Cattlemen's Livestock Auction Market Report, Belen, NM

Belen, New Mexico · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, May 17, 2024

526 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $231.42/cwt -8.36 vs last sale · ≈ $1,194/hd at 516 lb · 16 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $302.88/cwt ≈ $1,563/hd at 516 lb · 16 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $257.75/cwt -14.48 vs last sale · ≈ $1,508/hd at 585 lb · 15 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	526	486	597
Feeder cattle	355	314	410
Slaughter cattle	105	134	138
Replacement cattle	66	38	49

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: No accurate comparison on steer calves. On heifer calves 5.00-8.00 lower on limited comparison. No accurate comparison on feeder calves. Feeder heifers steady to 4.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls 5.00-7.00 higher. Trade and demand moderate.

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
245	245	2	315.00–317.00	$316.00	$774	+13.69
280	280	1	295.00	$295.00	$826	+5.00
325–340	333	2	285.00–310.00	$297.22	$990	-7.82
355–385	370	4	285.00–315.00	$298.34	$1,104	-19.15
435–445	440	2	265.00–300.00	$282.70	$1,244	-7.78
450–495	471	12	275.00–302.00	$286.69	$1,350	+3.86
500–540	518	12	260.00–290.00	$271.00	$1,404	-12.35
560–597	585	15	242.00–270.00	$257.75	$1,508	-14.48
610–645	625	11	230.00–259.00	$242.22	$1,514	-15.21
670–695	683	2	230.00–245.00	$237.64	$1,623	-7.36
700	700	1	245.00	$245.00	$1,715	+25.86
770	770	1	206.00	$206.00	$1,586	-13.76
945	945	3	185.00	$185.00	$1,748	—
1015	1015	1	173.00	$173.00	$1,756	-26.00
1055	1055	3	160.00	$160.00	$1,688	—
1125–1145	1135	2	166.00–180.00	$172.94	$1,963	—
1250	1250	1	146.00	$146.00	$1,825	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
195	195	2	400.00	$400.00	$780	—
303–305	304	3	325.00–327.00	$325.67	$990	—
415–443	435	4	304.00–335.00	$314.93	$1,370	—
450–488	477	5	320.00–332.00	$329.21	$1,570	—
510–530	516	16	290.00–320.00	$302.88	$1,563	—
554	554	7	293.00	$293.00	$1,623	+12.51
610–630	618	5	262.00–292.00	$272.33	$1,683	—
660–680	672	5	240.00–258.00	$247.99	$1,666	—
700	700	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,680	—
750	750	2	227.00	$227.00	$1,702	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
339	339	1	260.00	$260.00	$881	—
400–435	424	7	200.00–240.00	$233.27	$989	-1.73
455–495	478	6	225.00–250.00	$240.82	$1,151	+20.43
595	595	1	232.00	$232.00	$1,380	—
625–635	630	4	195.00–222.00	$202.96	$1,279	-28.29
1022	1022	5	167.00	$167.00	$1,707	—

Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
450	450	1	144.00	$144.00	$648	—
575	575	2	100.00	$100.00	$575	—
655	655	3	90.00	$90.00	$590	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
160 unweaned	160	1	675.00	$675.00	—
240	240	1	800.00	$800.00	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
225	225	1	300.00	$300.00	$675	+12.50
325–340	333	2	260.00–262.00	$261.02	$869	-3.98
355–395	380	3	252.00–263.00	$258.30	$982	-5.11
415–445	429	4	247.00–272.00	$263.36	$1,130	+2.10
450–490	476	9	220.00–255.00	$238.09	$1,133	-6.54
500–545	516	16	217.00–250.00	$231.42	$1,194	-8.36
565–598	586	8	219.00–245.00	$229.00	$1,342	-6.66
629–635	632	4	217.00–229.00	$223.73	$1,414	—
650–685	660	5	207.00–228.00	$217.52	$1,436	+0.24

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
355	355	2	285.00	$285.00	$1,012	—
423–445	434	4	272.00–292.00	$281.75	$1,223	-6.37
455–480	468	2	260.00–287.00	$273.14	$1,278	-14.93
505–540	512	5	263.00–272.00	$270.10	$1,383	+7.79
555–565	560	2	245.00	$245.00	$1,372	-2.14
600	600	2	224.00	$224.00	$1,344	-17.05
662–675	665	4	222.00–235.00	$231.70	$1,541	-3.30
700–715	706	5	208.00–225.00	$214.89	$1,517	-20.57

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
260	260	1	212.00	$212.00	$551	—
395–398	397	3	215.00	$215.00	$854	—
445	445	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,024	+33.00
450–470	455	4	175.00–192.00	$179.39	$816	-2.51
500–530	509	9	168.00–210.00	$192.50	$980	+2.50
650	650	1	163.00	$163.00	$1,060	—
708	708	2	161.00	$161.00	$1,140	-34.00
765	765	1	166.00	$166.00	$1,270	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
85 unweaned	85	1	385.00	$385.00	-15.00
120 unweaned	120	2	300.00–325.00	$312.50	—
288	288	2	525.00	$525.00	—

Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
410	410	1	95.00	$95.00	$390	—
623	623	2	80.00	$80.00	$498	—

Small 4 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
345	345	2	525.00	$525.00	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
415	415	2	275.00	$275.00	$1,141	+20.00
480	480	1	297.00	$297.00	$1,426	+43.59
505–545	525	2	252.00–282.00	$266.43	$1,399	+21.76
560–580	567	7	202.00–247.00	$227.61	$1,291	-18.39
610–643	625	9	232.00–251.00	$242.61	$1,516	+15.59
650–690	670	2	235.00–242.00	$238.40	$1,597	—
705–730	718	2	200.00–245.00	$222.11	$1,595	+16.21
760	760	1	147.00	$147.00	$1,117	-47.38
880	880	1	151.00	$151.00	$1,329	—
900–903	902	3	165.00–174.00	$171.01	$1,543	—
965–970	968	2	141.00–157.00	$148.98	$1,442	—
1098	1098	3	150.00	$150.00	$1,647	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
350	350	1	335.00	$335.00	$1,172	—

Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
645	645	1	90.00	$90.00	$580	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
960–1100	1030	80-85%	2	119.00–131.00	$124.59	$1,283	—
860–1338	1043	80-85%	21	110.00–119.50	$114.93	$1,199	—
945–1315	1133	80-85%	22	120.00–132.00	$127.98	$1,450	+15.69
860–1495	1178	80-85%	2	110.00–118.00	$112.92	$1,330	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
540–625	598	85-90%	4	95.00–104.00	$99.87	$597	—
700	700	85-90%	1	95.00	$95.00	$665	—
660–860	740	85-90%	3	79.00–97.00	$85.27	$631	—
675–920	796	85-90%	10	90.00–100.00	$94.50	$752	-7.78
715–1120	927	85-90%	8	100.00–110.00	$104.90	$972	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1075	1075	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,398	—
1000–1200	1078	5	114.00–133.00	$126.24	$1,361	—
1208–1830	1420	9	135.00–145.50	$141.01	$2,002	—
1595–2020	1735	4	148.00–154.00	$149.67	$2,597	+13.32

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
740–820	781	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	160.00–187.00	$172.00	$1,343
670–1125	824	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	160.00–170.00	$164.40	$1,355

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
705–1045	827	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	140.00–157.00	$146.33	$1,210
725–1250	876	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	7	127.00–150.00	$138.00	$1,209

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
890	890	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,600.00	$1,600.00
980	980	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	1,225.00	$1,225.00

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
690	690	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,025.00	$1,025.00
815	815	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	1,000.00	$1,000.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
975	975	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	132.00	$132.00	$1,287
1215	1215	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	124.00	$124.00	$1,507

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
645	645	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,161

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
945–1505	1165	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	1,875.00–2,200.00	$2,091.67	—
1200–1207	1206	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	6	2,050.00–2,400.00	$2,108.33	—
1346	1346	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	4	1,625.00	$1,625.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
840–985	913	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	1,725.00–1,800.00	$1,762.50	+262.50
915–1145	1004	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	6	1,600.00–1,800.00	$1,689.17	—

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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.