Cattle Market Pulse

Knoxville Livestock Center Market Report

Knoxville, Tennessee · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, September 21, 2021

726 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Knoxville Livestock Center report →

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $136.60/cwt +2.06 vs last sale · ≈ $712/hd at 521 lb · 48 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $129.08/cwt -4.08 vs last sale · ≈ $738/hd at 572 lb · 40 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $135.50/cwt -2.00 vs last sale · ≈ $638/hd at 470 lb · 37 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 726 796 278
Feeder cattle 618 662 209
Slaughter cattle 62 91 54
Replacement cattle 46 43 15

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder steers measuring 2.00 to 3.00 higher overall with heifers 6.00 lower with lighter demand noted, and feeder bulls 2.00 lower. Regarding slaughter classes- breaker and boning cows 1.00 to 2.00 higher and lean cows 3.00 to 4.00 lower, and bulls 4.00 to 5.00 lower.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 335 1 170.00 $170.00 $570 —
365 365 1 178.00 $178.00 $650 +6.10
405–425 fancy 415 2 174.00–175.00 $174.51 $724 -0.49
410–440 422 11 150.00–165.00 $160.11 $676 +5.88
455–485 470 2 162.00–162.50 $162.26 $763 +8.31
500–535 517 23 152.00–162.50 $157.72 $815 +13.03
565–595 581 7 143.00–150.00 $145.41 $845 +1.18
602 value added 602 2 151.00 $151.00 $909 —
600–645 612 19 133.00–147.50 $140.49 $860 +1.88
652–690 669 4 135.00–140.00 $138.73 $928 +0.30
700–745 717 18 130.00–143.50 $140.64 $1,008 -2.36
755 value added 755 2 141.50 $141.50 $1,068 —
783–792 788 8 130.00 $130.00 $1,024 -6.00
812 value added 812 2 140.00 $140.00 $1,137 —
810–840 825 2 123.00–137.50 $130.12 $1,073 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
500 500 1 135.00 $135.00 $675 —
580–595 588 2 136.00–137.50 $136.74 $804 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355–395 375 11 133.00–145.00 $139.37 $523 -7.87
400–423 414 13 133.00–141.00 $136.63 $566 -6.27
464 value added 464 7 145.50 $145.50 $675 —
450–493 472 30 127.00–138.00 $133.17 $629 -4.33
500–532 519 26 125.00–137.00 $132.18 $686 -2.36
510–528 value added 524 22 140.00–142.50 $141.83 $743 —
550–595 572 40 124.00–136.00 $129.08 $738 -4.08
600–635 617 14 120.00–126.00 $123.25 $760 -8.44
633 value added 633 9 135.00 $135.00 $855 —
665–698 687 5 116.00–122.50 $118.05 $811 -8.29
695 value added 695 2 131.50 $131.50 $914 —
705–745 724 4 110.00–118.00 $112.81 $817 —
765 765 1 105.00 $105.00 $803 —
765–775 770 2 107.00–110.00 $108.51 $836 —
823–835 827 6 105.00–111.50 $109.31 $904 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 1 175.00 $175.00 $595 +7.77
370–395 382 6 154.00–167.50 $165.20 $631 -3.31
400–445 423 11 145.00–157.50 $151.27 $640 -4.28
455 fancy 455 1 157.50 $157.50 $717 —
450–485 468 8 143.00–155.00 $150.14 $703 +6.48
505–545 516 15 133.00–145.00 $140.39 $724 +6.41
550–580 565 9 131.00–144.00 $137.84 $779 +2.17
600–630 615 9 128.00–132.50 $130.72 $804 -1.00
665–695 678 9 117.50–130.00 $122.99 $834 -2.69
710–747 730 5 110.00–115.00 $111.57 $814 -5.96
760–773 769 5 110.00 $110.00 $846 -8.83
800–830 817 3 100.00–111.00 $104.99 $858 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1200–1400 1300 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 4 1,450.00–2,000.00 $1,743.75 —
1300–1500 1400 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 2 1,800.00–2,300.00 $2,050.00 —
1345–1540 1443 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 2 1,225.00–1,650.00 $1,451.86 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
497 497 2 132.00 $132.00 $656 —
505 505 1 125.00 $125.00 $631 ±0.00

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1000–1365 1202 80-85% 5 74.00–75.00 $74.53 $896 +8.34
1055–1475 1209 80-85% 10 64.50–73.00 $67.86 $820 +1.67
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1320 1320 75-80% 1 77.50 $77.50 $1,023 —
1110–1735 1424 75-80% 10 62.50–71.50 $66.31 $944 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1090–1220 1140 85-90% 4 54.00–64.00 $60.31 $688 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1455–2260 1732 10 88.00–93.50 $91.39 $1,583 -14.77
1680–2110 1910 4 101.00–105.00 $103.50 $1,977 —
2310 2310 1 85.00 $85.00 $1,964 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
925–1265 1095 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 2 700.00–830.00 $775.09
Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
775 775 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 590.00 $590.00

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1080 1080 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 950.00 $950.00
1140 1140 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 850.00 $850.00
1145 1145 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 810.00 $810.00
1185–1240 1213 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 2 900.00–1,030.00 $966.47
1235 1235 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 790.00 $790.00
1370 1370 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 780.00 $780.00
Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
965 965 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 800.00 $800.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
895 895 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 860.00 $860.00
940 940 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 825.00 $825.00
Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
790 790 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 700.00 $700.00

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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.