La Junta Livestock Commision Market Report

La Junta, Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 6, 2023

3,369 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest La Junta Livestock Commision report →

light 6-weight M&L 2 steers $216.90/cwt ≈ $1,371/hd at 632 lb · 203 head

light 7-weight M&L 2 steers $200.30/cwt ≈ $1,462/hd at 730 lb · 140 head

light 4-weight M&L 2 heifers $253.41/cwt ≈ $1,082/hd at 427 lb · 122 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,369	394	5,905
Feeder cattle	2,940	—	5,334
Slaughter cattle	256	354	571
Replacement cattle	173	40	0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Trade activity and demand was moderate. Feeder steers and heifers did not have enough comparable trades for an accurate trend but higher undertones were noted. Slaughter bulls and slaughter cows of average dressing sold mostly lower. The next feeder and slaughter cow sale will be next Wednesday December 13, 2023.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
232	232	3	301.00	$301.00	$698	—
283–296	291	10	304.00–311.00	$306.72	$893	—
307–320	315	15	301.00–315.00	$309.63	$975	—
350–399	375	77	294.00–319.00	$306.52	$1,149	—
415–446	431	89	265.00–298.00	$281.68	$1,214	—
460–497	485	112	261.00–287.00	$272.70	$1,323	—
505–548	524	52	240.00–262.00	$253.51	$1,328	—
554–599	571	117	224.00–245.00	$235.33	$1,344	—
600–644	632	203	207.00–227.00	$216.90	$1,371	—
652–695	673	117	199.50–220.00	$209.37	$1,409	—
705–749	730	140	191.00–205.00	$200.30	$1,462	—
770–785	773	5	186.00–191.00	$187.02	$1,446	—
820–845	833	2	175.00–181.00	$178.05	$1,483	—
886	886	8	186.00	$186.00	$1,648	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
453	453	3	286.00	$286.00	$1,296	—
564	564	106	249.00	$249.00	$1,404	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
259–290	278	10	322.00–324.00	$323.25	$899	—
330	330	14	321.00	$321.00	$1,059	—
368–377	375	8	324.00–326.00	$325.51	$1,221	—
508–537	536	44	271.00–272.50	$272.44	$1,460	—
555–569	564	9	252.00–256.00	$254.69	$1,436	—
821–823	823	20	190.00–196.00	$194.50	$1,601	—

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
343	343	3	257.00	$257.00	$882	—
403–448	422	7	251.00–261.00	$256.45	$1,082	—
468	468	3	250.00	$250.00	$1,170	—
566	566	15	211.00	$211.00	$1,194	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
346	346	5	274.00	$274.00	$948	—
474	474	19	264.00	$264.00	$1,251	—
555	555	3	230.00	$230.00	$1,276	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
274	274	9	332.00	$332.00	$910	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
322–346	336	73	265.00–277.00	$269.31	$905	—
353–390	368	53	264.00–284.00	$272.02	$1,001	—
404–448	427	122	243.00–259.00	$253.41	$1,082	—
468–498	485	20	219.00–231.00	$226.61	$1,099	—
504–537	519	104	215.00–236.00	$226.37	$1,175	—
551–598	577	115	192.00–214.00	$204.91	$1,182	—
601–647	616	106	188.00–209.00	$203.30	$1,252	—
659–686	671	100	181.00–199.00	$191.40	$1,284	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320–345	339	13	246.00–249.00	$246.65	$836	—
448	448	3	251.00	$251.00	$1,124	—
555	555	106	213.50	$213.50	$1,185	—
612–640	618	9	197.00–201.00	$200.08	$1,236	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
299	299	10	277.00	$277.00	$828	—
400–419	412	19	268.00–274.00	$269.60	$1,111	—
450–488	461	7	240.00–241.00	$240.70	$1,110	—
516	516	28	235.50	$235.50	$1,215	—
670	670	24	208.00	$208.00	$1,394	—
706	706	4	181.00	$181.00	$1,278	—
770–780	773	8	181.00–185.00	$183.99	$1,422	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
373	373	3	253.00	$253.00	$944	—
425–443	435	11	241.00	$241.00	$1,048	—
510	510	4	221.00	$221.00	$1,127	—

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
442	442	15	230.00	$230.00	$1,017	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
703	703	3	194.00	$194.00	$1,364	—
769	769	8	204.00	$204.00	$1,569	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
790–915	853	85-90%	2	49.00–54.00	$51.32	$438	—
805–1285	1045	85-90%	49	62.00–83.00	$75.00	$784	-2.82
935–1265	1129	85-90%	83	84.00–90.00	$86.50	$977	-0.29
955–1185	1138	85-90%	16	91.00–92.00	$91.13	$1,037	+4.34
1055–1225	1165	85-90%	10	95.00–101.00	$96.82	$1,128	+5.56

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1290–1490	1370	80-85%	22	76.00–86.00	$81.41	$1,115	-12.29
1291–1483	1383	80-85%	21	88.00–91.00	$90.13	$1,246	+0.78
1410–1470	1422	80-85%	5	92.00–95.50	$92.72	$1,318	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1503–1680	1540	75-80%	6	87.00–91.00	$89.03	$1,371	—
1550–1640	1610	75-80%	3	75.00–83.00	$80.28	$1,293	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1810	1810	65-75%	1	91.00	$91.00	$1,647	-4.00
1840	1840	65-75%	1	84.00	$84.00	$1,546	-11.00

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1075–2015	1661	12	101.00–109.50	$104.34	$1,733	—
1210–2075	1674	11	94.50–100.00	$97.50	$1,632	—
1820	1820	1	112.00	$112.00	$2,038	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
738–1205	1002	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	75	107.00–128.00	$119.56	$1,198

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
790	790	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	141.00	$141.00	$1,114
759–1145	896	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	54	131.00–155.00	$139.82	$1,253

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
710–745	723	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	170.00–187.00	$179.13	$1,295
732–970	802	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	28	161.00–191.00	$174.22	$1,397

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
990–995	993	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	875.00–900.00	$887.47
1053	1053	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	875.00	$875.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1050–1120	1085	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,075.00–1,125.00	$1,100.81
1245	1245	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,110.00	$1,110.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1230	1230	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,210.00	$1,210.00
1260	1260	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,450.00	$1,450.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
922	922	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,400.00	$1,400.00

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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.