Iowa Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, May 8, 2023

9,274 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $273.91/cwt +3.20 vs last sale · ≈ $1,309/hd at 478 lb · 463 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $242.53/cwt +8.37 vs last sale · ≈ $1,132/hd at 467 lb · 433 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $261.15/cwt -17.18 vs last sale · ≈ $1,372/hd at 526 lb · 384 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	9,274	8,315	9,083
Feeder cattle	7,616	7,369	8,657
Slaughter cattle	1,658	946	426

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, Choice steers and heifers sold 1.00 to 2.00 lower. Feeder steers under 600 lbs sold 1.00 to 4.00 lower, while those over 600 lbs steady to 5.00 higher. Heifers 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
325 fancy	325	4	310.00	$310.00	$1,008	—
322–337	332	9	280.00–293.00	$286.08	$950	-16.65
348 unweaned	348	6	282.50	$282.50	$983	—
354–398	369	91	252.50–297.50	$278.10	$1,026	+9.38
371 unweaned	371	4	285.00	$285.00	$1,057	—
397 fancy	397	9	299.00	$299.00	$1,187	—
406–443 unweaned	415	66	248.00–298.00	$288.55	$1,197	+18.55
400–448	433	131	250.00–290.00	$271.76	$1,177	-8.07
426–436 fancy	433	83	302.50–304.00	$303.66	$1,315	—
458 unweaned	458	7	256.00	$256.00	$1,172	+11.59
455–498	475	352	244.00–297.00	$268.33	$1,275	-9.65
459–497 fancy	489	104	275.00–299.00	$294.01	$1,438	—
508–541 unweaned	520	84	229.00–273.50	$253.77	$1,320	-17.36
520 fancy	520	36	271.00	$271.00	$1,409	—
503–549	528	264	240.00–286.50	$262.16	$1,384	-17.06
563 fancy	563	43	264.00	$264.00	$1,486	—
554–596	571	255	228.00–275.00	$250.31	$1,429	-5.92
598 unweaned	598	4	231.50	$231.50	$1,384	+20.50
601–649	622	274	230.00–260.00	$247.96	$1,542	+7.99
633 unweaned	633	6	224.00	$224.00	$1,418	—
653 fancy	653	26	251.00	$251.00	$1,639	—
664 unweaned	664	15	220.00	$220.00	$1,461	—
651–692	667	78	210.00–228.00	$221.07	$1,475	-4.27
711–735	717	106	206.00–223.75	$220.69	$1,582	+15.67
754–789	777	264	193.00–217.25	$211.67	$1,645	+3.36
805–825	820	159	207.10–213.00	$209.41	$1,717	+10.13
839 fancy	839	70	207.35	$207.35	$1,740	—
868 fancy	868	68	205.00	$205.00	$1,779	—
861–889	872	158	192.00–208.50	$205.00	$1,788	+7.65
907–915	912	193	179.00–199.75	$198.12	$1,807	+6.87

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
955–1293	1157	19	130.00–178.50	$165.46	$1,914	+9.99
1205–1245	1231	7	172.00–181.00	$173.58	$2,137	—
1165–1327	1284	12	160.00–169.00	$160.68	$2,063	—
1105–1690	1357	72	158.00–175.00	$171.08	$2,322	—
1155–1695	1453	343	172.00–184.50	$179.01	$2,601	—
1340–1745	1546	4	142.00–155.00	$151.62	$2,344	-27.96

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
326 unweaned	326	9	240.00	$240.00	$782	—
333	333	3	240.00	$240.00	$799	—
356–393	381	21	247.00–262.50	$252.54	$962	+9.26
400–429	421	22	204.00–240.00	$222.02	$935	-37.98
452–491	471	61	234.00–256.00	$242.38	$1,142	+11.90
506–545	537	49	206.00–250.00	$234.23	$1,258	-19.25
553–592	562	45	198.00–223.00	$216.67	$1,218	-2.13
603–631	622	47	180.00–224.00	$207.59	$1,291	-1.50
691–692	691	9	141.00–190.00	$173.65	$1,200	-5.11
741–745	743	19	159.00–207.25	$187.00	$1,389	—
788	788	6	184.00	$184.00	$1,450	—
831	831	3	188.50	$188.50	$1,566	+9.08
858	858	9	189.50	$189.50	$1,626	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1182	1182	15	155.00	$155.00	$1,832	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
306 unweaned	306	4	225.00	$225.00	$688	—
313–338	327	37	232.50–290.00	$263.47	$862	+4.27
361–395	382	159	242.50–272.50	$263.23	$1,006	+20.23
404–434 unweaned	422	54	230.00–274.00	$259.78	$1,096	+65.33
403–447	428	229	230.00–275.75	$257.78	$1,103	+18.13
458–473 unweaned	465	23	230.00–244.00	$238.03	$1,107	+14.99
450–495	467	410	222.50–255.00	$242.78	$1,134	+6.45
502 unweaned	502	17	226.00	$226.00	$1,135	—
500–545	519	321	217.00–246.00	$234.89	$1,219	+5.29
570 fancy	570	9	267.00	$267.00	$1,522	—
550–596	573	293	208.00–241.00	$226.04	$1,295	-1.44
570–596 unweaned	582	15	210.00–219.00	$213.07	$1,240	—
600–649	617	359	201.00–238.75	$227.49	$1,404	+28.36
654–698	665	213	193.00–226.25	$219.01	$1,456	+25.55
702–749	721	261	184.00–216.25	$207.77	$1,498	+8.84
750–793	778	260	171.00–199.00	$189.06	$1,471	-3.36
811–839	826	22	155.00–193.00	$177.60	$1,467	-7.87
855	855	3	150.00	$150.00	$1,282	-31.45
883	883	12	183.00	$183.00	$1,616	+1.55
913–925	920	47	164.00–169.50	$169.04	$1,555	+9.04

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1075–1290	1184	23	112.50–172.00	$151.86	$1,798	—
1125–1225	1210	10	160.00–162.00	$161.70	$1,957	-14.50
995–1665	1273	124	160.00–175.50	$169.98	$2,164	—
1140–1588	1313	248	172.00–185.00	$179.14	$2,352	+8.83
1270–1457	1390	14	153.00–155.00	$153.65	$2,136	-25.56

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
374–396	385	15	210.00–243.00	$229.10	$882	—
410–449	428	35	190.00–247.50	$221.93	$950	+3.99
454–490	474	14	213.00–219.00	$215.94	$1,024	+45.94
503–549	532	80	162.50–218.00	$198.16	$1,054	-2.39
551–578	557	32	182.00–211.50	$198.42	$1,105	+13.89
617–623	621	17	190.00–194.00	$190.94	$1,186	+8.94
655–696	675	32	150.00–196.00	$179.17	$1,209	—
715	715	4	147.50	$147.50	$1,055	-25.19
796	796	5	156.00	$156.00	$1,242	—
843	843	3	159.00	$159.00	$1,340	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1010	1010	3	156.00	$156.00	$1,576	-5.50
1062–1087	1083	17	146.00–167.00	$163.36	$1,769	—
1106	1106	4	172.00	$172.00	$1,902	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
448–449	449	11	230.00–255.00	$241.35	$1,084	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1140–2345	1434	75-80%	86	97.00–105.00	$101.14	$1,450	—
1160–1840	1485	75-80%	40	105.00–113.00	$107.51	$1,597	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
795–1845	1279	80-85%	116	85.00–97.50	$91.14	$1,166	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
755–1120	979	85-90%	7	50.00–70.00	$61.14	$599	—
850–1545	1167	85-90%	38	74.00–85.00	$80.86	$944	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1015–2335	1643	34	89.00–119.00	$110.33	$1,813	—
1251–2425	1743	27	119.50–142.00	$126.72	$2,209	—

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Dairy Heifers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1290–1350	1319	6	117.00–121.00	$118.32	$1,561	—
1325	1325	1	139.00	$139.00	$1,842	—
1325–1330	1329	5	125.00–128.00	$125.60	$1,669	—
1400	1400	1	119.00	$119.00	$1,666	—
1470–1620	1523	3	139.00–144.00	$141.32	$2,152	—
2100	2100	1	131.00	$131.00	$2,751	—

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1320–1347	1343	6	137.00–141.00	$137.66	$1,849	—
1340–1349	1348	12	117.50–131.00	$129.88	$1,751	—
1385	1385	2	144.50	$144.50	$2,001	—
1165–1630	1415	10	118.00–130.00	$120.48	$1,705	—
1385–1670	1492	19	144.00–154.50	$150.34	$2,243	—
1220–1567	1504	15	135.00–141.00	$140.18	$2,108	-11.23
1445–1888	1618	21	143.50–152.00	$146.88	$2,377	—

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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.