Cattle Market Pulse

Creston Livestock Feeder Cattle Market Report

Creston, Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, January 4, 2023

2,838 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Creston Livestock Feeder Cattle report →

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 steers $189.89/cwt +6.66 vs last sale · ≈ $1,285/hd at 677 lb · 515 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $172.86/cwt +1.53 vs last sale · ≈ $1,089/hd at 630 lb · 353 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $205.13/cwt +5.30 vs last sale · ≈ $1,186/hd at 578 lb · 325 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,838 2,403 2,946
Feeder cattle 2,838 2,403 2,946

Market comments — USDA reporter

Quality ran very deep in today's offering of long-time weaned steer/heifer calves. Many opportunities to purchase large groups of replacement heifers. Strong demand for load lots of feeder calves. Previous feeder calf auction was 12-14-2022 , no trend/comparison stated.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
460 fancy 460 25 212.50 $212.50 $978 -9.50
480 unweaned 480 3 186.00 $186.00 $893 -14.77
470–498 486 21 205.00–218.00 $209.87 $1,020 +2.69
520 unweaned 520 3 186.00 $186.00 $967 —
500–543 536 89 201.50–215.00 $207.83 $1,114 -5.84
573–580 fancy 575 88 210.00 $210.00 $1,208 -9.00
558–594 579 232 193.00–212.00 $203.54 $1,178 +2.51
588 unweaned 588 5 193.00 $193.00 $1,135 +3.83
621 fancy 621 7 195.00 $195.00 $1,211 +3.50
611–634 622 109 180.00–204.50 $191.52 $1,191 +5.74
631 unweaned 631 6 180.00 $180.00 $1,136 -3.50
653–699 fancy 671 108 184.50–191.00 $189.08 $1,269 +1.86
653–695 678 407 173.00–196.75 $190.11 $1,289 +4.31
701 fancy 701 39 189.00 $189.00 $1,325 —
703–747 715 108 174.00–185.75 $181.96 $1,301 +5.91
764–774 fancy 768 141 177.00–183.00 $179.44 $1,378 —
757–795 771 119 159.00–178.50 $171.59 $1,323 -6.10
811–843 827 22 162.50–169.50 $165.50 $1,369 -14.40
856–865 862 56 174.50–175.25 $175.00 $1,508 +1.52
935 935 7 161.00 $161.00 $1,505 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
469 469 13 179.00 $179.00 $840 —
643 643 3 165.00 $165.00 $1,061 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
936 936 3 161.00 $161.00 $1,507 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
432 432 40 184.75 $184.75 $798 +11.17
438–448 443 12 156.00–168.00 $161.93 $717 -11.65
488 488 7 166.00 $166.00 $810 -16.08
510–545 526 151 162.00–182.25 $176.06 $926 -2.76
545 545 32 170.00 $170.00 $926 -8.82
561 unweaned 561 10 162.50 $162.50 $912 -8.19
551–595 566 78 161.00–175.00 $168.30 $953 -1.14
594 fancy 594 20 166.00 $166.00 $986 -10.00
607–648 625 136 155.00–171.25 $165.88 $1,037 -5.43
620–649 633 217 170.00–185.50 $177.23 $1,122 +5.92
655–682 664 82 171.00–174.50 $172.36 $1,144 +5.21
678 fancy 678 40 170.00 $170.00 $1,153 —
655–693 683 53 154.50–176.50 $168.95 $1,154 +0.70
711–730 719 39 160.00–174.00 $168.07 $1,208 +10.97
726 726 20 173.75 $173.75 $1,261 +16.65
750 750 6 164.75 $164.75 $1,236 -0.75
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
523 523 3 151.00 $151.00 $790 —
595 595 12 152.00–155.00 $153.00 $910 -1.26
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1000 1000 3 130.00 $130.00 $1,300 —

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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.