Cattle Market Pulse

Cattlemen's Livestock Auction Market Report

Belen, New Mexico · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, August 6, 2021

447 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $173.28/cwt -4.39 vs last sale · ≈ $806/hd at 465 lb · 11 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 447 529 607
Feeder cattle 240 301 323
Slaughter cattle 148 139 222
Replacement cattle 59 89 62

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, steer and heifer calves and feeder mostly steady. Slaughter cows 4.00-5.00 higher, bulls steady on limited quotes.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
175 175 2 183.00 $183.00 $320 —
215 215 2 177.00 $177.00 $381 +9.02
255–295 275 2 174.00–210.00 $190.69 $524 —
345 345 2 166.00 $166.00 $573 —
390 thin fleshed 390 2 187.00 $187.00 $729 —
400–440 423 4 174.50–176.00 $175.37 $742 +13.67
460–495 478 6 150.00–165.00 $159.02 $760 -1.98
505–530 513 8 158.00–167.50 $164.61 $844 +7.30
560–585 575 4 139.00–148.50 $142.85 $821 -7.55
623–645 630 3 135.00–145.00 $138.41 $872 -9.76
680 680 2 135.00 $135.00 $918 -10.79
730–735 733 2 140.50–149.00 $144.76 $1,061 +2.72
785 785 1 114.00 $114.00 $895 —
820–835 829 5 110.00–131.50 $121.58 $1,008 +1.58
870 870 1 118.00 $118.00 $1,027 —
900–920 910 2 110.00 $110.00 $1,001 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
225 225 2 214.00 $214.00 $482 +4.03
255–295 280 4 208.00–232.00 $217.55 $609 -2.45
275–285 fancy 280 4 237.00–240.00 $238.47 $668 —
300–305 thin fleshed 303 2 229.00–234.00 $231.52 $702 —
308–340 319 6 192.00–208.00 $199.96 $638 +8.96
365–385 377 3 200.00–210.00 $205.30 $774 -7.81
408–435 417 5 191.00–209.00 $200.24 $835 -3.40
455–485 465 11 165.00–180.00 $173.28 $806 -4.39
520–542 537 4 165.00–170.00 $168.79 $906 -6.70
560–565 563 2 165.00–176.00 $170.48 $960 +5.88
600–625 613 2 168.00–170.00 $169.02 $1,036 +10.37
660–680 670 2 167.00–170.00 $168.48 $1,129 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355–385 368 3 124.00–140.00 $130.57 $480 -11.43
420–445 430 3 120.00–130.00 $126.74 $545 -19.60
460–495 477 3 130.00–144.00 $138.11 $659 —
550–595 565 3 120.00–130.00 $125.84 $711 -11.16
650 650 1 115.00 $115.00 $748 —
725–730 728 2 102.00–104.00 $103.00 $750 —
785 785 1 121.00 $121.00 $950 -2.50
815 815 1 124.00 $124.00 $1,011 —
Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
485 485 1 43.00 $43.00 $209 -7.00
510 510 1 40.00 $40.00 $204 +5.00
610–630 620 2 49.00–50.00 $49.51 $307 +14.51
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
145 145 1 310.00 $310.00 +50.00
255 255 1 170.00 $170.00 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
155–170 163 2 174.00–177.00 $175.57 $286 —
205–230 218 2 172.00–182.00 $176.71 $385 -2.43
250–285 269 7 164.00–178.00 $168.02 $452 -9.98
320–345 331 4 160.00–173.00 $165.59 $548 -14.41
399 399 5 165.00 $165.00 $658 —
400–430 416 8 170.00–182.00 $178.17 $741 —
455–470 460 7 163.00–169.00 $166.92 $768 —
510 510 2 163.00 $163.00 $831 —
650 650 2 145.00 $145.00 $942 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
190 190 2 166.00–170.00 $168.00 $319 -17.00
320 320 2 150.00–159.00 $154.50 $494 —
480 480 1 152.00 $152.00 $730 +0.27
530–540 538 4 145.00–155.00 $151.53 $815 +0.55
550–580 572 7 142.00–158.50 $153.15 $876 +4.45
620–630 625 2 129.00–136.00 $132.53 $828 +2.32
700–725 715 3 126.00–131.00 $128.00 $915 —
785 785 1 117.00 $117.00 $918 —
800–815 808 2 119.00–124.00 $121.48 $982 —
926 926 5 101.00 $101.00 $935 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
240 240 1 144.00 $144.00 $346 —
350–365 358 2 137.00–139.00 $137.98 $494 —
400–430 415 3 120.00–144.00 $128.96 $535 +4.80
470–480 475 4 116.00–126.00 $120.52 $572 -4.48
505 505 1 130.00 $130.00 $656 +1.56
550–580 567 3 115.00–123.00 $119.30 $676 -15.70
615–618 617 3 100.00–110.00 $106.68 $658 -19.94
752–795 768 5 100.00–105.00 $103.76 $797 —
905 905 1 100.00 $100.00 $905 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
110–120 117 3 210.00–320.00 $275.14 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
155 155 1 250.00 $250.00 $388 —
300 300 1 179.00 $179.00 $537 +10.44
410 410 1 176.00 $176.00 $722 —
618 618 2 130.00 $130.00 $803 —
820–830 825 2 80.00–111.00 $95.41 $787 —
965 965 1 120.00 $120.00 $1,158 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
398 398 2 209.00 $209.00 $832 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
620–625 623 2 80.00–94.00 $87.03 $542 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
520–780 588 85-90% 12 38.50–46.50 $41.63 $245 —
585–745 661 85-90% 5 44.00–68.00 $52.36 $346 +9.71
560–910 725 85-90% 3 30.00–35.00 $32.88 $238 -27.28
610–840 759 85-90% 8 45.00–52.00 $48.55 $368 —
695–1075 831 85-90% 31 53.00–61.50 $57.73 $480 +10.34
818–1145 927 85-90% 3 63.00–74.00 $67.53 $626 —
775–1220 996 85-90% 33 62.50–72.50 $66.86 $666 +7.31
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
820–1350 1052 80-85% 6 67.00–69.00 $68.46 $720 —
835–1335 1085 80-85% 2 69.00–75.00 $71.31 $774 —
905–1370 1153 80-85% 22 70.00–80.00 $74.09 $854 -1.82
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1155 1155 75-80% 1 72.00 $72.00 $832 —
1235 1235 75-80% 1 67.00 $67.00 $827 —
1555 1555 75-80% 1 77.50 $77.50 $1,205 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1200–1450 1366 4 73.00–89.00 $81.15 $1,109 —
1335–1830 1551 7 89.00–102.00 $96.06 $1,490 —

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Bred Cows

Small 4 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
598 598 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 3 650.00 $650.00
698 698 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 2 675.00 $675.00
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
825–1100 963 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 2 800.00–900.00 $850.00
Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1220 1220 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 1 660.00 $660.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
740 740 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 975.00 $975.00 —
865–1090 978 Aged (>8 yrs)Open 2 700.00–860.00 $780.00 -403.57
1095 1095 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 1,250.00 $1,250.00 —
1015–1275 1109 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 4 900.00–950.00 $918.75 —
Small 4 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
643 643 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 2 785.00 $785.00 —
615–745 680 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 2 635.00–675.00 $655.00 -13.75
705–720 713 Aged (>8 yrs)Open 2 660.00–685.00 $672.50 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
565–650 608 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 2 685.00–760.00 $722.50 —

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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.