La Junta Livestock Commision Market Report

La Junta, Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, March 20, 2024

877 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1 steers $373.69/cwt -3.15 vs last sale · ≈ $1,613/hd at 432 lb · 25 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $244.74/cwt -2.71 vs last sale · ≈ $1,861/hd at 760 lb · 23 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $240.91/cwt +5.87 vs last sale · ≈ $1,636/hd at 679 lb · 21 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	877	2,034	1,060
Feeder cattle	545	1,752	909
Slaughter cattle	181	149	151
Replacement cattle	151	133	0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Trade activity and demand was good. Feeder steers under 600lbs sold mostly 7.00 to 10.00 higher while steers over 600lbs sold unevenly steady. Feeder heifer sold unevenly steady across all weight classes on a light test. Slaughter cows sold steady across all weight classes while slaughter bulls sold 13.00 to 17.00 higher. The next feeder calf and slaughter cow sale will be next Wednesday March 27, 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
339	339	5	392.00	$392.00	$1,329	+1.22
348 fancy	348	2	400.00	$400.00	$1,392	—
368 value added	368	3	399.00	$399.00	$1,468	—
382	382	3	382.50	$382.50	$1,461	+22.50
412–445 value added	422	16	372.00–382.00	$379.95	$1,603	-10.05
448–449	449	9	359.00–367.00	$362.55	$1,628	-11.11
465–493	474	6	362.00–362.50	$362.17	$1,717	+13.05
538–544	541	10	326.00–330.00	$327.99	$1,774	+9.26
550 fancy	550	2	340.00	$340.00	$1,870	—
563 value added	563	4	322.00	$322.00	$1,813	+6.80
560–575	568	4	304.00–311.00	$307.55	$1,747	+9.68
649	649	8	286.00	$286.00	$1,856	-6.00
665 value added	665	9	270.00	$270.00	$1,796	-5.30
673	673	4	258.00	$258.00	$1,736	+1.93
700	700	2	253.00	$253.00	$1,771	-6.00
750 fancy	750	17	251.00	$251.00	$1,882	—
780	780	2	229.00	$229.00	$1,786	-7.12
795	795	4	226.00	$226.00	$1,797	-10.12

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
545	545	4	291.00	$291.00	$1,586	-3.00
638	638	2	272.50	$272.50	$1,739	+27.31
873	873	5	186.00	$186.00	$1,624	+1.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
323	323	3	341.00	$341.00	$1,101	—
583 thin fleshed	583	6	291.00	$291.00	$1,697	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
334	334	5	322.50	$322.50	$1,077	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
684	684	5	196.00	$196.00	$1,341	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
434	434	5	303.00	$303.00	$1,315	-4.00
450	450	5	292.00	$292.00	$1,314	-4.00
512	512	9	271.00	$271.00	$1,388	+2.08
571 value added	571	5	263.00	$263.00	$1,502	—
576	576	8	255.00	$255.00	$1,469	+5.00
638	638	3	248.00	$248.00	$1,582	-12.00
639–648 value added	641	15	251.00–256.00	$254.99	$1,634	—
673–680	679	21	240.00–241.00	$240.91	$1,636	+5.87
740	740	3	220.00	$220.00	$1,628	-11.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
277	277	3	322.00	$322.00	$892	-10.00
429–444	435	14	283.00–298.00	$290.84	$1,265	+7.85
477	477	5	282.00	$282.00	$1,345	+14.33
531	531	4	258.00	$258.00	$1,370	-1.47
553	553	2	251.00	$251.00	$1,388	+11.19
698	698	3	218.00	$218.00	$1,522	-8.66

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
444	444	6	262.00	$262.00	$1,163	+3.89
468–485	478	5	254.00–268.00	$259.48	$1,240	+4.48
603	603	4	219.00	$219.00	$1,321	-3.00
743	743	6	199.00	$199.00	$1,479	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	5	315.00	$315.00	$1,055	—
358	358	2	281.00	$281.00	$1,006	-9.35
493	493	3	246.00	$246.00	$1,213	—
538–542	540	8	246.00–251.00	$247.88	$1,339	-7.54

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
470	470	2	291.00	$291.00	$1,368	—
551 fancy	551	4	301.00	$301.00	$1,659	—
603	603	4	287.50	$287.50	$1,734	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
684–1250	762	85-90%	31	66.00–84.00	$70.88	$540	—
970–1005	988	85-90%	2	96.00	$96.00	$948	—
990	990	85-90%	2	93.00	$93.00	$921	—
825–1285	1070	85-90%	99	101.00–131.00	$116.78	$1,250	+1.59

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1295–1490	1380	80-85%	21	111.00–139.00	$128.20	$1,769	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1578–1665	1627	75-80%	6	119.00–123.00	$121.01	$1,969	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1770–1825	1798	65-75%	2	119.50–141.00	$130.41	$2,345	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1280–2195	1725	11	120.00–152.50	$141.75	$2,445	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
628–705	650	(<2 yrs)	Open	7	182.00–186.00	$183.24	$1,191
689 thin fleshed	689	(<2 yrs)	Open	15	207.00	$207.00	$1,426
690 fancy	690	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	216.00	$216.00	$1,490
725–830 thin fleshed	798	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	14	209.00–218.00	$213.35	$1,703
725–1023	863	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	26	180.00–204.00	$187.52	$1,618

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
715–1120	828	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	28	151.00–177.00	$169.90	$1,407

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
721–1155	939	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	21	116.00–149.00	$134.60	$1,264

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
845	845	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,450.00	$1,450.00
1095	1095	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,500.00	$1,500.00
1072–1345	1140	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	1,550.00–1,700.00	$1,594.23
1231–1305	1246	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	10	1,575.00–1,600.00	$1,594.76
1273	1273	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	1,675.00	$1,675.00
1375	1375	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	6	1,660.00	$1,660.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1310 fancy	1310	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,300.00	$2,300.00
1500	1500	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,835.00	$1,835.00
1590	1590	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,885.00	$1,885.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
755	755	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	775.00	$775.00
925	925	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,150.00	$1,150.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
989 fancy	989	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	2,275.00	$2,275.00	—

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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.