2.00
669	669	5	184.00	$184.00	$1,231	—
790	790	1	188.00	$188.00	$1,485	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
541	541	4	200.00	$200.00	$1,082	—

↑ Back to top

Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
250	250	2	250.00	$250.00	$625	-2.00
320–335	328	4	250.00–280.00	$265.34	$870	+5.34
370–390	380	2	250.00	$250.00	$950	±0.00
405–440 value added	417	3	254.00–261.00	$258.54	$1,078	-1.46
440–445	443	2	250.00	$250.00	$1,108	+7.22
460–476	473	5	239.00–248.00	$240.75	$1,139	+6.68
500–505	503	3	240.00	$240.00	$1,207	+17.00
555–575	560	4	232.00–235.00	$234.23	$1,312	+3.94
600–635	610	9	205.00–220.00	$214.78	$1,310	+5.29
650	650	2	201.00	$201.00	$1,306	-3.54
700	700	1	209.00	$209.00	$1,463	-6.00
820	820	2	171.00	$171.00	$1,402	—
960	960	1	172.00	$172.00	$1,651	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
365–390	378	2	225.00–232.50	$228.87	$865	+6.87
400–415	405	3	225.00	$225.00	$911	-5.00
501	501	3	225.00	$225.00	$1,127	—
555–587	578	6	201.00–227.00	$213.38	$1,233	+6.46
712	712	2	171.00	$171.00	$1,218	—
855	855	1	145.00	$145.00	$1,240	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
583	583	3	191.00	$191.00	$1,114	—
713	713	4	194.00	$194.00	$1,383	—
800	800	5	175.00	$175.00	$1,400	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	2	200.00	$200.00	$670	—
455–465	460	2	192.50–195.00	$193.76	$891	-9.40
535	535	2	200.00	$200.00	$1,070	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1055	1055	Young (2-4 yrs)	N/A	1	1,800.00	$1,800.00	—

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1110	1110	80-85%	2	113.00	$113.00	$1,254	—
1075–1330	1194	80-85%	9	115.00–122.00	$117.99	$1,409	+0.91
1100–1430	1271	80-85%	13	122.00–129.00	$126.10	$1,603	+17.50

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1070–1280	1175	75-80%	2	110.00–113.00	$111.63	$1,312	—
1150–1595	1386	75-80%	8	116.00–122.00	$119.48	$1,656	—
1290–1710	1476	75-80%	12	121.00–128.00	$124.90	$1,844	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
845–1100	956	85-90%	4	102.00–103.00	$102.76	$982	—
920–1070	995	85-90%	2	113.00–116.00	$114.61	$1,140	—
1055–1150	1103	85-90%	2	106.00–107.00	$106.52	$1,175	—

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1475–2020	1683	4	159.00–189.00	$169.51	$2,853	—
1405–2045	1837	6	146.00–158.00	$153.03	$2,811	—
2020	2020	1	138.00	$138.00	$2,788	—

↑ Back to top

Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1175–1535	1355	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,875.00–1,900.00	$1,889.16
1480 fancy	1480	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,175.00	$2,175.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
925	925	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,275.00	$1,275.00

↑ Back to top

Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
785	785	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,250.00	$1,250.00
810	810	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,525.00	$1,525.00
912	912	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	1,475.00	$1,475.00

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
765–780	773	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,050.00–1,125.00	$1,087.86

↑ Back to top

Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1100–1690	1378	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	10	1,900.00–2,600.00	$2,239.96	—
1415	1415	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	2,150.00	$2,150.00	—
1540	1540	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	2,425.00	$2,425.00	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1405	1405	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,600.00	$1,600.00	—

↑ Back to top

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.