Cattle Market Pulse

Iowa Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, April 1, 2024

11,458 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $260.42/cwt +12.86 vs last sale · ≈ $1,742/hd at 669 lb · 925 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $306.82/cwt +18.09 vs last sale · ≈ $1,463/hd at 477 lb · 621 head
light 9-weight M&L 1 steers $232.65/cwt -3.19 vs last sale · ≈ $2,145/hd at 922 lb · 606 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 11,458 2,898 10,998
Feeder cattle 10,799 1,957 10,174
Slaughter cattle 659 941 824

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Much larger offering of feeder cattle this week, too few offered last week to make any kind of meaningful comparison. The feeder cattle market has been under pressure from the weakness in the cattle futures complex. The light cattle, and the light fleshed heavier cattle, haven't had as much pressure on them as light cattle are getting tough to come by and light fleshed cattle always sell easier. Cash fed cattle rolled back below 190.00 as the pressure from the futures contracts was too heavy.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
246 246 3 400.00 $400.00 $984 —
269–297 275 15 385.00–415.00 $410.86 $1,130 —
306–348 323 32 398.00–430.00 $412.21 $1,331 +72.21
343 unweaned 343 8 385.00 $385.00 $1,321 —
359–390 unweaned 376 17 365.00–395.00 $384.64 $1,446 —
354–396 378 107 355.00–422.50 $393.63 $1,488 +43.42
400–444 422 278 348.00–396.00 $371.77 $1,569 +24.29
413–429 unweaned 426 16 371.00–385.00 $373.55 $1,591 +32.55
411–449 fancy 432 18 382.50–400.00 $393.91 $1,702 —
452 unweaned 452 4 342.50 $342.50 $1,548 —
453–498 484 232 332.00–377.50 $358.16 $1,733 +34.95
515–521 fancy 518 26 331.00–340.00 $335.47 $1,738 —
505–549 522 432 305.00–368.00 $341.59 $1,783 +0.89
500–543 unweaned 524 118 300.00–330.00 $314.17 $1,646 —
551–575 fancy 567 56 323.00–371.00 $345.54 $1,959 +23.04
566–585 unweaned 572 16 286.00–300.00 $295.53 $1,690 —
557–597 578 375 275.00–353.00 $317.90 $1,837 -1.23
619 unweaned 619 73 321.00 $321.00 $1,987 —
600–649 621 308 270.00–337.50 $306.22 $1,902 -0.10
633 fancy 633 11 307.00 $307.00 $1,943 —
662–666 664 9 230.00–287.50 $262.03 $1,740 -28.21
653–696 670 387 262.00–310.00 $283.37 $1,899 -6.87
685 unweaned 685 23 256.50 $256.50 $1,757 —
701–748 726 481 245.00–299.00 $277.41 $2,014 -4.95
738 unweaned 738 8 251.00 $251.00 $1,852 —
756–795 782 450 230.00–277.50 $254.96 $1,994 -7.17
801–845 818 330 233.00–262.00 $254.55 $2,082 +8.84
854–898 871 245 211.00–254.00 $240.59 $2,096 -5.87
907–943 922 606 224.00–240.50 $232.65 $2,145 -3.19
961–971 965 41 200.00–215.50 $209.03 $2,017 -4.85
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
365–393 388 32 315.00–353.00 $347.04 $1,347 —
407–448 430 45 290.00–342.50 $312.13 $1,342 -20.37
467–495 482 15 300.00–322.50 $312.29 $1,505 —
504–542 514 94 286.00–327.00 $308.82 $1,587 +28.82
553–587 572 73 282.50–315.00 $302.57 $1,731 +15.57
602–643 620 107 242.50–302.00 $292.95 $1,816 +35.45
643 unweaned 643 8 275.00 $275.00 $1,768 —
663–699 690 30 245.50–273.50 $260.76 $1,799 —
706–747 714 52 239.00–261.00 $251.57 $1,796 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1209 1209 9 185.00 $185.00 $2,237 —
1070–1555 1326 28 175.00–191.50 $187.74 $2,489 +2.46
1300–1510 1356 9 183.00–186.00 $184.92 $2,508 —
1348–1705 1474 148 184.00–199.00 $194.77 $2,871 —
1420–1571 1510 16 184.25–189.00 $185.60 $2,803 —
1602 1602 2 182.00 $182.00 $2,916 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
275 275 3 1,025.00 $1,025.00 —
324–348 330 12 1,375.00–1,425.00 $1,388.18 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
220 220 3 360.00 $360.00 $792 —
280–292 288 19 340.00–355.00 $346.19 $997 —
321 fancy 321 12 375.00 $375.00 $1,204 —
305–348 339 29 320.00–355.00 $346.38 $1,174 —
347 unweaned 347 6 330.00 $330.00 $1,145 —
364 unweaned 364 4 300.00 $300.00 $1,092 —
352–399 375 103 310.00–387.50 $343.93 $1,290 +17.67
409 unweaned 409 6 326.00 $326.00 $1,333 —
400–447 419 183 300.00–355.00 $329.36 $1,380 +16.34
460 fancy 460 17 335.00 $335.00 $1,541 —
450–499 477 572 285.00–325.00 $306.65 $1,463 +17.92
471–487 unweaned 482 32 285.00–299.00 $294.96 $1,422 —
504–536 unweaned 514 56 275.00–284.00 $280.38 $1,441 —
526 thin fleshed 526 14 315.00 $315.00 $1,657 —
500–549 528 496 273.00–335.00 $299.88 $1,583 +14.04
552 fancy 552 12 315.00 $315.00 $1,739 —
558 558 6 268.00 $268.00 $1,495 -6.93
568–588 unweaned 569 61 240.00–279.00 $277.02 $1,576 —
552–599 580 416 250.00–305.00 $279.95 $1,624 +5.02
609 unweaned 609 14 268.00 $268.00 $1,632 —
600–649 617 391 240.00–293.00 $268.54 $1,657 -1.02
663 unweaned 663 26 234.00 $234.00 $1,551 —
652–699 669 895 241.00–278.00 $261.31 $1,748 +13.75
688 688 4 232.00 $232.00 $1,596 -15.56
702–748 721 297 229.00–255.00 $245.84 $1,773 -4.16
752–798 770 389 211.00–249.50 $238.59 $1,837 +16.55
782 782 46 255.00 $255.00 $1,994 +32.96
800 fancy 800 65 231.00 $231.00 $1,848 +21.00
809–848 812 137 211.00–245.00 $234.23 $1,902 +5.42
831 831 92 244.00 $244.00 $2,028 +15.19
877 877 47 215.50 $215.50 $1,890 -5.76
970 970 12 188.25 $188.25 $1,826 +33.25
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
366–398 385 18 300.00–343.00 $315.79 $1,216 —
423–446 435 13 271.00–282.50 $275.82 $1,200 -14.18
458–492 483 57 266.00–295.00 $275.32 $1,330 —
504–540 528 55 250.00–280.00 $265.82 $1,404 —
553–598 572 30 240.00–265.00 $251.12 $1,436 -8.88
616–649 637 45 240.00–250.00 $245.47 $1,564 —
798 798 4 219.00 $219.00 $1,748 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1115 1115 1 170.00 $170.00 $1,896 +6.29
1040–1205 1172 5 175.00–183.00 $181.58 $2,128 —
1085–1520 1225 19 173.00–191.00 $182.63 $2,237 -5.58
1337 1337 9 184.75 $184.75 $2,470 +3.08
1135–1655 1345 130 183.60–199.00 $193.02 $2,596 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
166 166 3 625.00 $625.00 —
249 249 5 825.00 $825.00 —
291 291 4 925.00 $925.00 —
314 314 12 1,200.00 $1,200.00 —
351–376 364 6 975.00–1,150.00 $1,065.51 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1041 1041 8 196.00 $196.00 $2,040 —
1179 1179 6 178.00 $178.00 $2,099 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1085–1675 1352 75-80% 24 121.00–129.50 $125.82 $1,701 —
990–1880 1488 75-80% 57 121.00–142.00 $133.51 $1,987 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
985–1505 1248 80-85% 20 121.00–129.00 $124.50 $1,554 —
900–1580 1296 80-85% 19 115.00–120.00 $117.85 $1,527 +3.05
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1375–1525 1502 65-75% 15 142.00–150.00 $148.62 $2,232 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
795–1405 1082 85-90% 9 89.00–114.00 $107.02 $1,158 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1165–2555 1745 8 130.00–160.00 $148.53 $2,592 +10.23
1260–2265 1782 11 151.00–177.00 $166.11 $2,960 -1.19

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Beef Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1470–1690 1494 10 184.00–190.50 $189.58 $2,832 —

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1370–1600 1485 2 160.00–161.00 $160.46 $2,383 —
1280–1740 1540 21 164.00–173.00 $167.75 $2,583 +2.34

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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.