Colorado Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, December 25, 2023

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

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	395	6,093	1,401
Feeder cattle	112	3,450	547
Slaughter cattle	283	1,450	854
Replacement cattle	—	1,193	—

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Combined weighted average report for 1 Colorado auction report included: Livestock Exchange. Trade activity and demand this week was light. With a light test, average dress slaughter cows traded down 1.00 to 3.00, while bulls were too light to trend. Dairy heifers traded steady. To light of a run to trend feeder cattle. The next available report will be Monday, January 8, 2023.

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
883	883	2	212.50	$212.50	$1,876	+21.92
1185	1185	1	164.00	$164.00	$1,943	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1360	1360	1	158.00	$158.00	$2,149	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
585	585	4	225.00	$225.00	$1,316	-11.77
1027–1036	1032	12	156.00–171.00	$164.78	$1,701	+9.78

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1193	1193	2	144.50	$144.50	$1,724	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
965–1480	1199	85-90%	6	37.50–47.50	$40.54	$486	-45.16
890–1433	1252	85-90%	3	76.00–110.00	$101.94	$1,276	—
900–1545	1278	85-90%	8	56.00–67.50	$62.49	$799	—
965–1691	1307	85-90%	134	71.00–83.00	$77.09	$1,008	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1164	1164	80-85%	8	129.00	$129.00	$1,502	—
1170–1387	1331	80-85%	16	88.50–95.00	$89.59	$1,192	—
1110–1845	1428	80-85%	3	72.50–77.00	$75.34	$1,076	—
1255–1690	1538	80-85%	4	89.00–89.50	$89.13	$1,371	—
1000–1835	1565	80-85%	74	76.00–88.00	$84.59	$1,324	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1500	1500	75-80%	1	82.50	$82.50	$1,238	—
1450–1905	1724	75-80%	6	87.00–95.50	$91.69	$1,581	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1595–2030	1877	65-75%	3	96.50–99.00	$97.39	$1,828	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1525–1680	1603	2	91.00	$91.00	$1,459	—
1695	1695	1	101.00	$101.00	$1,712	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
845	845	4	141.00	$141.00	$1,191	-1.50
955–975	966	6	143.50	$143.50	$1,386	-0.25
1065–1078	1072	12	144.00–145.00	$144.67	$1,551	+1.02
1155	1155	2	143.50	$143.50	$1,657	+0.64
1280	1280	1	142.50	$142.50	$1,824	+0.75
1346	1346	10	142.50	$142.50	$1,918	-8.13
1370–1388	1385	6	141.50–143.00	$141.75	$1,963	—
1408–1412	1409	19	139.50–141.00	$139.97	$1,972	—
1490	1490	1	136.00	$136.00	$2,026	—
1528–1535	1531	14	135.00–137.00	$135.72	$2,078	—

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
676	676	6	126.00	$126.00	$852	+5.00
1315	1315	1	131.00	$131.00	$1,723	—

Small 3-4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
815	815	1	81.00	$81.00	$660	—

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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.