Cattle Market Pulse

Iowa Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

Iowa · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, October 21, 2024

8,658 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 $257.07/cwt +5.83 vs last sale · ≈ $2,116/hd at 823 lb · 863 head
heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $260.06/cwt -11.50 vs last sale · ≈ $2,028/hd at 780 lb · 549 head
heavy 8-weight M&L 1 steers $254.12/cwt +0.45 vs last sale · ≈ $2,213/hd at 871 lb · 467 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 8,658 5,115 5,430
Feeder cattle 6,523 4,237 4,008
Slaughter cattle 2,135 878 1,422

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Too few steer and heifer calves last week to offer a complete comparison with this week, higher undertones evident. Yearling feeder steers mostly steady, heifers unevenly steady. Very good demand for steer and heifer calves as the cash fed cattle market spiked up to 192.00 and the Live Cattle futures moved higher as well. Yearling operators had a very profitable year and want to buy these lightweight steer and heifer calves while they are available and are willing to chase the market a long ways to get their needs secured.

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
300–341 332 21 365.00–372.50 $369.77 $1,228 -5.95
360–372 369 28 331.00–387.00 $369.30 $1,363 +18.73
371 fancy 371 5 387.50 $387.50 $1,438 —
402–443 431 58 327.50–360.00 $339.08 $1,461 +6.53
438–444 unweaned 443 13 305.00–310.00 $306.14 $1,356 -48.86
458 fancy 458 12 339.00 $339.00 $1,553 —
458–494 473 104 275.00–357.50 $326.42 $1,544 +16.38
500 unweaned 500 10 268.00 $268.00 $1,340 —
505–549 537 158 268.50–321.00 $308.92 $1,659 +7.36
560 unweaned 560 5 255.00 $255.00 $1,428 -21.00
552–599 575 297 265.00–312.50 $291.05 $1,674 +4.56
600–644 628 205 260.00–296.00 $276.72 $1,738 +13.38
615–648 unweaned 637 23 250.00–262.50 $255.80 $1,629 —
653–693 674 346 258.00–283.00 $270.12 $1,821 -1.22
700–737 721 319 245.00–279.50 $264.09 $1,904 +4.92
756–795 780 549 245.00–269.75 $260.06 $2,028 -11.50
802–848 823 863 232.00–265.00 $257.07 $2,116 +5.83
855–894 871 467 231.00–259.50 $254.12 $2,213 +0.45
902–946 915 463 230.00–256.25 $251.64 $2,303 -0.18
952–982 960 122 225.00–250.10 $244.20 $2,344 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
915–1305 1074 37 171.50–233.00 $201.77 $2,167 —
1000–1265 1157 27 170.00–192.00 $185.64 $2,148 —
1055–1575 1379 89 179.00–189.50 $186.50 $2,572 —
1398 1398 4 185.75 $185.75 $2,597 —
1352–1488 1416 24 185.50–189.00 $187.39 $2,653 +2.99
1330–1490 1433 61 183.00–187.50 $185.20 $2,654 -5.46
1233–1691 1458 350 189.00–196.50 $192.85 $2,812 —
1514–1595 1528 80 181.00–188.85 $187.07 $2,858 +2.29
1574–1710 1593 7 184.50 $184.50 $2,939 -5.93
1614 1614 4 190.00 $190.00 $3,067 —
1600–1675 1649 14 185.75–191.25 $188.24 $3,104 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
434 434 5 316.00 $316.00 $1,371 —
460–484 473 58 311.00–327.00 $320.34 $1,515 —
500–546 531 66 250.00–288.00 $267.65 $1,421 +22.65
560–587 577 81 240.00–271.00 $260.94 $1,506 +12.94
625–633 629 6 238.00–265.00 $251.41 $1,581 -5.59
671–693 680 10 235.00–245.00 $240.92 $1,638 —
706–724 721 39 233.00–255.00 $246.90 $1,780 —
777–792 788 16 230.00–250.00 $243.77 $1,921 +5.02
831–844 839 29 234.00–251.00 $245.35 $2,058 —
928 928 13 230.00 $230.00 $2,134 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
497 497 18 272.00–298.00 $286.44 $1,424 —
1237 1237 3 170.00 $170.00 $2,103 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
361–392 376 33 277.50–345.00 $318.75 $1,198 -10.99
401–441 433 51 281.00–347.50 $314.18 $1,360 -11.79
450–499 477 99 267.50–310.00 $287.67 $1,372 -1.66
500–544 527 139 247.00–284.00 $276.62 $1,458 +6.06
551–595 577 139 242.00–273.50 $262.69 $1,516 -4.26
583 fancy 583 6 272.00 $272.00 $1,586 —
610 unweaned 610 10 237.00 $237.00 $1,446 —
601–639 614 143 222.00–268.00 $257.60 $1,582 +7.02
650–692 675 174 245.00–264.00 $258.31 $1,744 -10.71
712–745 723 90 230.75–258.25 $246.84 $1,785 -8.36
761–792 779 34 235.00–238.00 $236.71 $1,844 -11.35
800–848 815 68 223.00–240.50 $236.24 $1,925 +2.74
855–876 858 77 230.00–240.75 $239.10 $2,051 +8.28
923 923 4 216.00 $216.00 $1,994 —
966–990 979 18 219.50–222.50 $221.18 $2,165 —
1034 1034 5 222.00 $222.00 $2,295 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
980–1110 1080 12 165.00–196.00 $190.23 $2,054 +6.92
955–1302 1254 55 182.00–190.50 $185.51 $2,326 —
1000–1560 1295 144 180.00–189.50 $186.54 $2,416 —
1200–1631 1367 638 182.00–196.00 $190.93 $2,610 +14.03
1332–1473 1368 9 185.50–190.00 $188.60 $2,580 +11.70
1275–1525 1380 10 175.00–184.50 $182.40 $2,517 -5.37
1530 1530 1 177.00 $177.00 $2,708 —
1563 1563 2 191.00 $191.00 $2,985 +11.00
1545–1628 1607 4 171.00–185.25 $181.83 $2,922 -3.67
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
422–438 433 12 260.50–280.00 $273.57 $1,185 —
458–489 483 33 247.00–262.00 $259.03 $1,251 +14.03
513–534 529 22 232.50–252.00 $237.35 $1,256 —
555–584 566 33 240.00–252.50 $245.25 $1,388 +9.64
568 unweaned 568 5 220.00 $220.00 $1,250 —
605–636 620 31 225.00–241.00 $232.27 $1,440 +22.27
690 690 3 221.00 $221.00 $1,525 +1.00
807 807 3 227.00 $227.00 $1,832 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
470–491 475 18 259.00–285.00 $279.02 $1,325 —
551 551 5 246.00 $246.00 $1,355 —
1027 1027 15 202.00–213.00 $209.33 $2,150 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
473 473 4 242.50 $242.50 $1,147 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1100–1470 1286 75-80% 21 127.00–159.00 $137.76 $1,772 —
1250–1765 1469 75-80% 43 123.00–134.50 $128.99 $1,895 +2.78
1320–1945 1612 75-80% 35 132.00–148.50 $137.98 $2,224 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
805–960 878 80-85% 6 120.00–143.00 $132.05 $1,159 —
1020–1255 1147 80-85% 24 116.00–136.00 $126.14 $1,447 —
1000–1590 1288 80-85% 37 115.00–124.50 $118.98 $1,532 —
1415–1490 1450 80-85% 3 106.00–112.00 $109.88 $1,593 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
935–965 955 85-90% 3 103.00–111.00 $107.33 $1,025 —
1025–1660 1237 85-90% 38 100.00–115.00 $110.59 $1,368 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
860–1295 1064 6 130.00–178.00 $149.74 $1,593 —
1305 1305 1 114.00 $114.00 $1,488 —
1515–1970 1743 2 170.00–174.00 $171.74 $2,993 —
1320–2235 1821 30 130.00–168.00 $149.39 $2,720 -0.96

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Beef Dairy Heifers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1312–1335 1324 6 186.50 $186.50 $2,469 —

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Beef Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1493 1493 2 175.00 $175.00 $2,613 —
1408–1849 1554 22 182.00–185.85 $184.46 $2,867 —

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1120–1270 1175 4 130.00–159.00 $149.55 $1,757 —
1357–1453 1376 10 160.00–162.00 $160.42 $2,207 —
1245–1870 1486 8 159.00–168.00 $164.90 $2,450 —
1427–1810 1627 56 164.50–185.50 $170.56 $2,775 —

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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.