Iowa Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, August 12, 2024

4,150 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 steers $256.66/cwt +6.50 vs last sale · ≈ $2,248/hd at 876 lb · 261 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $263.21/cwt +9.48 vs last sale · ≈ $2,077/hd at 789 lb · 190 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $242.12/cwt +3.64 vs last sale · ≈ $1,845/hd at 762 lb · 148 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	4,150	2,949	3,599
Feeder cattle	2,706	1,506	1,366
Slaughter cattle	1,444	1,443	2,233

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers too lightly tested last week to allow a good comparison with this week. Moderate to good demand for all weights of steers and heifers, however with the weakness in the futures complex cattle feeders are struggling to get cattle bought that fit a rapidly declining futures contract. Cash fed cattle still were able to trade up to 192.00, still 8.00 positive basis over the Aug contract. The structure of the Live Cattle contract is concerning and confusing as the Aug contract leads all the months on the board. Cattle feeders are able to sell their finished cattle at very profitable levels and are now concerned about buying more that look to lose month according to what the futures contracts are predicting.

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
303	303	4	385.00	$385.00	$1,167	—
406–439	429	29	325.00–350.00	$336.93	$1,445	—
452–495	469	30	315.00–335.00	$319.50	$1,498	+25.50
496 unweaned	496	14	305.00	$305.00	$1,513	—
520–540	527	26	305.00–332.00	$322.35	$1,699	—
575 unweaned	575	8	271.00	$271.00	$1,558	—
560–587	577	57	295.00–310.00	$297.35	$1,716	+7.35
606–643	626	33	288.00–298.25	$293.47	$1,837	—
662–695	674	146	275.00–292.25	$284.56	$1,918	+9.09
707–740	727	127	270.50–279.50	$271.84	$1,976	+11.84
760–798	789	190	252.00–270.00	$263.21	$2,077	+9.48
801	801	75	253.50	$253.50	$2,031	—
805–834	817	44	246.00–255.00	$251.90	$2,058	—
856–885	876	261	253.50–258.25	$256.66	$2,248	+5.95
908–926	915	144	235.50–248.00	$243.97	$2,232	-1.03

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
935–1210	1042	8	185.00–199.00	$192.16	$2,002	—
1070–1283	1223	18	187.00–197.50	$192.12	$2,350	-3.32
1015–1495	1298	46	181.00–191.50	$188.62	$2,448	—
1405	1405	2	188.50	$188.50	$2,648	-6.67
1155–1655	1409	317	192.00–200.00	$196.01	$2,762	+0.84
1377–1568	1461	26	191.50–197.00	$193.56	$2,828	—
1501–1670	1515	24	191.50–193.25	$193.09	$2,925	+1.44
1520–1589	1563	25	191.00–196.00	$193.34	$3,022	—
1651	1651	4	189.00	$189.00	$3,120	—
1647–1737	1674	23	191.00–193.00	$192.32	$3,219	—
1708–1805	1725	7	195.50–199.50	$197.43	$3,406	+12.43

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
293	293	3	350.00	$350.00	$1,026	—
340	340	4	325.00	$325.00	$1,105	—
388–394	391	15	330.00	$330.00	$1,290	—
409–449	424	13	275.00–309.00	$295.16	$1,251	—
461	461	4	295.00	$295.00	$1,360	—
528–532	531	11	265.00–294.00	$286.13	$1,519	—
575–585	583	25	250.00–275.00	$260.96	$1,521	—
610	610	3	280.00	$280.00	$1,708	—
688	688	7	279.00	$279.00	$1,920	—
704	704	4	254.00	$254.00	$1,788	—
787–797	794	11	240.00–248.50	$246.20	$1,955	—
868	868	4	235.00	$235.00	$2,040	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
527	527	4	305.00	$305.00	$1,607	—
1017	1017	14	214.00	$214.00	$2,176	-5.98

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
309–324	318	12	355.00–375.00	$363.10	$1,155	—
384–389	385	17	320.00–345.00	$327.42	$1,261	—
415–429	425	18	325.00–330.00	$328.64	$1,397	—
452–478	471	27	297.00–326.00	$318.36	$1,499	+34.36
533–548	539	35	275.00–282.50	$278.03	$1,499	—
552–596	566	73	265.00–286.00	$276.80	$1,567	—
622–647	629	40	252.00–270.00	$259.69	$1,633	-10.31
650–687	675	79	248.00–260.00	$255.39	$1,724	—
700–748	740	120	242.00–251.00	$248.44	$1,838	—
759–778	762	148	238.00–245.75	$242.12	$1,845	+3.64
814–834	824	18	227.00–232.75	$230.48	$1,899	—
855	855	3	223.00	$223.00	$1,907	-8.67

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
880–1020	975	7	170.00–185.00	$181.43	$1,769	-5.52
1040–1445	1201	62	182.00–192.50	$189.89	$2,281	—
1270	1270	3	192.50	$192.50	$2,445	-0.90
1103–1530	1305	338	190.00–199.50	$195.02	$2,545	+5.49
1326	1326	13	188.75	$188.75	$2,503	-0.78
1531	1531	39	180.00	$180.00	$2,756	—
1573	1573	2	182.00	$182.00	$2,863	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
331	331	11	275.00–305.00	$294.09	$973	—
388–398	396	27	287.50–290.00	$289.46	$1,146	—
520	520	4	265.00	$265.00	$1,378	—
565	565	3	262.50	$262.50	$1,483	—
700	700	4	240.00	$240.00	$1,680	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1005	1005	7	197.50	$197.50	$1,985	-7.75
1088	1088	7	150.00	$150.00	$1,632	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
333	333	6	370.00	$370.00	$1,232	—
513 unweaned	513	4	275.00	$275.00	$1,411	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1045–1390	1223	75-80%	10	141.00–182.50	$154.33	$1,887	+8.16
1170–1530	1324	75-80%	30	132.00–142.00	$138.63	$1,835	—
1235–1825	1508	75-80%	30	143.00–152.50	$147.50	$2,224	—
1320–1775	1583	75-80%	4	125.00–130.00	$126.40	$2,001	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
940–995	975	80-85%	3	118.00–128.00	$122.37	$1,193	—
1005–1205	1097	80-85%	12	130.00–142.00	$136.36	$1,496	—
1020–1465	1209	80-85%	30	120.00–133.00	$128.26	$1,551	—
1140–1625	1427	80-85%	5	110.00–119.00	$114.47	$1,633	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
835–965	902	85-90%	6	101.00–121.00	$112.58	$1,015	—
785–1500	1073	85-90%	14	50.00–102.00	$92.79	$996	—
1010–1600	1218	85-90%	19	98.00–122.00	$113.89	$1,387	-2.07

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
875–1255	1099	8	126.00–220.00	$173.73	$1,909	—
1320–2250	1638	23	143.50–170.00	$158.65	$2,599	—
1580–2180	1906	13	177.00–191.00	$185.45	$3,535	—

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Beef Dairy Heifers

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
582	582	9	255.00	$255.00	$1,484	—
814	814	58	227.00	$227.00	$1,848	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1209	1209	6	181.00	$181.00	$2,188	—
1466–1483	1475	8	190.00–196.25	$193.45	$2,853	—

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Beef Dairy Steers

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
585	585	4	280.00	$280.00	$1,638	—
862–876	867	48	228.00–239.00	$235.29	$2,040	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1193	1193	8	185.75	$185.75	$2,216	—
1435–1675	1561	17	189.75–196.00	$191.99	$2,997	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
598	598	6	255.00	$255.00	$1,525	—

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1268	1268	3	194.00	$194.00	$2,460	—

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Dairy Heifers

Medium 3-4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
430	430	3	140.00	$140.00	$602	—
737	737	10	115.00	$115.00	$848	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
348	348	3	285.00	$285.00	$992	—
422–438	431	35	260.00–272.00	$265.03	$1,142	—
466	466	16	260.00	$260.00	$1,212	—
555–585	566	11	227.00–230.00	$228.87	$1,295	—
626	626	8	210.00	$210.00	$1,315	—
863	863	12	191.00	$191.00	$1,648	—
943–949	945	10	182.50–190.00	$186.99	$1,767	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1397–1450	1402	11	161.00–166.00	$161.47	$2,264	—
1220–1720	1510	17	159.00–171.50	$169.01	$2,552	-8.80
1310–1925	1646	53	173.75–180.00	$176.57	$2,906	—

Medium 3-4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
346	346	8	195.00	$195.00	$675	—
455	455	5	175.00	$175.00	$796	—

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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.