Cattleman's Livestock Market Report

Bowling Green, Kentucky · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, May 18, 2026

235 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Cattleman's Livestock report →

heavy 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $414.36/cwt +0.36 vs last sale · ≈ $2,755/hd at 665 lb · 19 head

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $501.98/cwt -0.94 vs last sale · ≈ $2,184/hd at 435 lb · 14 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $450.00/cwt -12.50 vs last sale · ≈ $2,264/hd at 503 lb · 10 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	235	220	294
Feeder cattle	164	176	145
Slaughter cattle	23	29	39
Replacement cattle	48	15	110

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Monday: No test on feeder steers due to a low number of comparisons. Feeder heifers sold sharply lower on a much smaller, plain quality offering. Slaughter cows sold 4.00-6.00 higher and slaughter bulls traded sharply higher.

▼ Feeder heifers: Feeder heifers sold sharply lower on a much smaller
→ Feeder steers: No test on feeder steers due to a low number of comparisons
▲ Slaughter bulls: Slaughter cows sold 4.00-6.00 higher and slaughter bulls traded sharply higher
▲ Slaughter cows: Slaughter cows sold 4.00-6.00 higher and slaughter bulls traded sharply higher

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
435	435	2	500.00	$500.00	$2,175	—
450–498	482	3	475.00–500.00	$482.78	$2,327	—
525	525	1	450.00	$450.00	$2,362	-27.54
633	633	2	420.00	$420.00	$2,659	—
662–666	665	19	413.50–419.00	$414.36	$2,755	+0.36
859	859	8	329.00	$329.00	$2,826	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
646	646	5	400.00	$400.00	$2,584	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
460	460	1	390.00	$390.00	$1,794	-62.50
675	675	1	360.00	$360.00	$2,430	-20.17

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
235	235	1	560.00	$560.00	$1,316	—
398	398	3	450.00	$450.00	$1,791	-65.00
440	440	2	460.00	$460.00	$2,024	—
460	460	3	440.00	$440.00	$2,024	-21.11
515	515	4	410.00	$410.00	$2,112	-13.88
560–590	580	3	370.00–385.00	$374.83	$2,174	-22.83
700	700	1	340.00	$340.00	$2,380	+17.49

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
418–440	425	3	425.00–430.00	$426.72	$1,814	—
450–498	472	5	375.00–407.50	$397.94	$1,878	-31.98
525	525	1	382.50	$382.50	$2,008	+18.80
580	580	1	355.00	$355.00	$2,059	-10.01
700	700	1	300.00	$300.00	$2,100	—
790	790	1	285.00	$285.00	$2,252	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
230	230	1	710.00	$710.00	$1,633	—
295	295	1	620.00	$620.00	$1,829	—
368	368	5	560.00	$560.00	$2,061	±0.00
402–444	435	14	500.00–510.00	$501.98	$2,184	-0.94
503	503	10	450.00	$450.00	$2,264	-12.50
558	558	4	432.50	$432.50	$2,413	—
648	648	3	395.00	$395.00	$2,560	—
733	733	2	345.00	$345.00	$2,529	-20.00
750–775	757	6	335.00–350.00	$345.77	$2,617	-4.23
833	833	2	325.00	$325.00	$2,707	—
883	883	5	305.00	$305.00	$2,693	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
245	245	1	660.00	$660.00	$1,617	—
313	313	2	445.00	$445.00	$1,393	—
360	360	2	515.00–540.00	$527.50	$1,899	—
452–485	460	4	375.00–430.00	$415.51	$1,911	—
515–520	517	3	395.00–400.00	$398.32	$2,059	-37.51
610–620	615	2	355.00–365.00	$360.04	$2,214	+0.04
925	925	1	290.00	$290.00	$2,682	—
975	975	1	265.00	$265.00	$2,584	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
395	395	1	405.00	$405.00	$1,600	—
635	635	1	320.00	$320.00	$2,032	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1160	1160	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	2,600.00	$2,600.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1330	1330	75-80%	1	170.00	$170.00	$2,261	+6.53
1145–1735	1461	75-80%	11	177.50–194.00	$184.56	$2,696	+0.02

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
915	915	85-90%	1	165.00	$165.00	$1,510	—
1025	1025	85-90%	1	150.00	$150.00	$1,538	—
1265	1265	85-90%	1	135.00	$135.00	$1,708	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1040	1040	80-85%	1	195.00	$195.00	$2,028	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1330	1330	1	230.00	$230.00	$3,059	—
1555–2100	1828	2	210.00–211.00	$210.43	$3,847	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1110	1110	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	4,800.00	$4,800.00
1330	1330	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	4,700.00	$4,700.00
1360–1525	1438	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	9	4,350.00–5,250.00	$4,841.46

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1015	1015	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	3,200.00	$3,200.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1315	1315	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	2,950.00	$2,950.00

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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
1225–1255	1240	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	2	5,700.00–5,900.00	$5,798.79	—
1140–1420	1252	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	7	5,500.00–5,950.00	$5,724.16	—
1210–1370	1263	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	4	5,000.00–6,400.00	$5,692.08	—
1265	1265	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	1	5,500.00	$5,500.00	—

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
920	920	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	5,950.00	$5,950.00	—
1095	1095	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	4,500.00	$4,500.00	—

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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.