Iowa Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, March 15, 2021

9,930 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 $141.09/cwt +2.18 vs last sale · ≈ $1,095/hd at 776 lb · 1,142 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 steers $151.64/cwt +5.85 vs last sale · ≈ $1,021/hd at 673 lb · 642 head

light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $132.66/cwt -2.23 vs last sale · ≈ $1,095/hd at 826 lb · 623 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	9,930	11,747	439
Feeder cattle	8,714	9,605	0
Slaughter cattle	1,216	2,142	439

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Choice steers and heifers 1.00 to 2.00 higher. Feeder steers 400/499 lbs 4.00 to 6.00 higher, 500/599 lbs steady to 1.00 lower, 600/799 lbs steady to 5.00 higher, 800/949 lbs 1.00 higher to 2.00 lower. Feeder heifers 400/549 lbs 2.00 to 7.00 higher, 550/799 lbs 4.00 higher to 2.00 lower, 800/899 lbs 1.00 to 4.00 lower.

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
257 unweaned	257	7	207.00	$207.00	$532	—
282	282	6	180.00–195.00	$187.50	$529	—
331 unweaned	331	7	185.50	$185.50	$614	—
322–348	335	16	178.00–202.00	$190.24	$637	-3.99
352–393	378	60	178.00–204.00	$194.12	$734	+21.06
380 unweaned	380	3	174.00	$174.00	$661	—
418–431 unweaned	423	13	158.00–193.00	$179.28	$758	—
403–443	429	77	176.00–198.00	$188.03	$807	+3.92
449	449	10	159.00	$159.00	$714	-25.11
462–490 unweaned	468	9	157.00–161.00	$160.07	$749	+1.19
451–496	476	145	174.00–193.00	$184.87	$880	+6.23
483	483	3	157.00	$157.00	$758	-21.64
504	504	5	150.00	$150.00	$756	-26.68
520 unweaned	520	3	173.00	$173.00	$900	+6.00
502–549	529	324	165.50–183.50	$176.34	$933	-0.34
552–574 unweaned	571	21	150.00–154.50	$153.88	$879	-0.77
550–594	577	334	149.00–179.00	$162.62	$938	-1.42
608 unweaned	608	18	139.50	$139.50	$848	-4.50
602–649	630	385	146.00–159.50	$155.54	$980	+0.71
635–639 fancy	636	33	165.00–168.00	$166.00	$1,056	—
652 fancy	652	17	162.00	$162.00	$1,056	+11.75
652–693	674	625	140.50–157.50	$151.36	$1,020	+5.74
704 unweaned	704	6	136.50	$136.50	$961	—
705–747	727	474	136.50–151.85	$145.24	$1,056	+3.89
751–794	776	1,142	130.00–146.00	$141.09	$1,095	+2.18
811 thin fleshed	811	86	136.00	$136.00	$1,103	—
807–844	828	537	123.00–136.00	$132.13	$1,094	-2.76
851–898	861	547	125.25–135.85	$131.73	$1,134	+1.78
900–948	914	155	115.50–129.00	$126.83	$1,159	-1.52
975	975	5	123.00	$123.00	$1,199	+3.39

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
945–1200	1082	23	91.00–109.00	$104.26	$1,128	+6.26
1183	1183	4	107.00	$107.00	$1,266	—
1145–1570	1234	29	106.00–112.25	$110.76	$1,367	—
1300–1484	1403	62	105.00–111.00	$109.85	$1,541	-4.22
1180–1672	1405	236	112.50–119.00	$115.71	$1,626	+1.64
1440–1700	1546	59	101.00–117.25	$111.11	$1,718	-2.06

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
530	530	5	168.00	$168.00	$890	—
542 unweaned	542	11	145.00	$145.00	$786	—
608–649	615	30	144.00–144.50	$144.41	$888	—
668	668	8	134.00	$134.00	$895	—
796–797	796	31	125.00–130.00	$129.19	$1,028	—
860	860	23	122.60	$122.60	$1,054	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
373	373	3	174.00	$174.00	$649	—
500–545	522	22	140.50–167.50	$152.75	$797	-7.32
569–598	588	23	150.00–161.50	$155.37	$914	+4.49
615–639	627	4	136.00–141.00	$138.55	$869	-0.83
654–690	662	27	131.00–140.50	$134.30	$889	-0.69
790	790	11	130.00	$130.00	$1,027	+1.74

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
190 unweaned	190	4	209.00	$209.00	$397	—
240 unweaned	240	6	183.00	$183.00	$439	—
275–295	282	3	184.00–190.00	$186.09	$525	—
305–348	337	20	155.50–172.50	$166.02	$559	+6.02
342 unweaned	342	11	160.50	$160.50	$549	+12.60
359–398	378	60	155.50–176.00	$165.58	$626	+3.57
382 unweaned	382	7	165.00	$165.00	$630	+22.11
402–438	415	64	146.00–167.00	$158.14	$656	+4.08
418–436 unweaned	423	15	147.00–156.50	$152.69	$646	—
456–495 unweaned	470	14	140.00–159.50	$152.16	$715	—
450–498	477	222	145.00–164.25	$153.51	$732	+7.53
506–508 unweaned	508	24	134.00–143.50	$141.13	$717	+4.52
500–548	531	355	135.00–162.00	$149.53	$794	+2.74
555–599	585	210	130.00–149.50	$141.41	$827	-1.08
600–618 unweaned	612	14	121.00–122.00	$121.35	$743	-8.36
602–649	626	463	125.50–143.50	$136.04	$852	-2.49
650–691	674	463	124.50–138.00	$135.01	$910	+2.41
711	711	8	139.50	$139.50	$992	+7.55
704–740	724	433	123.00–138.00	$130.68	$946	-1.27
751–796	767	208	117.00–140.50	$129.46	$993	-16.04
804	804	10	129.00	$129.00	$1,037	+3.48
812–822	816	122	118.00–126.50	$124.48	$1,016	-1.04
855	855	46	137.00	$137.00	$1,171	+14.79
855–873	858	40	115.00–122.50	$117.64	$1,009	-4.57
910	910	4	116.00	$116.00	$1,056	+1.83

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
947–1180	1029	16	97.50–110.50	$104.52	$1,076	+9.41
997–1450	1152	36	101.50–112.25	$110.61	$1,274	—
1188	1188	7	105.50	$105.50	$1,253	-2.87
1205–1370	1279	10	100.00–113.25	$110.15	$1,409	+5.98
1100–1653	1328	239	112.00–118.75	$115.70	$1,536	+1.69
1430–1549	1474	34	101.00–114.50	$110.96	$1,636	+0.95

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
406	406	6	167.00	$167.00	$678	+23.50
453–487	473	15	147.00–149.50	$148.54	$703	—
559	559	18	140.00	$140.00	$783	—
629	629	14	125.00	$125.00	$786	—
746	746	8	120.00	$120.00	$895	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400	400	3	151.00	$151.00	$604	+18.97
472–498	488	19	137.00–144.00	$141.24	$689	+3.24
517–545	533	16	128.00–134.00	$130.55	$696	-5.90
580–584	583	11	127.00–131.00	$129.55	$755	-7.89

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
323	323	6	200.00	$200.00	$646	—
363–398	381	4	180.00	$180.00	$686	—
435	435	6	157.50	$157.50	$685	—
460–482	469	7	155.00–165.00	$159.40	$748	+6.81
559–578	562	11	149.00–150.00	$149.19	$838	-2.81
605–616	614	10	135.00–143.00	$141.42	$868	+8.49
673	673	4	127.00	$127.00	$855	—
771	771	4	112.00	$112.00	$864	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1130–1925	1486	75-80%	84	60.00–77.00	$71.28	$1,059	—
1250–2065	1500	75-80%	13	74.00–86.00	$80.19	$1,203	+13.91

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1025–1870	1405	80-85%	43	50.00–69.00	$62.56	$879	+1.77

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
880–1500	1088	85-90%	5	22.00–43.00	$36.91	$402	—
840–1775	1170	85-90%	16	42.00–59.00	$50.94	$596	+16.15

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1605	1605	65-75%	1	93.00	$93.00	$1,493	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
925–1870	1438	4	60.00–75.00	$70.47	$1,013	—
1080–2135	1729	27	76.00–98.00	$86.67	$1,499	-14.33
1590–2070	1860	3	99.00–103.00	$101.17	$1,882	+15.07

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
965–1044	1010	20	77.00–80.50	$79.60	$804	—
1057–1565	1146	24	66.00–76.00	$73.97	$848	-7.89
1099–1570	1265	9	80.00–89.00	$83.26	$1,053	+8.57
1185–1350	1287	3	91.00–97.00	$94.81	$1,220	+20.12
1265–1805	1465	60	94.50–103.00	$99.48	$1,457	—

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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.