Iowa Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, October 12, 2020

4,459 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $147.98/cwt ≈ $1,139/hd at 770 lb · 296 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $157.30/cwt ≈ $906/hd at 576 lb · 181 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $174.92/cwt ≈ $923/hd at 528 lb · 164 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	4,459	4,269	6,299
Feeder cattle	2,823	—	4,934
Slaughter cattle	1,636	—	1,365

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, Choice steers and heifers steady to 1.00 lower. Feeder steers and heifers sold mixed on light receipts.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
300	300	3	197.50	$197.50	$592
365	365	7	186.00	$186.00	$679
398 unweaned	398	8	185.00	$185.00	$736
425–438 unweaned	430	12	179.00–184.00	$181.12	$779
411–444	435	25	180.00–192.50	$185.57	$807
450–493 unweaned	467	54	180.50–188.50	$185.59	$867
465–498	478	58	170.00–190.00	$183.14	$875
505–534	520	39	175.00–183.00	$180.27	$937
501–548 unweaned	530	125	166.00–182.50	$173.25	$918
551–573 unweaned	569	73	149.00–171.00	$160.24	$912
558–599	581	108	150.00–164.00	$155.32	$902
617 unweaned	617	19	142.00	$142.00	$876
602–647	622	56	140.00–154.50	$151.33	$941
654–690	671	114	141.00–154.25	$148.83	$999
706–739	729	137	134.00–149.75	$146.03	$1,065
755–798	770	296	146.25–150.60	$147.98	$1,139
801–844	807	40	135.00–144.50	$141.52	$1,142
867–896	876	92	125.00–142.75	$137.17	$1,202
906	906	68	141.60	$141.60	$1,283
979	979	8	121.75	$121.75	$1,192

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1005–1270	1145	18	95.00–105.00	$100.83	$1,155
1020–1300	1174	6	90.50–97.75	$95.51	$1,121
1095–1315 value added	1190	16	94.50–111.00	$101.29	$1,205
985–1365	1198	37	99.50–110.25	$104.33	$1,250
1145–1643	1325	98	96.00–103.25	$101.40	$1,344
1160–1524	1436	17	90.00–97.00	$93.80	$1,347
1100–1770	1443	511	99.50–110.50	$107.13	$1,546
1710–1920	1781	6	85.00–101.75	$95.13	$1,694

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
406–440	421	7	156.00–160.00	$158.21	$666
436 unweaned	436	6	166.00	$166.00	$724
464–488	478	13	142.00–154.00	$148.98	$712
533 unweaned	533	12	153.00	$153.00	$815
530–544	535	30	156.00–165.00	$161.10	$862
556–591	574	12	142.00–144.00	$142.97	$821
654 unweaned	654	6	131.00	$131.00	$857
775–798	787	10	128.00–137.00	$132.43	$1,042
818	818	4	127.00	$127.00	$1,039

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
494 unweaned	494	6	162.00	$162.00	$800
544 unweaned	544	26	152.00	$152.00	$827
637 unweaned	637	15	139.50	$139.50	$889
665 unweaned	665	33	141.25	$141.25	$939

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
355–389	370	21	156.00–178.00	$163.67	$606
364–389 unweaned	372	12	151.00–181.00	$170.55	$634
401–440 unweaned	418	16	155.00–160.00	$157.70	$659
410–446	434	60	145.00–170.00	$154.34	$670
453–499	472	53	139.00–155.00	$146.25	$690
450–498 unweaned	478	82	142.00–156.00	$153.22	$732
500–536	515	37	140.50–152.00	$146.59	$755
517–521 unweaned	519	70	141.00–156.50	$153.49	$797
552–578	567	47	137.00–146.50	$139.74	$792
570–588 unweaned	573	22	134.00–138.50	$134.84	$773
600–610	603	48	132.50–145.75	$141.91	$856
601–619 unweaned	610	12	135.00–138.00	$136.48	$833
675 fancy	675	79	148.60	$148.60	$1,003
670–696	681	37	133.00–138.50	$136.12	$927
702–721	716	35	122.00–130.00	$127.51	$913
762 fancy	762	79	140.75	$140.75	$1,073
766	766	8	131.75	$131.75	$1,009
814–849	833	25	119.00–127.00	$122.88	$1,024
925–944	935	15	111.75–116.00	$114.04	$1,066
981	981	5	100.00	$100.00	$981

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
948–1325	1084	17	72.00–110.00	$92.19	$999
1115–1325	1210	4	95.00–105.75	$100.34	$1,214
1100–1365	1262	19	86.50–93.50	$90.13	$1,137
1093–1570	1264	52	98.50–103.00	$101.00	$1,277
1031–1539	1304	399	98.00–111.50	$106.48	$1,388
1173–1535	1401	13	76.00–99.00	$94.09	$1,318
1530	1530	1	73.00	$73.00	$1,117

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
377	377	3	137.50	$137.50	$518
477–490	484	6	131.00	$131.00	$634
518–538	531	20	128.50–138.00	$133.76	$710
579	579	9	130.00	$130.00	$753
580 unweaned	580	12	133.00	$133.00	$771
624	624	14	133.00	$133.00	$830
650 unweaned	650	15	125.00	$125.00	$812
717–748	736	17	122.50–126.00	$124.60	$917
776	776	11	110.00	$110.00	$854

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
468 unweaned	468	14	140.00	$140.00	$655
519 unweaned	519	4	135.00	$135.00	$701
919	919	12	107.00	$107.00	$983

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
515	515	2	117.00	$117.00	$603
577	577	3	129.00	$129.00	$744
610–618	614	4	115.00–130.00	$122.45	$752
747	747	3	111.00	$111.00	$829

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
995–1420	1164	85-90%	18	25.00–43.00	$37.17	$433
955–1660	1248	85-90%	31	42.00–51.00	$47.35	$591

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
965–1805	1360	80-85%	45	52.00–59.00	$55.14	$750

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1155–1910	1487	75-80%	24	60.00–69.00	$63.12	$939
1550–1805	1678	75-80%	2	72.00–73.00	$72.46	$1,216

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1025–1475	1240	4	60.00–65.00	$63.03	$782
1010–2500	1736	20	70.00–94.00	$83.24	$1,445

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1234	1234	10	80.00	$80.00	$987
1013–1595	1255	16	70.00–76.00	$74.53	$935
1255–1665	1429	58	90.50–99.00	$93.61	$1,338
1230–1635	1438	29	82.00–89.50	$87.00	$1,251
1406–1650 value added	1528	31	95.00–99.00	$95.88	$1,465

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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.