Cattle Market Pulse

Knoxville Livestock Center Market Report

Knoxville, Tennessee · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, May 17, 2022

768 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $163.08/cwt -0.96 vs last sale · ≈ $701/hd at 430 lb · 33 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $158.89/cwt -3.08 vs last sale · ≈ $740/hd at 466 lb · 20 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $160.97/cwt -8.88 vs last sale · ≈ $828/hd at 515 lb · 19 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 768 904 0
Feeder cattle 589 743 0
Slaughter cattle 159 146 0
Replacement cattle 20 15 0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder steers and bulls measuring 4.00 lower overall, with feeder heifers 1.00 lower. Regarding slaughter classes- breaker and boning cows 8.00 to 9.00 higher overall, with lean cows 2.00 to 4.00 higher, and bulls sharply higher.

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
295 295 1 183.00 $183.00 $540 -12.00
340 340 1 180.00 $180.00 $612 -15.00
390 390 1 182.50 $182.50 $712 -8.21
410–417 415 3 182.50–193.00 $189.54 $787 -4.20
450–497 481 10 172.00–187.50 $182.03 $876 -1.76
515 515 1 163.00 $163.00 $839 -16.65
507–540 523 16 168.00–175.00 $170.56 $892 -9.09
553–560 557 10 169.00–176.00 $172.01 $958 -3.12
585 585 1 164.00 $164.00 $959 -11.13
610 610 1 149.00 $149.00 $909 -9.23
604–640 613 9 152.00–160.00 $156.76 $961 -1.47
605–637 value added 629 9 169.00–178.00 $174.03 $1,095 +2.90
677 677 2 153.00 $153.00 $1,036 -3.50
695 695 1 146.00 $146.00 $1,015 -10.50
718 value added 718 3 150.50 $150.50 $1,081 -3.90
715–735 729 5 137.00–142.00 $138.79 $1,012 -7.71
752–765 754 6 135.00–140.00 $139.15 $1,049 —
828 828 5 134.00 $134.00 $1,110 -4.51
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
430–445 438 3 160.00–177.50 $170.46 $747 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355–397 385 10 155.00–167.50 $160.67 $619 -0.64
400–447 430 33 157.00–166.00 $163.08 $701 -0.06
450–497 466 20 155.00–160.00 $158.89 $740 -1.75
520 fancy 520 1 162.50 $162.50 $845 —
500–535 521 14 147.00–157.50 $150.78 $786 -0.05
550–565 561 5 140.00–147.00 $142.77 $801 -2.49
605–645 626 12 135.00–144.00 $138.74 $869 -2.66
650–685 657 5 134.00–136.00 $135.58 $891 -3.13
700 700 2 134.00 $134.00 $938 +5.56
760 760 1 134.00 $134.00 $1,018 —
855 value added 855 2 123.00 $123.00 $1,052 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
298 298 7 147.50 $147.50 $440 —
377 377 2 144.00 $144.00 $543 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
300–345 326 4 170.00–180.00 $175.29 $571 -12.22
350–390 373 3 170.00–175.00 $172.24 $642 -11.09
400–445 418 10 172.50–182.50 $176.52 $738 +2.92
455–492 479 8 162.50–172.50 $167.59 $803 +5.59
500–545 514 18 156.00–167.00 $160.30 $824 -8.53
525 fancy 525 1 173.00 $173.00 $908 -7.00
565 fancy 565 7 166.00 $166.00 $938 —
560–580 573 10 150.00–159.00 $154.96 $888 -3.70
600 fancy 600 1 163.00 $163.00 $978 —
650 fancy 650 1 146.00 $146.00 $949 -4.00
675–690 683 6 131.00–139.00 $133.84 $914 -2.62
710–715 713 2 127.50–134.00 $130.74 $932 +1.55
750–790 759 5 121.00–125.00 $123.69 $939 —
815–832 824 4 116.00–117.50 $116.76 $962 —
855–875 867 3 107.00–117.50 $112.51 $975 -3.83
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
400–410 405 2 160.00–165.00 $162.53 $658 —
450 450 1 160.00 $160.00 $720 —
550 550 1 144.00 $144.00 $792 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
970–1390 1194 80-85% 22 86.00–99.00 $93.21 $1,113 —
1135–1500 1300 80-85% 10 101.00–112.00 $104.73 $1,361 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1190–1745 1410 75-80% 27 86.00–96.00 $90.90 $1,282 —
1470–1475 1473 75-80% 2 103.00–105.00 $104.00 $1,532 +22.15
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
800–1100 972 85-90% 16 72.00–86.00 $76.96 $748 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1335–1445 1390 2 106.00–107.00 $106.52 $1,481 —
1340–1975 1668 10 116.00–129.00 $125.18 $2,088 —
1795–1950 1873 2 134.00–134.50 $134.24 $2,514 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
700 700 (<2 yrs)Open 1 800.00 $800.00

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1055–1100 1078 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 2 810.00–840.00 $825.31
1075–1155 1124 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 970.00–1,175.00 $1,043.30
1045–1255 1145 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 3 950.00–1,200.00 $1,072.79
1195 1195 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 1,100.00 $1,100.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
— — Aged (>8 yrs)Open 2 1,000.00–1,200.00 $1,100.00 —
— — Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 1,150.00 $1,150.00 —
Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
— — Aged (>8 yrs)Open 1 1,075.00 $1,075.00 —

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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.