Bluegrass Stockyard Market Report

Mt. Sterling, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 22, 2026

429 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $449.64/cwt +14.27 vs last sale · ≈ $2,776/hd at 617 lb · 96 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $400.63/cwt -29.96 vs last sale · ≈ $2,254/hd at 563 lb · 21 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $444.80/cwt -13.99 vs last sale · ≈ $2,110/hd at 474 lb · 19 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	429	645	556
Feeder cattle	344	536	411
Slaughter cattle	46	70	91
Replacement cattle	39	39	54

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Wednesday the feeder market was spotty with an average quality offering. Feeder steers 600 lbs and under were steady to 4.00 lower in spots, while steers over 600 lbs were 4.00 to 6.00 higher with good demand for weaned and harder conditioned calves. Feeder heifers 400 lbs and under were 4.00 to 6.00 higher, while heifers over 400 lbs were 4.00 to 6.00 lower with a good supply and spotty demand. Slaughter cows were steady to 2.00 lower with a good supply and slaughter bulls were steady with good demand.

▲ Feeder heifers: Feeder heifers 400 lbs and under were 4.00 to 6.00 higher
▼ Feeder steers: Feeder steers 600 lbs and under were steady to 4.00 lower in spots
▼ Slaughter bulls: Slaughter cows were steady to 2.00 lower with a good supply and slaughter bulls were steady with good demand
▼ Slaughter cows: Slaughter cows were steady to 2.00 lower with a good supply and slaughter bulls were 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
380–395	385	4	512.50–532.50	$521.16	$2,006	-50.09
400–425	413	3	485.00–500.00	$490.83	$2,027	-33.34
455 fancy	455	1	545.00	$545.00	$2,480	+1.32
465–492	478	5	502.00–505.00	$503.82	$2,408	+17.95
510 value added	510	5	498.00	$498.00	$2,540	-29.55
507–547	516	9	440.00–465.00	$445.89	$2,301	-38.42
561 value added	561	3	470.00	$470.00	$2,637	-15.46
550–597	569	7	420.00–452.50	$437.88	$2,492	-37.12
617 value added	617	95	450.00	$450.00	$2,776	+12.11
645	645	1	415.00	$415.00	$2,677	+15.00
660	660	1	355.00	$355.00	$2,343	-49.18
650–683	667	8	405.00–420.00	$411.64	$2,746	+7.46
713 value added	713	4	404.00	$404.00	$2,881	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400–448	436	5	435.00–455.00	$450.33	$1,963	—
470	470	1	440.00	$440.00	$2,068	-27.50
547	547	4	385.00–390.00	$387.50	$2,120	-70.00
805	805	1	332.00	$332.00	$2,673	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
405	405	1	400.00	$400.00	$1,620	-25.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
277	277	2	535.00	$535.00	$1,482	+30.00
295 fancy	295	1	560.00	$560.00	$1,652	—
322	322	2	517.00	$517.00	$1,665	+28.60
355–360 fancy	358	2	520.00–530.00	$524.97	$1,879	+8.33
355–392	380	7	480.00–505.00	$493.81	$1,876	+7.77
405–425 fancy	416	4	495.00–500.00	$497.99	$2,072	+5.95
405–445	425	5	447.50–467.50	$456.14	$1,939	-6.48
465–480 fancy	473	10	457.00–460.00	$457.45	$2,164	-14.64
458–492	476	9	422.50–450.00	$430.74	$2,050	-13.86
515–520 value added	518	6	432.00–440.00	$434.65	$2,251	-2.61
511–547	529	12	415.00–425.00	$419.67	$2,220	—
551–592	562	15	380.00–400.00	$393.42	$2,211	-18.37
563–565 value added	564	6	418.00–420.00	$418.67	$2,361	-21.15
607–615	611	6	365.00–385.00	$378.34	$2,312	-15.39
655	655	2	380.00	$380.00	$2,489	+26.05
680	680	1	300.00	$300.00	$2,040	-53.95
790	790	2	338.00	$338.00	$2,670	—
856–872	862	5	305.00–320.00	$313.93	$2,706	-27.07

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
185	185	1	435.00	$435.00	$805	—
345	345	1	437.50	$437.50	$1,509	-35.00
395	395	2	462.50–477.00	$469.75	$1,856	-7.75
620	620	1	345.00	$345.00	$2,139	-5.57

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
395	395	1	400.00	$400.00	$1,580	—
560	560	2	375.00	$375.00	$2,100	—
660	660	1	272.00	$272.00	$1,795	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
250	250	—	—	2	595.00	$595.00	$1,488	—
300–332	319	—	—	4	515.00–560.00	$541.99	$1,729	-61.49
350–370	362	—	—	7	512.50–550.00	$526.85	$1,907	-52.74
405–430	418	—	—	2	485.00–492.50	$488.64	$2,043	-29.90
450–470	458	—	—	5	470.00–490.00	$481.52	$2,205	+1.52
470	470	—	—	1	442.50	$442.50	$2,080	-37.50
515–545	531	—	—	5	450.00–470.00	$462.96	$2,458	-5.70
560–595	569	—	—	5	412.50–440.00	$430.40	$2,449	-0.89
622	622	—	—	2	397.00	$397.00	$2,469	+21.17
655–675	662	—	—	3	382.50–400.00	$394.05	$2,609	+16.80
720	720	—	—	1	355.00	$355.00	$2,556	-12.42
750	750	—	—	1	360.00	$360.00	$2,700	-11.25
925	925	—	—	1	260.00	$260.00	$2,405	-22.50
845–1000	933	(<2 yrs)	N/A	3	300.00–380.00	$325.85	$3,040	+43.35
1055	1055	—	—	1	252.50	$252.50	$2,664	—
1150	1150	—	—	1	250.00	$250.00	$2,875	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
355	355	1	500.00	$500.00	$1,775	—
490	490	2	430.00	$430.00	$2,107	-10.96
545	545	2	420.00	$420.00	$2,289	—
565	565	1	392.50	$392.50	$2,218	-7.50
645	645	1	357.00	$357.00	$2,303	+17.00
1075	1075	1	198.00	$198.00	$2,128	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1205	1205	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	3,000.00	$3,000.00	—
1480	1480	Young (2-4 yrs)	N/A	1	3,400.00	$3,400.00	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
500	500	1	430.00	$430.00	$2,150	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
595	595	1	300.00	$300.00	$1,785	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
745	745	85-90%	1	110.00	$110.00	$820	—
760–1165	997	85-90%	6	134.00–150.00	$143.40	$1,430	—
895–1195	1073	85-90%	3	124.00–130.00	$127.77	$1,371	—
835–1275	1075	85-90%	5	154.00–165.00	$159.07	$1,710	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1155–1190	1173	80-85%	2	184.00–185.00	$184.49	$2,164	+8.63
1125–1380	1203	80-85%	5	150.00–159.00	$155.72	$1,873	—
1140–1545	1244	80-85%	8	165.00–180.00	$170.68	$2,123	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1245–1595	1433	75-80%	8	166.00–173.00	$170.12	$2,438	—
1550	1550	75-80%	1	194.00	$194.00	$3,007	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1235	1235	1	200.00	$200.00	$2,470	—
1580–2235	1936	4	205.50–215.00	$211.54	$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
1030–1100	1065	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	220.00–242.50	$230.88	$2,459
1080–1305	1168	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	3	167.00–213.00	$191.60	$2,238

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
965	965	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	2,525.00	$2,525.00
970–1132	1078	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	2,500.00–2,550.00	$2,535.00
1085–1550	1233	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	2,300.00–3,725.00	$3,056.14

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
965	965	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	3,125.00	$3,125.00
1095	1095	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	2,350.00	$2,350.00
1215	1215	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	3,250.00	$3,250.00
1293–1545	1356	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	3,000.00–3,600.00	$3,170.91

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
760	760	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,325.00	$2,325.00
795	795	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	2,525.00	$2,525.00

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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
1135	1135	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	1	4,500.00	$4,500.00	—
1380	1380	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	1	4,400.00	$4,400.00	—
1550	1550	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	4,600.00	$4,600.00	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1295	1295	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	3,700.00	$3,700.00	—

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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.