Iowa Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, March 20, 2023

14,000 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $191.30/cwt +2.54 vs last sale · ≈ $1,582/hd at 827 lb · 895 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $183.67/cwt +5.94 vs last sale · ≈ $1,334/hd at 726 lb · 863 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $183.36/cwt -2.06 vs last sale · ≈ $1,247/hd at 680 lb · 748 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	14,000	5,625	6,225
Feeder cattle	12,783	5,088	5,166
Slaughter cattle	1,217	537	1,059

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, choice steers and heifers sold 1.00 to 4.00 higher. Feeder steers under 650 lbs sold 2.00 to 6.00 higher; 650 to 800 lbs 1.00 to 3.00 lower; over 800 lbs sold on a light test with a higher undertone. Feeder heifers under 600 lbs sold steady to 4.00 lower; over 600 lbs sold uneven, 3.00 lower to 3.00 higher.

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
293	293	4	290.00	$290.00	$850	—
312 fancy	312	5	271.00	$271.00	$846	—
351 unweaned	351	13	277.00	$277.00	$972	—
360–391	380	126	220.00–298.00	$264.66	$1,006	+21.93
404–447	430	147	229.00–287.50	$255.82	$1,100	-2.32
428–447 fancy	436	28	283.00–285.00	$283.88	$1,238	—
407–446 unweaned	439	34	231.00–262.50	$253.36	$1,112	—
450–495	469	225	228.00–280.00	$257.30	$1,207	+5.62
467–479 fancy	475	8	262.50–271.00	$267.86	$1,272	—
477 unweaned	477	9	250.00	$250.00	$1,192	-7.00
504 fancy	504	12	270.00	$270.00	$1,361	—
501–536 unweaned	523	26	224.00–240.00	$230.24	$1,204	—
500–546	524	410	230.00–258.50	$246.21	$1,290	+6.95
566 fancy	566	17	241.00	$241.00	$1,364	—
551–596	577	516	199.00–253.00	$230.11	$1,328	+4.00
600–649	626	471	200.00–239.00	$221.50	$1,387	+2.04
650–699	677	567	191.00–231.00	$216.77	$1,468	-1.38
700–749	724	629	180.00–212.75	$202.25	$1,464	-0.97
751–799	774	559	176.00–206.75	$194.43	$1,505	-2.95
800–846	827	895	170.00–201.50	$191.30	$1,582	+2.54
852–899	875	701	160.00–195.25	$185.92	$1,627	+10.66
903–943	926	164	168.50–182.50	$173.04	$1,602	+7.32
951–988	973	42	161.50–174.00	$169.89	$1,653	-7.06

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
339–343	341	7	240.00–264.00	$253.65	$865	—
366–385	372	10	216.00–241.00	$233.23	$868	-15.77
406–448	433	22	205.00–233.00	$221.58	$959	+5.79
456–497	478	85	180.00–235.00	$219.12	$1,047	+31.87
503–546	528	66	187.50–223.00	$214.64	$1,133	+2.13
555–595	583	45	163.00–219.75	$207.55	$1,210	+16.64
600–643	620	36	180.00–203.00	$193.60	$1,200	-12.40
665–695	682	46	177.00–193.00	$187.47	$1,279	—
712–742	726	14	184.00–190.00	$188.69	$1,370	+38.69
754–766	758	21	158.00–179.00	$169.64	$1,286	—
819	819	5	164.00	$164.00	$1,343	+6.00
886	886	4	154.00	$154.00	$1,364	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
985–1165	1079	4	154.00–158.00	$156.43	$1,688	—
985–1330	1140	6	139.00–151.00	$146.16	$1,666	—
1215–1340	1293	4	133.00–142.00	$137.21	$1,774	-17.78
1135–1687	1366	88	155.00–164.00	$161.28	$2,203	—
1210–1725	1433	252	162.00–175.00	$168.68	$2,417	+33.38

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
972–982	979	16	145.00–169.00	$161.55	$1,582	—
1004–1021	1007	39	168.50–173.75	$172.49	$1,737	—
1051–1071	1053	75	169.00–176.00	$175.34	$1,846	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
277	277	3	252.50	$252.50	$699	—
320 unweaned	320	7	245.00	$245.00	$784	—
306–347	334	81	213.00–252.00	$229.76	$767	-16.39
334 fancy	334	5	240.00	$240.00	$802	—
358–378 fancy	361	33	219.00–221.00	$219.32	$792	—
352–394	377	116	180.00–239.00	$215.06	$811	-8.49
396–397 unweaned	397	6	190.00–195.00	$192.50	$764	—
407–443 unweaned	417	29	203.50–230.00	$222.23	$927	—
400–448	420	147	182.50–231.00	$212.69	$893	-4.41
411–429 fancy	427	35	223.00–224.00	$223.08	$953	—
463 unweaned	463	7	200.00	$200.00	$926	—
451–499	482	242	180.00–229.50	$220.14	$1,061	+1.20
511–513 fancy	511	25	222.00–224.00	$222.40	$1,136	—
513–533 unweaned	523	27	175.00–200.00	$190.94	$999	—
503–549	525	406	180.00–229.00	$210.47	$1,105	+6.24
563 unweaned	563	3	168.50	$168.50	$949	-18.50
550–596	571	316	180.00–221.00	$199.42	$1,139	-0.76
601–649	629	705	174.00–199.00	$189.49	$1,192	+2.93
652 unweaned	652	7	163.00	$163.00	$1,063	—
661–690	677	82	195.00–215.00	$206.92	$1,401	+22.08
655–697	681	659	159.50–191.00	$180.65	$1,230	-4.19
707–721	712	91	195.00–205.00	$201.22	$1,433	+23.79
700–749	728	772	168.00–193.50	$181.60	$1,322	+4.17
750–798	761	583	154.50–185.25	$179.48	$1,366	+5.40
765	765	37	178.50	$178.50	$1,366	+4.42
795 fancy	795	26	186.00	$186.00	$1,479	—
803–843	816	126	160.00–177.50	$170.15	$1,388	-6.35
823–842	827	157	173.50–192.50	$189.49	$1,567	+15.57
853	853	8	186.00	$186.00	$1,587	—
852–857 fancy	854	47	180.50–184.50	$182.46	$1,558	—
850–887	861	118	150.00–174.00	$167.89	$1,446	+15.98
909–931	918	149	157.00–170.25	$163.09	$1,497	—
928	928	3	169.00	$169.00	$1,568	—
950–953	951	14	147.00–158.00	$154.85	$1,473	-3.15

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
988–1185	1050	6	146.00–154.00	$147.67	$1,551	+5.31
1055–1145	1110	18	131.00–151.00	$145.06	$1,610	—
1093–1195	1131	5	160.00–167.00	$164.78	$1,864	—
1200–1345	1264	4	138.00–143.00	$140.60	$1,777	—
1085–1495	1292	68	146.50–164.00	$159.56	$2,062	—
1130–1640	1352	232	159.00–176.00	$169.90	$2,297	+3.45

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
347	347	11	185.00–188.00	$186.64	$648	+0.20
400–416	407	13	190.00–193.00	$191.59	$780	+3.41
461–498	476	68	175.00–205.00	$189.43	$902	+8.74
503–544	520	36	172.00–195.00	$185.97	$967	+8.90
553–595	574	55	150.00–184.00	$170.32	$978	-0.43
612–640	626	18	157.50–176.00	$162.98	$1,020	-2.24
669–678	674	17	141.00–160.00	$151.83	$1,023	-12.02
701–710	704	9	145.00–152.00	$147.35	$1,037	-14.87

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1003	1003	6	142.00	$142.00	$1,424	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
370 unweaned	370	3	246.00	$246.00	$910	—
435 unweaned	435	7	241.00	$241.00	$1,048	—
451–472	460	7	232.00–244.00	$237.28	$1,091	—
507 unweaned	507	3	232.00	$232.00	$1,176	—
512–549	535	13	210.00–222.50	$215.81	$1,155	—
556 unweaned	556	3	176.00	$176.00	$979	—
591	591	10	206.00	$206.00	$1,217	—
602 unweaned	602	13	208.00	$208.00	$1,252	—
636	636	3	167.00	$167.00	$1,062	—
741	741	16	168.00	$168.00	$1,245	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
985–2025	1378	75-80%	73	90.00–107.00	$100.92	$1,391	+1.71
1220–1955	1461	75-80%	57	97.50–115.00	$108.05	$1,579	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
885–1895	1252	80-85%	72	83.00–98.00	$92.17	$1,154	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
780–1510	1064	85-90%	40	64.00–89.00	$78.58	$836	—
760–1395	1109	85-90%	6	40.00–73.00	$63.12	$700	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1695	1695	65-75%	1	111.00	$111.00	$1,881	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
830–2060	1552	24	89.00–114.00	$103.38	$1,604	—
1610–2635	2064	17	115.00–130.00	$120.24	$2,482	—
2475	2475	1	73.00	$73.00	$1,807	—

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1080	1080	1	116.00	$116.00	$1,253	—
1305–1655	1497	7	140.00–142.00	$140.88	$2,109	—
1390–1755	1589	25	144.00–154.00	$147.85	$2,349	+12.94

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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.