Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, October 13, 2020

3,485 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Miles City Livestock Commission Auction report →

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $170.23/cwt ≈ $803/hd at 472 lb · 320 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $163.54/cwt ≈ $848/hd at 519 lb · 244 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $144.62/cwt ≈ $690/hd at 477 lb · 176 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,485	1,965	2,665
Feeder cattle	2,546	—	1,762
Slaughter cattle	542	—	210
Replacement cattle	397	—	693

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, steady undertones were noticed. Unweaned steer calves sold mostly 3.00-6.00 higher. Unweaned heifers 500-549 lbs sold mostly 3.00-5.00 lower, all other weights of heifer calves were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Quality on yearlings was mostly average, while quality on calves was average to very attractive. Demand for both yearlings and calves was mostly moderate. Both calves and yearlings were coming out of dry country and were in very light to light flesh. Preconditioned calves with fall vaccinations sold with the best demand. Market activity was mostly active today with a large crowd and many buyers ringside bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand for moderate offerings. Cow quality this week was mostly plain to average and significantly lower than last week. Many cows were very thin as both poor range conditions and suckling calves combined to pull cows' body condition scores lower. Many cows selling this week were shells and buyers did not want to risk feeding this type offering. Feeding cows sold unevenly steady. Breaking flesh cows continue to sell with the best demand. Slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 lower, however on a dressed basis cows sold near steady as yielding conditions were significantly lower this week compared to last. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 2.00 higher as feeding buyers pushed packers over limited offerings. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average this week on both cows and bulls. 2-3 year old cows suitable to rebreed sold sharply lower this week. Quality was plain to average with many very thin cows on offer this week.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
330–332 unweaned	332	13	207.50–210.00	$208.07	$691
359–392 unweaned	372	55	174.00–187.00	$179.99	$670
429	429	20	178.00	$178.00	$764
407–447 unweaned	434	134	175.00–180.00	$178.43	$774
437	437	19	165.00	$165.00	$721
453–496 unweaned	472	320	165.00–178.50	$170.23	$803
505	505	50	165.00	$165.00	$833
500–537 unweaned	522	194	156.00–168.00	$163.17	$852
553–599 unweaned	570	167	150.00–155.00	$153.31	$874
591	591	7	155.00	$155.00	$916
603–630 unweaned	608	50	139.00–144.50	$142.42	$866
653–670 unweaned	659	3	145.00–145.50	$145.17	$957
674	674	26	155.75	$155.75	$1,050
714	714	24	152.00	$152.00	$1,085
786	786	31	146.00	$146.00	$1,148

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
398 unweaned	398	9	168.00	$168.00	$669
427–435 unweaned	430	14	161.00–173.00	$166.48	$716
450–477 unweaned	475	33	160.00–164.50	$160.39	$762
516–544 unweaned	537	48	148.00–153.50	$150.40	$808
738–745	742	4	144.00	$144.00	$1,068
800–849	823	13	137.50–138.00	$137.76	$1,134

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
497 unweaned	497	10	155.00	$155.00	$770
560 unweaned	560	17	148.00	$148.00	$829

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
381 unweaned	381	6	170.50	$170.50	$650
420 unweaned	420	7	145.00	$145.00	$609

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
332 unweaned	332	16	156.50	$156.50	$520
357–397 unweaned	376	90	154.00–156.50	$155.12	$583
403–446 unweaned	437	170	149.75–156.00	$151.01	$660
450–499 unweaned	477	176	140.50–152.00	$144.62	$690
500–538 unweaned	520	173	135.50–140.50	$139.84	$727
559 unweaned	559	12	136.75	$136.75	$764
767–793	779	9	130.00–131.00	$130.45	$1,016
843	843	6	133.50	$133.50	$1,125
849	849	10	130.00	$130.00	$1,104
934	934	5	130.00	$130.00	$1,214

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
363 unweaned	363	7	149.00	$149.00	$541
450–491 unweaned	481	20	124.00–136.00	$126.81	$610
1002	1002	5	122.75	$122.75	$1,230
1143	1143	2	114.50	$114.50	$1,309

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
430–443 unweaned	435	8	141.00–146.00	$142.91	$622
492 unweaned	492	9	138.75	$138.75	$683
758	758	12	133.00	$133.00	$1,008
927	927	3	124.50	$124.50	$1,154

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
420 unweaned	420	12	145.50	$145.50	$611
642	642	5	132.00	$132.00	$847

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
656	656	11	127.00	$127.00	$833

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
267 unweaned	267	7	145.00	$145.00	$387

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
339 unweaned	339	8	187.50	$187.50	$636

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
935–990	963	85-90%	2	41.00–44.50	$42.70	$411
953–995	963	85-90%	5	35.00–42.00	$37.19	$358
1049–1060	1052	85-90%	15	42.50–44.50	$43.04	$453
1007–1215	1126	85-90%	25	45.50–49.00	$46.60	$525
1030–1255	1131	85-90%	88	47.00–52.00	$48.53	$549
1005–1340	1163	85-90%	16	35.00–44.50	$41.56	$483
1180	1180	85-90%	1	67.50	$67.50	$796
1100–1290	1196	85-90%	67	52.00–63.00	$55.94	$669
1165–1340	1215	85-90%	9	49.50–53.50	$51.23	$622

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1250–1334	1311	80-85%	4	64.00–65.00	$64.37	$844
1305–1328	1312	80-85%	7	51.00–53.00	$52.42	$688
1316–1545	1372	80-85%	55	55.00–63.50	$59.71	$819
1350–1505	1411	80-85%	7	48.00–53.50	$50.37	$711

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1585	1585	75-80%	1	59.50	$59.50	$943
1680–1800	1760	75-80%	3	71.00–71.50	$71.16	$1,252
2110	2110	75-80%	1	73.00	$73.00	$1,540

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1380–1565	1475	3	65.00–73.00	$69.39	$1,024
1520	1520	1	78.00	$78.00	$1,186
1700	1700	1	82.00	$82.00	$1,394
1735	1735	1	78.00	$78.00	$1,353
1395–1958	1771	17	74.50–81.50	$79.30	$1,404
1615–2100	1840	9	58.00–73.00	$69.42	$1,277

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1915	1915	1	75.00	$75.00	$1,436

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
798–1280	946	(<2 yrs)	Open	91	64.00–102.00	$86.68	$820
915–1015 thin fleshed	949	(<2 yrs)	Open	15	59.00–74.00	$68.06	$646
898–1160	996	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	87	61.50–84.00	$71.42	$711
1039	1039	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	4	55.00	$55.00	$571
920–1338 thin fleshed	1224	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	21	46.00–58.00	$51.87	$635

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
773–1000	830	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	64.00–77.00	$73.08	$607

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
957	957	(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	11	1,225.00	$1,225.00

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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.