La Junta Livestock Commision Market Report

La Junta, Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, February 21, 2024

3,208 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $295.80/cwt +5.31 vs last sale · ≈ $1,403/hd at 474 lb · 198 head

heavy 6-weight L 1 heifers $239.41/cwt ≈ $1,607/hd at 671 lb · 165 head

light 6-weight L 1 heifers $228.45/cwt -21.55 vs last sale · ≈ $1,429/hd at 626 lb · 139 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,208	1,529	1,414
Feeder cattle	2,901	1,294	1,324
Slaughter cattle	146	116	90
Replacement cattle	161	119	0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Trade activity and demand was good. Feeder steers sold mostly 2.00 to 10.00 higher across all weight classes. Feeder heifers sold mostly 1.00 to 8.00 higher across all weight classes. Higher trends were noticed in both steers and heifers that were double vaccinated. Slaughter cows of average dressing sold unevenly steady while slaughter bulls sold 1.00 lower. The next feeder calf and slaughter cow sale will be next Wednesday February 28, 2024.

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
230	230	2	425.00	$425.00	$978	—
286–290 fancy	288	6	407.00–415.00	$411.03	$1,184	—
290	290	2	395.00	$395.00	$1,146	—
302–328 fancy	319	9	409.00–411.00	$409.63	$1,307	—
342	342	3	387.00	$387.00	$1,324	+4.50
360 fancy	360	4	400.00	$400.00	$1,440	—
360–385 value added	369	13	393.00–397.00	$394.09	$1,454	+11.09
357–389	380	40	380.00–390.00	$387.58	$1,473	+15.08
421–440	428	24	361.00–369.00	$363.73	$1,557	+1.66
445 value added	445	7	374.00	$374.00	$1,664	—
474 fancy	474	12	360.00	$360.00	$1,706	—
468–484 value added	476	69	341.00–351.00	$346.88	$1,651	+1.29
492–494	493	16	322.00–329.00	$324.19	$1,598	-1.99
509–530 value added	522	38	318.00–321.00	$319.06	$1,665	—
525–549	547	29	310.00–312.00	$311.80	$1,706	-14.90
553	553	10	299.00	$299.00	$1,653	+4.85
601	601	4	288.00	$288.00	$1,731	—
653 value added	653	56	275.00	$275.00	$1,796	—
658–684	669	71	256.00–265.00	$262.06	$1,753	—
700–709 value added	708	14	260.00–261.00	$260.14	$1,842	—
703–742	740	121	241.00–249.75	$249.05	$1,843	+9.69
754–777	766	102	238.00–246.50	$242.17	$1,855	—
801–806	803	96	235.00–237.00	$236.10	$1,896	—
869	869	22	225.00	$225.00	$1,955	—
1006	1006	36	205.00	$205.00	$2,062	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
414–427	420	13	346.00–354.00	$349.75	$1,469	—
490	490	4	317.00	$317.00	$1,553	—
512–546	522	81	290.00–309.00	$302.55	$1,579	-0.30
566	566	9	286.00	$286.00	$1,619	+2.34
634–639	637	61	264.00–269.00	$266.98	$1,701	-6.80
660–699	677	37	248.00–254.50	$253.73	$1,718	+5.53
1044	1044	17	182.50	$182.50	$1,905	+13.50

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
420	420	4	324.00	$324.00	$1,361	—
784	784	112	221.00	$221.00	$1,733	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
413	413	2	350.00	$350.00	$1,446	—
422 thin fleshed	422	3	362.50	$362.50	$1,530	—
505–517	513	12	296.00–301.00	$299.36	$1,536	+14.36
562	562	3	286.00	$286.00	$1,607	—
765	765	35	243.50	$243.50	$1,863	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
510–544	527	20	251.00–281.00	$268.25	$1,414	-4.38
628–640	632	12	254.00–257.00	$255.99	$1,618	+17.99
668	668	3	234.00	$234.00	$1,563	+2.51
1238	1238	2	137.00	$137.00	$1,696	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
260 fancy	260	4	400.00	$400.00	$1,040	—
283–295	289	4	371.00–379.00	$375.08	$1,084	+0.08
298 value added	298	3	387.50	$387.50	$1,155	—
305 fancy	305	3	380.00	$380.00	$1,159	+7.50
323–345	334	15	342.00–351.00	$346.15	$1,156	-17.85
355 fancy	355	2	351.00	$351.00	$1,246	-4.00
358–388	381	8	312.00–318.00	$316.59	$1,206	—
390 value added	390	10	329.00	$329.00	$1,283	—
415	415	7	328.00	$328.00	$1,361	+7.00
453–487	474	196	288.00–300.00	$295.56	$1,401	+5.07
493 fancy	493	2	319.00	$319.00	$1,573	—
504–538	524	70	275.00–285.00	$279.24	$1,463	-1.76
559–594	572	76	266.00–274.00	$271.89	$1,555	+7.41
573 fancy	573	13	287.00	$287.00	$1,645	—
608–617	614	7	240.00–244.00	$241.13	$1,481	—
652 value added	652	3	247.00	$247.00	$1,610	—
667–679	672	80	230.00–232.50	$231.39	$1,555	—
746	746	13	216.00	$216.00	$1,611	—
778	778	35	226.00	$226.00	$1,758	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
353	353	2	325.00	$325.00	$1,147	—
421–424	423	13	296.00–300.00	$297.84	$1,260	—
492 value added	492	9	290.00	$290.00	$1,427	—
554	554	7	248.00–249.00	$248.57	$1,377	—
603 value added	603	13	257.00	$257.00	$1,550	—
628	628	126	225.50	$225.50	$1,416	—
662	662	15	228.50	$228.50	$1,513	—
672 value added	672	150	240.50	$240.50	$1,616	—
711	711	103	218.00	$218.00	$1,550	—
817 value added	817	26	210.00	$210.00	$1,716	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
344	344	4	334.00	$334.00	$1,149	—
408–448 thin fleshed	411	26	299.00–303.00	$302.66	$1,244	—
423–435	429	12	275.00–284.00	$279.78	$1,200	-10.32
450–493	477	17	273.00–285.00	$281.19	$1,341	+0.19
502–541	529	23	257.00–267.00	$263.02	$1,391	-10.98
557–583	570	32	246.00–255.00	$251.01	$1,431	+0.33
638	638	7	231.00	$231.00	$1,474	-7.39
670–698	678	63	220.00–226.00	$224.45	$1,522	+0.97
716	716	9	203.00	$203.00	$1,453	-15.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
501–543	525	12	241.00–251.00	$247.28	$1,298	+0.67
674	674	4	191.00	$191.00	$1,287	-19.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
558	558	6	236.00	$236.00	$1,317	—
653	653	4	216.00	$216.00	$1,410	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
411–425	418	14	318.00–319.00	$318.51	$1,331	+22.51
554	554	16	285.00	$285.00	$1,579	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
418	418	9	325.00	$325.00	$1,358	—
538	538	4	272.00	$272.00	$1,463	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
768–1250	974	85-90%	26	83.00–91.00	$86.79	$845	—
820–1255	1061	85-90%	62	101.00–116.00	$106.09	$1,126	—
1000–1255	1135	85-90%	3	61.00–81.00	$70.42	$799	—
1080–1192	1185	85-90%	17	95.00–96.00	$95.95	$1,137	-6.72

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1350	1350	80-85%	1	92.00	$92.00	$1,242	-6.00
1295–1495	1405	80-85%	10	103.00–120.50	$111.50	$1,567	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1520–1690	1644	75-80%	4	109.00–121.50	$115.49	$1,899	+7.11

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1710	1710	65-75%	1	113.00	$113.00	$1,932	+2.00

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1460	1460	1	107.00	$107.00	$1,562	—
1050–2160	1651	10	113.50–133.00	$120.75	$1,994	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
710	710	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,278
792–950	865	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	79	161.00–187.00	$174.36	$1,508

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
770–1130	997	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	50	136.00–156.00	$144.70	$1,443

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
730–1208	1031	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	11	117.00–132.00	$125.89	$1,298

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1293	1293	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,900.00	$1,900.00
1150–1575	1301	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	7	1,525.00–1,825.00	$1,717.76
1406	1406	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	1,550.00	$1,550.00
1435	1435	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,625.00	$1,625.00
1503	1503	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,725.00	$1,725.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1015	1015	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	1,250.00	$1,250.00
1265	1265	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,425.00	$1,425.00

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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.