Colorado Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, April 17, 2023

3,251 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 heifers $187.03/cwt -5.02 vs last sale · ≈ $1,453/hd at 777 lb · 81 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $217.65/cwt -20.10 vs last sale · ≈ $1,367/hd at 628 lb · 54 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $193.27/cwt -6.25 vs last sale · ≈ $1,383/hd at 716 lb · 52 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,251	6,730	4,197
Feeder cattle	2,182	3,473	3,115
Slaughter cattle	926	1,446	990
Replacement cattle	143	1,811	92

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Combined weighted average report for 3 Colorado auction markets included: Winter Livestock, La Junta Livestock, and Livestock Exchange. Trade activity and demand moderate to good. Feeder steers and heifers too thinly tested to trend, but lower undertones noted. Feeder dairy heifers 900 to 1200 lbs sold mostly 1.00 higher. Average dressing slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 lower while bulls sold 1.00 higher. More bred cows and cow calf pairs were brought to market this week as cattleman cull their herds due to drought. Nearby weather conditions will dictate whether or not more cows are brought to market.

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
350–355	352	13	275.00–284.00	$281.20	$990	—
418–423	419	25	264.00–272.00	$265.62	$1,113	+0.62
421 fancy	421	6	287.50	$287.50	$1,210	—
452–487	480	16	256.00–258.00	$256.35	$1,230	-10.31
510–543	527	21	239.00–245.00	$242.22	$1,276	-16.86
564–574	567	13	238.00–239.00	$238.31	$1,351	-8.65
610–643	628	54	213.00–225.00	$217.65	$1,367	-14.66
660–698	689	46	208.00–215.00	$211.25	$1,456	-0.75
704 thin fleshed	704	8	207.00	$207.00	$1,457	—
702–724	708	17	191.00–197.00	$194.85	$1,380	-18.62
763–796	787	7	187.50–190.00	$188.19	$1,481	-13.20
800–820	818	25	192.00–194.50	$194.21	$1,589	+1.09
852 thin fleshed	852	3	191.00	$191.00	$1,627	—
855–895	865	33	180.50–189.00	$184.84	$1,599	+6.38

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	3	274.00	$274.00	$918	—
373–389	382	29	260.00–262.00	$261.18	$998	+7.34
485	485	7	246.00	$246.00	$1,193	+1.98
507	507	3	225.00	$225.00	$1,141	-15.82
573–592	578	28	220.00–228.00	$222.38	$1,285	-4.74
678–680	680	14	197.00–207.00	$199.14	$1,354	-14.67
707–723	714	27	183.00–202.00	$191.99	$1,371	-16.90

Small 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
585	585	16	202.00	$202.00	$1,182	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
415	415	5	251.00	$251.00	$1,042	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
586	586	4	214.00	$214.00	$1,254	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
110	110	1	250.00	$250.00	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
313	313	4	262.00	$262.00	$820	—
371	371	7	236.50	$236.50	$877	-6.69
413–445	432	35	231.00–240.00	$235.15	$1,016	+5.92
455–476	466	28	219.00–227.00	$223.59	$1,042	+6.31
523 fancy	523	7	227.00	$227.00	$1,187	+6.00
521–539	534	11	210.00–215.00	$211.33	$1,129	-12.75
558–590	574	46	199.00–218.00	$208.11	$1,195	-6.88
612–648	634	38	198.00–209.00	$202.39	$1,283	-14.13
655–693	678	46	188.00–196.50	$190.95	$1,295	-14.66
708–715 thin fleshed	709	32	195.00–196.00	$195.87	$1,389	—
724–732	726	20	187.00–190.50	$189.12	$1,373	-11.25
750–798	777	81	183.00–187.50	$187.03	$1,453	-5.02
801–826	814	39	182.00–185.00	$183.71	$1,495	+16.21
910	910	1	145.00	$145.00	$1,320	—
925	925	1	159.00	$159.00	$1,471	—
954–986	974	11	163.00–178.00	$172.66	$1,682	—
1266	1266	6	153.50	$153.50	$1,943	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
365–389	374	18	215.00–236.50	$225.25	$842	-2.56
461	461	9	213.00	$213.00	$982	-12.04
525	525	4	209.00	$209.00	$1,097	+0.50
558–575	564	15	205.00–206.00	$205.59	$1,160	+5.41
654	654	9	200.00	$200.00	$1,308	+5.33
730–737	735	18	180.50–187.00	$182.29	$1,340	-11.71
784–796	790	15	181.00–182.00	$181.54	$1,434	+15.54

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
587	587	3	199.00	$199.00	$1,168	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
80–85	83	2	250.00–260.00	$255.15	+55.15
120	120	1	260.00	$260.00	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
463	463	2	195.00	$195.00	$903	—
980	980	1	142.50	$142.50	$1,396	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
434	434	8	245.00	$245.00	$1,063	-15.00
483	483	6	221.00	$221.00	$1,067	-26.50
671	671	7	196.00	$196.00	$1,315	+3.50
717	717	3	176.00	$176.00	$1,262	+30.00
860	860	5	172.00	$172.00	$1,479	—
972	972	4	150.00	$150.00	$1,458	+0.02

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
75–95	85	4	210.00–425.00	$277.57	+40.07
100–135	120	3	250.00–485.00	$386.74	+201.74
150–195	173	2	475.00–500.00	$485.87	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
590	590	3	182.50	$182.50	$1,077	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1026–1480	1101	80-85%	16	81.00–91.00	$83.69	$921	—
1160–1540	1288	80-85%	45	91.00–104.00	$94.35	$1,215	—
1210–1620	1382	80-85%	5	105.00–115.00	$108.46	$1,499	+9.40
1040–1875	1384	80-85%	53	88.00–103.00	$93.14	$1,289	-5.92
1035–1850	1433	80-85%	62	79.50–89.50	$86.04	$1,233	-8.78
1335–1565	1442	80-85%	3	96.50–107.00	$103.40	$1,491	-1.43

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
760–970	865	85-90%	2	47.50–65.00	$55.19	$477	—
925–1190	1070	85-90%	3	103.00–112.50	$106.42	$1,139	+32.92
905–1225	1117	85-90%	20	71.00–88.00	$81.16	$907	+0.75
855–1440	1120	85-90%	16	52.50–71.00	$61.84	$693	-18.57
1120–1140	1130	85-90%	2	97.50–100.00	$98.76	$1,116	+18.35
740–1280	1132	85-90%	23	88.50–98.00	$92.71	$1,049	+12.30
555–1740	1254	85-90%	62	67.50–84.50	$79.35	$995	—
935–1740	1269	85-90%	51	85.00–97.00	$88.93	$1,129	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1285	1285	75-80%	1	93.50	$93.50	$1,201	—
1352–1505	1363	75-80%	14	101.00–103.00	$101.16	$1,379	—
1298–1845	1434	75-80%	26	87.00–91.00	$89.41	$1,282	—
1283–1985	1488	75-80%	56	92.00–108.50	$96.03	$1,429	—
1638	1638	75-80%	4	103.00	$103.00	$1,687	-3.27

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1027–1195	1083	18	133.00–160.00	$147.16	$1,594	+9.68
1245–1595	1438	9	96.00–110.00	$102.81	$1,478	—
1390–1900	1641	7	108.50–115.00	$111.36	$1,827	—
1375–2695	1779	14	91.00–107.50	$98.39	$1,750	—
1510–2260	1843	47	106.00–121.50	$112.62	$2,076	+0.76
1795–2210	2002	9	115.00–128.50	$120.96	$2,422	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
828–1430	1112	(<2 yrs)	Open	24	139.00–159.00	$155.00	$1,724
1140	1140	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	122.50	$122.50	$1,396
1110–1250	1180	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	8	144.00	$144.00	$1,699

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
900–1135	1010	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	125.00–135.00	$128.63	$1,299

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1040	1040	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	137.50	$137.50	$1,430

Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
855–1115	985	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	102.50–119.00	$114.23	$1,125

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1406–1470	1427	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	9	1,450.00	$1,450.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1200	1200	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	1,100.00	$1,100.00
1408	1408	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,250.00	$1,250.00
1408	1408	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,150.00	$1,150.00
1515	1515	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,350.00	$1,350.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1575	1575	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,800.00	$1,800.00
1325–1955	1660	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,650.00–1,960.00	$1,788.77
1635–1720	1678	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,550.00–1,625.00	$1,588.45

Medium 3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
953	953	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	850.00	$850.00

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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
1273–1687	1417	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	30	2,300.00–2,500.00	$2,409.74	—
1495	1495	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,750.00	$1,750.00	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1306	1306	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	4	1,775.00	$1,775.00	—
1323	1323	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	2	1,450.00	$1,450.00	—
1375	1375	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	1,550.00	$1,550.00	—
1406	1406	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	6	1,725.00	$1,725.00	—
1418	1418	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	9	1,600.00	$1,600.00	—
1503	1503	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	3	1,850.00	$1,850.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1475	1475	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	13	1,900.00	$1,900.00	—

Medium 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1515	1515	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	2	1,500.00	$1,500.00	—

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1325	1325	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	1,800.00	$1,800.00	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
343	343	3	106.00	$106.00	$364	—
456–470	458	6	95.00–99.00	$98.32	$450	—
509	509	4	87.50	$87.50	$445	—
570–590	587	7	95.00	$95.00	$558	—
622	622	3	95.00	$95.00	$591	—
653	653	3	115.00	$115.00	$751	—
1020	1020	1	86.00	$86.00	$877	—
1095	1095	1	92.50	$92.50	$1,013	—

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
830	830	1	147.50	$147.50	$1,224	—
945	945	1	143.00	$143.00	$1,351	+1.00
950–957	955	4	143.00–146.00	$145.25	$1,387	+2.75
1000–1024	1016	6	144.00–144.50	$144.34	$1,466	+0.84
1163–1170	1165	3	144.00–144.50	$144.17	$1,680	+0.67
1220	1220	1	144.50	$144.50	$1,763	—
1300	1300	1	142.50	$142.50	$1,852	—

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
770	770	1	124.00	$124.00	$955	-2.00
834	834	5	134.00	$134.00	$1,118	±0.00
985	985	2	142.50	$142.50	$1,404	+4.50
1360	1360	1	112.50	$112.50	$1,530	—

Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1003	1003	4	143.50	$143.50	$1,439	+0.17

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1095	1095	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	1,800.00	$1,800.00	—

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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.