Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, August 27, 2025

628 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $350.81/cwt +23.81 vs last sale · ≈ $1,998/hd at 570 lb · 35 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $341.15/cwt +41.15 vs last sale · ≈ $2,255/hd at 661 lb · 33 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $388.95/cwt +78.95 vs last sale · ≈ $2,676/hd at 688 lb · 33 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	628	196	467
Feeder cattle	544	167	310
Slaughter cattle	67	28	119
Replacement cattle	17	1	38

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday the feeder market was stronger with a good quality offering. Feeder steers and heifers 650 lbs and under were 6.00 to 10.00 higher or greater in several spots with a good supply and strong demand. Yearling cattle appeared sharply higher as well, but with limited head to head comparisons. Recent gains in the feeder cattle futures market and cooler weather conditions is increasing cattle movement and the premiums buyers are willing to pay for quality feeder cattle. Slaughter cows appeared 1.00 to 3.00 higher with a light test last week, and slaughter bulls were steady with a good supply of slaughter animals this week and buyers showing 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
237 fancy	237	2	515.00	$515.00	$1,221	—
295 fancy	295	1	525.00	$525.00	$1,549	+55.00
301	301	3	450.00	$450.00	$1,354	—
330 fancy	330	1	500.00	$500.00	$1,650	—
355–365 fancy	360	2	492.00–507.50	$499.86	$1,799	+12.66
375	375	3	437.50	$437.50	$1,641	—
477–485 fancy	481	19	450.00–465.00	$459.72	$2,211	-7.78
496	496	5	420.00	$420.00	$2,083	—
500	500	6	372.50	$372.50	$1,862	+22.50
510 value added	510	5	420.00	$420.00	$2,142	+29.43
555–599 value added	577	23	387.50–399.50	$397.31	$2,292	—
580–590	587	3	370.00–375.00	$371.65	$2,182	+22.23
600–612 value added	606	12	392.00–397.00	$394.15	$2,389	—
620	620	2	362.50	$362.50	$2,248	+8.69
660–699 value added	688	33	386.00–390.00	$388.95	$2,676	—
704 value added	704	16	391.50	$391.50	$2,756	—
731	731	3	324.00	$324.00	$2,368	—
776 value added	776	13	359.00	$359.00	$2,786	+26.00
795	795	1	320.00	$320.00	$2,544	—
856–876	870	10	312.00–338.50	$319.82	$2,782	—
980	980	1	242.50	$242.50	$2,376	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400–420	405	6	375.00–390.00	$377.81	$1,530	—
457–485	471	4	387.50–400.00	$393.56	$1,854	—
520	520	1	357.50	$357.50	$1,859	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300–347	328	5	340.00–350.00	$347.90	$1,141	+12.90
700	700	2	282.00	$282.00	$1,974	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
563	563	3	350.00	$350.00	$1,970	—
615–625	622	3	295.00	$295.00	$1,835	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
285–286	286	7	387.50–395.00	$391.79	$1,121	+4.79
365–395	376	7	395.00–410.00	$402.03	$1,512	+21.89
375–387 fancy	383	3	442.50–450.00	$447.55	$1,714	—
412–420 fancy	415	6	415.00–417.00	$416.32	$1,728	+6.32
405–440	432	7	390.00–397.50	$395.78	$1,710	+20.78
476–478 fancy	477	6	400.00–415.00	$407.48	$1,944	—
455–493	482	10	372.50–392.50	$378.36	$1,824	+16.41
501 value added	501	4	382.00	$382.00	$1,914	—
525–542	533	7	350.00–360.00	$355.69	$1,896	+9.69
565	565	1	300.00	$300.00	$1,695	-27.00
558–595	566	13	329.00–348.00	$341.01	$1,930	+14.01
556–595 value added	572	21	354.00–362.00	$359.30	$2,055	—
610	610	5	345.00–346.00	$345.60	$2,108	—
600–625	611	4	320.00–340.00	$330.62	$2,020	—
659–667	660	30	327.50–345.00	$343.97	$2,270	+43.97
655–680	670	3	300.00–320.00	$312.96	$2,097	+12.96
700–715	708	2	292.50–308.00	$300.17	$2,125	+25.08
708	708	17	354.50	$354.50	$2,510	+79.41
750–775	755	5	285.00–287.50	$285.51	$2,156	—
814–830	816	8	287.00–310.00	$289.92	$2,366	+2.92
865	865	1	235.00	$235.00	$2,033	—
1065	1065	1	202.00	$202.00	$2,151	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
205	205	1	370.00	$370.00	$758	—
260	260	1	350.00	$350.00	$910	—
320	320	2	350.00	$350.00	$1,120	—
355	355	1	365.00	$365.00	$1,296	+9.60
447	447	2	350.00	$350.00	$1,564	—
495	495	2	365.00	$365.00	$1,807	+25.84
500	500	1	318.00	$318.00	$1,590	—
580	580	1	317.00	$317.00	$1,839	—
610–630	620	2	285.00–307.00	$295.82	$1,834	+10.82

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
205	205	1	350.00	$350.00	$718	—
300–308	306	4	337.50–340.00	$339.39	$1,039	—
450–480	465	2	300.00–335.00	$318.06	$1,479	+40.56
510–540	528	3	285.00–300.00	$293.47	$1,550	—
665	665	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,596	—
730	730	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,825	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1200–1215	1208	2	187.50–196.00	$191.72	$2,316	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
540	540	1	300.00	$300.00	$1,620	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
290	290	1	480.00	$480.00	$1,392	—
290 fancy	290	2	500.00	$500.00	$1,450	—
305–315 fancy	310	3	497.50–525.00	$507.35	$1,573	—
340	340	1	440.00	$440.00	$1,496	—
360 fancy	360	3	500.00	$500.00	$1,800	+49.80
370–387	379	4	452.50–457.50	$455.06	$1,725	+45.27
405–410	408	3	462.50–470.00	$466.66	$1,904	—
402–442 fancy	422	8	485.00–497.50	$491.72	$2,075	+61.75
450–467	461	3	460.00–477.50	$465.69	$2,147	—
515 fancy	515	1	390.00	$390.00	$2,008	—
510–545	525	14	345.00–367.50	$358.21	$1,881	+19.71
555–565	560	4	336.00–345.00	$339.73	$1,902	-2.05
611–622	614	9	319.00–328.00	$324.32	$1,991	+4.51
670	670	1	312.00	$312.00	$2,090	+18.27
705–710	708	3	307.00–310.00	$309.00	$2,188	—
780	780	1	270.00	$270.00	$2,106	—
990	990	1	210.00	$210.00	$2,079	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
215	215	4	367.50	$367.50	$790	—
450–480	469	24	363.50–372.50	$364.28	$1,708	+21.88
500	500	1	330.00	$330.00	$1,650	+19.88
605	605	1	300.00	$300.00	$1,815	—
722–745	726	6	267.50–277.00	$273.80	$1,988	—
836	836	3	210.00	$210.00	$1,756	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
490	490	2	367.50	$367.50	$1,801	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
460	460	1	320.00	$320.00	$1,472	—
570	570	1	330.00	$330.00	$1,881	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
875–1377	1115	85-90%	17	136.00–154.00	$144.32	$1,609	-11.83
985–1360	1230	85-90%	3	160.00–180.00	$174.66	$2,148	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1060–1375	1228	80-85%	8	163.00–173.00	$167.19	$2,053	+6.28
1205–1350	1265	80-85%	7	175.00–183.00	$179.27	$2,268	—
1325–1430	1372	80-85%	3	157.00–160.00	$158.96	$2,181	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1355–1590	1465	75-80%	4	175.00–180.00	$176.89	$2,591	—
1150–1600	1483	75-80%	6	164.00–173.00	$167.18	$2,479	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1655–1775	1727	3	187.00–197.00	$192.02	$3,316	-0.30
1815–2115	1920	3	200.00–209.00	$205.70	$3,949	—
2030–2385	2220	3	176.00–185.00	$181.72	$4,034	—

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1870	1870	1	219.00	$219.00	$4,095	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
860–1035	951	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	6	170.00–231.00	$200.34	$1,905

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1135	1135	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	2,075.00	$2,075.00
1185	1185	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,800.00	$2,800.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
865	865	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,860.00	$1,860.00
1175	1175	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	2,175.00	$2,175.00

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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
1332	1332	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	4,125.00	$4,125.00	—
1420	1420	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	4,000.00	$4,000.00	—
1530	1530	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	1	3,900.00	$3,900.00	—
1610	1610	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	3,950.00	$3,950.00	—

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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.