Cattlemen's Livestock Auction Market Report

Belen, New Mexico · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, December 8, 2023

998 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1 steers $252.69/cwt -2.22 vs last sale · ≈ $1,097/hd at 434 lb · 43 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 2 heifers $172.59/cwt +16.63 vs last sale · ≈ $649/hd at 376 lb · 30 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1 steers $277.76/cwt -4.80 vs last sale · ≈ $1,001/hd at 361 lb · 25 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	998	1,226	810
Feeder cattle	735	790	573
Slaughter cattle	173	219	147
Replacement cattle	90	217	90

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer calves were 5.00-7.00 higher, while heifer calves were steady to 2.00 lower. Feeder steers and heifers sold 5.00- 9.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls sold steady to 1.00-2.00 higher. Trade and demand good.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
260–290	280	3	295.00–300.00	$298.45	$836	+18.45
300–335 value added	318	2	317.00–322.00	$319.36	$1,016	—
300–348	332	20	265.00–315.00	$283.27	$940	+4.21
350–360 value added	355	2	315.00–317.00	$316.01	$1,122	+36.79
355–380	361	23	260.00–285.00	$274.43	$991	-10.03
400–448	434	43	247.00–277.00	$252.69	$1,097	-2.22
450–486	472	24	240.00–262.00	$251.78	$1,188	+2.16
503–529	521	24	229.00–250.00	$240.17	$1,251	+0.43
550–555 value added	553	2	257.00–260.00	$258.51	$1,430	+19.66
555–593	574	6	225.00–252.00	$238.35	$1,368	+6.39
615	615	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,414	+6.55
665–680	669	4	215.00–217.00	$216.49	$1,448	+3.42
720	720	1	200.00	$200.00	$1,440	-6.74

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
230–245	235	3	227.00–250.00	$238.74	$561	—
253–295	268	7	250.00–285.00	$269.86	$723	+41.12
300–340	316	13	220.00–260.00	$235.85	$745	-21.16
350–395	368	25	220.00–260.00	$239.42	$881	-0.28
420–446	440	20	232.00–245.00	$236.80	$1,042	+6.81
450–495	462	10	210.00–235.00	$227.65	$1,052	+5.17
505	505	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,111	+13.67
559–580	567	14	208.00–228.00	$222.94	$1,264	+9.69
605–645	632	9	195.00–215.00	$202.13	$1,277	-0.01
675–698	689	6	190.00–211.00	$202.60	$1,396	+2.34
715–740	729	4	187.00–196.00	$190.29	$1,387	+11.29
755–785	770	2	176.00–187.00	$181.61	$1,398	-8.37
805–835	822	3	175.00–178.00	$176.65	$1,452	-12.34

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
173	173	2	220.00	$220.00	$381	+17.50
233–235	234	4	210.00–212.00	$211.00	$494	+6.00
265–290	273	3	160.00–200.00	$184.88	$505	—
310–340	328	3	180.00–215.00	$198.38	$651	+10.94
360	360	1	170.00	$170.00	$612	—
403–420	412	8	157.00–210.00	$195.77	$807	+3.00
480	480	3	170.00–185.00	$180.00	$864	+2.57
500–525	517	3	168.00–190.00	$179.32	$927	+3.86
585–590	587	3	162.00–185.00	$176.35	$1,035	+16.35
615–635	625	5	160.00–189.00	$173.41	$1,084	-6.59
683–690	684	5	165.00–168.00	$165.60	$1,133	-4.40
703–725	710	4	143.00–170.00	$152.89	$1,086	-17.11
760–785	780	6	164.00–177.00	$166.33	$1,297	-0.67
830	830	1	172.00	$172.00	$1,428	—

Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
415	415	1	75.00	$75.00	$311	-5.00
493–495	494	7	55.00–62.00	$58.14	$287	—
580	580	1	80.00	$80.00	$464	+7.50

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
170	170	1	375.00	$375.00	—
185 unweaned	185	1	400.00	$400.00	+40.00
200 unweaned	200	1	350.00	$350.00	—
220	220	1	375.00	$375.00	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
125 unweaned	125	2	210.00	$210.00	—
195 unweaned	195	1	250.00	$250.00	+25.00

Small 4 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
305–320	313	2	400.00–450.00	$424.40	+69.60
410	410	1	410.00	$410.00	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
195	195	2	200.00	$200.00	$390	—
235	235	2	220.00	$220.00	$517	+1.01
270–275	273	3	207.00	$207.00	$565	-9.58
315–328	324	4	190.00–210.00	$202.63	$657	-0.97
380–390	385	2	190.00–200.00	$195.06	$751	-19.33
400–423	408	11	187.00–202.00	$188.37	$769	-15.43
450–495	473	9	180.00–215.00	$198.50	$939	—
500–543	524	8	180.00–190.00	$185.38	$971	-8.87
550–575	563	10	181.00–200.00	$189.81	$1,069	+4.81
600–635	612	7	170.00–183.00	$176.70	$1,081	-0.27
660–686	672	13	170.00–182.00	$176.00	$1,183	+9.00
705–733	719	4	160.00–178.00	$169.18	$1,216	+3.20
753–770	757	13	160.00–177.00	$170.77	$1,293	+14.51
860	860	1	165.00	$165.00	$1,419	—
925–930	928	2	155.00–160.00	$157.49	$1,462	+10.56

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
275–280	278	2	167.00–177.00	$172.05	$478	-22.95
305–345	324	10	152.00–185.00	$167.96	$544	-13.50
361–395	376	30	155.00–190.00	$172.59	$649	+16.63
415–440	431	10	150.00–187.00	$173.31	$747	+13.31
495	495	2	155.00–160.00	$157.50	$780	—
520–535	530	6	157.00–179.00	$163.61	$867	-8.61
555–595	575	2	157.00–170.00	$163.27	$939	+3.76
615–630	626	4	143.00–157.00	$152.47	$954	-17.53
650	650	1	150.00	$150.00	$975	+10.00
719	719	4	135.00	$135.00	$971	-22.00
831	831	4	143.00	$143.00	$1,188	-7.00
915–925	919	5	132.00–150.00	$139.25	$1,280	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
263	263	2	220.00	$220.00	$579	—
328	328	6	220.00	$220.00	$722	-7.00
351–395	368	11	205.00–230.00	$219.98	$810	-5.79
435	435	4	205.00	$205.00	$892	-13.74
475	475	2	215.00	$215.00	$1,021	-12.41
525–530	530	11	202.00–215.00	$203.17	$1,077	-7.54
570	570	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,254	+7.30
745	745	2	184.00	$184.00	$1,371	-14.87

Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
370	370	1	60.00	$60.00	$222	—
458–493	476	4	50.00–70.00	$59.63	$284	-28.37
609	609	6	40.00	$40.00	$244	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
165 unweaned	165	1	325.00	$325.00	-15.00
208–220 unweaned	211	4	285.00–375.00	$308.46	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
100–110 unweaned	105	2	200.00–225.00	$213.10	—

Small 4 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
340	340	1	435.00	$435.00	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
435	435	1	190.00	$190.00	$826	+9.84
495	495	1	190.00	$190.00	$940	-10.77
500–520	510	3	175.00–207.00	$193.95	$989	—
730	730	1	167.00	$167.00	$1,219	-21.00
805	805	1	122.00	$122.00	$982	-38.00

Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
485	485	1	52.00	$52.00	$252	+20.00
725	725	1	45.00	$45.00	$326	—
850	850	1	70.00	$70.00	$595	—
985	985	1	85.00	$85.00	$837	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
415	415	1	255.00	$255.00	$1,058	—
510–540	525	2	220.00–230.00	$224.86	$1,181	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
670	670	1	142.00	$142.00	$951	—
820–830	825	2	122.00–142.00	$131.94	$1,089	+25.45

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
145 unweaned	145	1	250.00	$250.00	—

Small 4 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
455	455	1	250.00	$250.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
745–1055	873	85-90%	6	53.00–60.00	$56.66	$495	-13.34
825–965	884	85-90%	5	41.00–58.00	$52.93	$468	-17.07
890–975	913	85-90%	5	64.00–70.00	$68.13	$622	+12.13
730–1340	1017	85-90%	43	64.00–70.50	$67.18	$683	—
925–1160	1049	85-90%	4	76.00–82.00	$79.15	$830	—
895–1298	1108	85-90%	32	72.00–81.00	$77.13	$855	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
840–1735	1156	80-85%	11	82.00–85.00	$83.66	$967	—
860–1420	1158	80-85%	20	82.00–98.00	$88.75	$1,028	—
1200	1200	80-85%	1	100.00	$100.00	$1,200	+11.36
1226	1226	80-85%	5	86.00	$86.00	$1,054	-2.64
970–1615	1239	80-85%	22	86.00–97.00	$90.66	$1,123	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1165	1165	1	82.00	$82.00	$955	—
1095–1775	1408	16	72.50–91.00	$84.55	$1,190	—
1125–1825	1518	14	92.00–102.00	$97.22	$1,476	—
1695–2265	1900	3	103.00–106.00	$104.49	$1,985	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
710	710	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	141.00	$141.00	$1,001

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
820	820	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	133.00	$133.00	$1,091
750–1045	898	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	122.00–127.00	$124.50	$1,118

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1060–1275	1114	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	68.00–75.00	$69.75	$777
1170	1170	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	92.00	$92.00	$1,076
1253	1253	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	5	93.00	$93.00	$1,165

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
915–1095	975	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	1,200.00–1,425.00	$1,293.75
988–1050	1019	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	1,300.00–1,450.00	$1,375.00
1140–1585	1363	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	1,400.00–1,500.00	$1,450.00

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
905	905	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,125.00	$1,125.00
868–1075	951	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	1,000.00–1,125.00	$1,055.00
1085	1085	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	850.00	$850.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1170	1170	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,850.00	$1,850.00
880–1515	1303	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,550.00–1,600.00	$1,583.33

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
835	835	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,100.00	$1,100.00
950	950	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,025.00	$1,025.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
845	845	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	153.00	$153.00	$1,293

Small 4 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
480	480	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	350.00	$350.00

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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
1005	1005	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	1,250.00	$1,250.00	+50.00
1005–1170	1083	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	1,210.00–1,450.00	$1,353.33	-140.42

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
805	805	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	910.00	$910.00	—
850	850	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	1,100.00	$1,100.00	+225.00

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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.