Cattle Market Pulse

East Tennessee Livestock Center Market Report

Sweetwater, Tennessee · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, September 15, 2021

258 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest East Tennessee Livestock Center report →

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $140.84/cwt +4.66 vs last sale · ≈ $741/hd at 526 lb · 12 head
light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $135.63/cwt +1.93 vs last sale · ≈ $579/hd at 427 lb · 10 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 258 371 330
Feeder cattle 193 239 205
Slaughter cattle 56 78 108
Replacement cattle 9 54 17

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder heifers weighing under 600 lbs. mostly steady overall with those weighing over 600 lbs. sharply lower, and no comparisons available for feeder steers and bulls due to limited comparable receipts. Regarding slaughter classes- boning and lean cows holding mostly steady overall with breaker cows 2.00 to 4.00 lower, and no comparisons available for slaughter bulls due to limited comparable receipts.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
420 420 1 160.00 $160.00 $672 —
495 495 1 144.00 $144.00 $713 —
505–545 523 4 142.00–150.00 $146.84 $768 -8.66
570–590 584 4 149.00–159.00 $153.26 $895 +5.23
605–620 610 3 141.00–153.00 $145.31 $886 -4.69
625 625 1 120.00 $120.00 $750 -30.00
665–670 668 2 129.00–130.00 $129.50 $865 -14.50
740 740 1 124.00 $124.00 $918 —
760 760 1 124.00 $124.00 $942 -5.99
805 805 1 118.00 $118.00 $950 -13.68
810 810 1 124.00 $124.00 $1,004 -7.68

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
300–310 307 3 131.00–134.00 $132.01 $405 -2.59
350–398 382 9 131.00–143.00 $137.14 $524 -13.20
405–445 427 10 129.00–139.00 $135.63 $579 +1.93
460–490 476 5 127.00–133.00 $129.38 $616 -5.87
515 515 1 120.00 $120.00 $618 -5.99
510–532 524 6 122.00–135.00 $131.40 $689 +5.41
535 535 1 114.00 $114.00 $610 -11.99
565–595 576 4 119.00–128.00 $123.44 $711 -2.21
628 628 2 122.00 $122.00 $766 -14.54
655–670 661 6 116.00–126.00 $122.01 $806 -14.16
700–735 718 2 111.00–112.00 $111.51 $801 -24.21
775 775 1 110.00 $110.00 $852 -21.47

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 1 159.00 $159.00 $541 —
360–390 375 5 150.00–160.00 $153.83 $577 -3.20
415–448 440 5 136.00–149.00 $145.13 $639 +5.12
465–480 473 2 140.00–153.00 $146.40 $692 +3.88
505–535 526 12 130.00–144.00 $140.84 $741 +4.66
555–595 578 3 131.00–135.00 $133.29 $770 -12.56
615–625 620 4 125.00–132.00 $128.75 $798 -8.89
650–655 653 2 118.00–123.00 $120.51 $787 -20.01
730–740 735 2 105.00–114.00 $109.47 $805 -16.52
875 875 1 92.00 $92.00 $805 -29.00
915 915 1 82.50 $82.50 $755 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
485 485 1 110.00 $110.00 $534 -11.00
595 595 1 125.00 $125.00 $744 —
640 640 1 115.00 $115.00 $736 —
750 750 1 97.00 $97.00 $728 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1170–2125 1552 75-80% 19 62.50–69.50 $66.57 $1,033 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1135–1425 1250 80-85% 6 64.00–70.50 $68.02 $850 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
925–1365 1055 85-90% 5 58.00–65.50 $62.91 $664 +10.41

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1105–1205 1155 2 81.50–84.50 $83.06 $959 —
1880–2205 2088 3 95.50–97.50 $96.65 $2,018 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
900 900 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 910.00 $910.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
— — Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 1,200.00 $1,200.00 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
245 245 1 115.00 $115.00 $282 —
530 530 1 90.00 $90.00 $477 —
Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
800 800 1 86.00 $86.00 $688 —

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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.