Cattle Market Pulse

Colorado Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, September 20, 2021

3,734 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Colorado Weekly Cattle Auction Summary report →

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $158.88/cwt ≈ $1,252/hd at 788 lb · 211 head
heavy 8-weight M&L 1 steers $152.01/cwt ≈ $1,332/hd at 876 lb · 131 head
heavy 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $135.31/cwt ≈ $1,203/hd at 889 lb · 120 head
HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 3,734 603 5,511
Feeder cattle 2,604 260 3,700
Slaughter cattle 959 318 1,157
Replacement cattle 171 25 654

Compared to last week: Combined weighted average report for 4 Colorado auction markets included: winter Livestock, La Junta Livestock, Sterling Livestock, and Livestock Exchange. Trade activity and demand moderate to good. Not enough comparable trades on beef type breeds of feeder cattle for a comparison. Dairy heifers this week sold steady to 2.00 lower. Average dressing slaughter cows sold 3.00 lower. Average dressing slaughter bulls sold 4.00 lower. The next available report will be Monday, October 4, 2021.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
312–342 328 16 209.00–212.00 $210.25 $690
370–373 372 4 201.00–207.00 $204.01 $759
400–433 414 31 180.00–197.00 $188.33 $780 +15.33
458–475 463 17 176.00–178.00 $176.78 $818
500–533 520 55 156.00–174.00 $165.01 $858
550–588 572 82 152.00–171.00 $156.27 $894
622–637 unweaned 627 50 136.00–153.00 $145.84 $914
660 unweaned 660 11 155.50 $155.50 $1,026
655–678 671 57 146.00–160.00 $154.33 $1,036
711 unweaned 711 9 148.50 $148.50 $1,056
705–727 715 79 146.00–156.00 $153.82 $1,100
750–796 788 211 141.50–161.00 $158.88 $1,252
855–893 876 131 148.50–154.00 $152.01 $1,332
904–926 907 75 137.50–156.00 $148.43 $1,346
955–973 964 65 137.50–147.00 $139.07 $1,341
1036 1036 19 127.00 $127.00 $1,316
1058 1058 8 123.00 $123.00 $1,301
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
479 479 7 174.00 $174.00 $833
539 539 8 165.00 $165.00 $889
643 643 18 148.00 $148.00 $952
800–837 836 29 145.50–147.50 $145.57 $1,217

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Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
316–332 323 7 166.00–173.00 $169.92 $549
365–390 382 13 157.00–158.00 $157.29 $601
400–445 425 58 141.00–152.00 $145.31 $618
474–488 485 20 142.00–147.00 $142.98 $693
503–539 525 72 140.00–148.00 $143.15 $752
559–577 565 9 136.00–140.00 $138.64 $783
610–622 618 27 142.00–155.50 $151.06 $934
620 fancy 620 11 149.50 $149.50 $927
665–689 677 27 133.00–139.00 $134.75 $912
683 unweaned 683 4 137.50 $137.50 $939
701 701 4 142.00 $142.00 $995
776 776 17 146.00 $146.00 $1,133
810–841 825 51 136.00–144.50 $137.73 $1,136
861–896 889 120 127.00–137.75 $135.31 $1,203
904 904 32 137.00 $137.00 $1,238
953–979 972 49 122.00–133.10 $131.09 $1,274
1011 1011 9 121.00 $121.00 $1,223
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
361 361 6 162.00 $162.00 $585
455–486 480 10 152.00–155.00 $154.43 $741
503–545 509 17 139.00–147.00 $144.80 $737
584–589 587 32 131.00–132.50 $131.75 $773
595 unweaned 595 6 139.00 $139.00 $827
610 610 6 141.00 $141.00 $860
630–646 unweaned 639 13 138.00–140.00 $138.91 $888
728 728 6 140.00 $140.00 $1,019
754–783 760 9 137.00–138.00 $137.77 $1,047

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Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1207–1565 1349 80-85% 15 75.50–87.00 $78.65 $1,061
1105–1730 1403 80-85% 118 50.00–64.00 $57.12 $801 -14.91
1153–1634 1412 80-85% 162 65.00–76.00 $71.40 $1,008 -0.63
1140–1710 1469 80-85% 76 62.00–76.00 $66.66 $979 -2.77
1400–1715 1496 80-85% 7 38.00–45.00 $41.59 $622 -40.62
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
725–1440 1033 85-90% 51 22.00–51.01 $35.30 $365
1070 1070 85-90% 3 65.00 $65.00 $696
960–1200 1107 85-90% 12 70.00–76.00 $73.68 $816
835–1295 1146 85-90% 46 57.00–66.00 $59.77 $685
1000–1285 1148 85-90% 15 62.00–68.50 $65.70 $754
590–1485 1168 85-90% 85 43.00–61.50 $52.40 $612 +0.61
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1308–1853 1628 75-80% 18 57.00–69.00 $65.24 $1,062
1315–2020 1637 75-80% 83 70.50–79.00 $74.03 $1,212
1770 1770 75-80% 1 41.00 $41.00 $726
1705–2015 1821 75-80% 12 80.00–85.00 $81.56 $1,485

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YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1200–2745 1711 49 69.00–85.50 $79.80 $1,365
1400–2365 1911 64 80.50–93.00 $85.56 $1,635
1790–2240 2012 5 88.00–98.00 $91.34 $1,838

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Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1045–1355 1177 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 86.00–94.00 $90.29 $1,063

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Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1106–1131 1121 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 12 1,325.00–1,350.00 $1,335.28
1106–1310 1167 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 9 1,350.00–1,385.00 $1,378.53
1189 1189 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 15 1,510.00 $1,510.00
1196 1196 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 810.00 $810.00
1218–1382 1312 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 17 1,200.00–1,350.00 $1,236.70
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1070 1070 Young (2-4 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 2 1,025.00 $1,025.00
1090–1313 1302 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 21 1,125.00–1,285.00 $1,278.62
1265–1460 1343 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 5 950.00 $950.00
1361–1548 1388 Aged (>8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 14 900.00–975.00 $911.95

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Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1053 1053 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 3 1,375.00 $1,375.00
Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1065–1175 1120 (<2 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 2 1,075.00–1,200.00 $1,134.43

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Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1188–1340 1218 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 6 1,125.00–1,150.00 $1,129.58
1290–1656 1511 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 7 1,085.00–1,300.00 $1,211.18
1498–1610 1545 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)Open 4 1,200.00–1,300.00 $1,250.28
1742 1742 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 6 1,425.00 $1,425.00

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Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
898 898 7 90.50 $90.50 $813 -2.00
906 906 4 90.50 $90.50 $820 -2.71
965–995 986 16 90.00–92.50 $91.63 $903 -2.48
1023–1046 1031 9 91.00–92.50 $91.99 $948 -1.62
1069–1080 1076 20 92.50–93.50 $93.15 $1,002 -0.65
1145 1145 1 92.50 $92.50 $1,059 -0.01
1175–1178 1177 4 91.00–93.00 $91.50 $1,077 -0.79
1201–1248 1231 17 89.50–93.50 $92.44 $1,138 +0.60
1260–1265 1263 3 91.50–94.00 $92.33 $1,166 -1.17
1325–1347 1344 7 91.00–93.50 $91.35 $1,228
Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
805–815 807 5 84.00–89.00 $85.01 $686 -2.41
862–895 871 6 86.00–89.00 $86.84 $756 -2.16
919 919 6 89.50 $89.50 $823
970 970 1 88.50 $88.50 $858
1005–1042 1039 12 81.00–89.00 $88.36 $918
1078 1078 6 88.00 $88.00 $949
1135–1140 1137 3 87.00–88.00 $87.33 $993
1185 1185 1 88.00 $88.00 $1,043
1270 1270 2 84.00 $84.00 $1,067
Large 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
482 482 6 60.00 $60.00 $289
576 576 11 72.50 $72.50 $418 +1.63
747 747 3 65.00 $65.00 $486
955 955 3 65.00 $65.00 $621
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1392–1625 1526 21 85.00–90.00 $88.35 $1,348
Large 3-4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
793 793 3 82.00 $82.00 $650
875–892 888 4 76.00–83.00 $77.72 $690
1324 1324 1 79.00 $79.00 $1,046

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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.