Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, October 27, 2020

4,217 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 $162.55/cwt +14.77 vs last sale · ≈ $781/hd at 480 lb · 622 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $144.44/cwt +0.25 vs last sale · ≈ $822/hd at 569 lb · 484 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $147.28/cwt +6.18 vs last sale · ≈ $688/hd at 467 lb · 406 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	4,217	3,525	4,291
Feeder cattle	3,254	2,265	3,370
Slaughter cattle	843	960	182
Replacement cattle	120	300	739

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Unweaned steer calves under 400 lbs sold weak, 400-549 lbs sold 10.00-15.00 higher; 550-599 lbs steers sold fully steady, steers over 600 lbs were too lightly tested to trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Unweaned heifer calves 400-599 lbs sold mostly 3.00-7.00 higher; heifers over 600 lbs were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality this week was mostly average to very attractive and significantly higher than last week. Calves were mostly offered in moderate to large size packages. CME positions saw sharp increases over the last few days. The October closed at 134.30, November closed at 132.30 and January closed at 128.425. The stands were full this week and buyers were much more active. Market activity was very active as a result. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for heavy offerings. Packers sent a larger portion of the offering to slaughter this week. Many cows continue to be very light weight and thin as dry conditions followed by extreme cold has further stressed cows and deteriorated flesh scores. Packers were very selective of the cows they shipped to feed lots as a result. Slaughter cows sold steady to firm. Feeding cows sold fully steady. Weigh up conditions were mostly average this week. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. 2-3 year olds suitable to feed or re-breed sold steady to weak. Quality was plain to average 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	Δ last sale
305–344 unweaned	335	30	202.50–207.00	$204.30	$684	-2.06
353–397 unweaned	385	123	182.50–198.00	$190.56	$734	-2.05
407–448 unweaned	424	222	164.00–183.50	$176.32	$748	+10.59
450 thin fleshed	450	3	173.00	$173.00	$778	—
459	459	15	179.00	$179.00	$822	—
452–497 unweaned	481	604	155.50–166.00	$162.09	$780	+14.31
500–526 unweaned	516	176	153.00–160.00	$158.00	$815	+9.67
551	551	18	138.00	$138.00	$760	—
551–592 unweaned	570	466	139.50–149.50	$144.69	$825	+0.50
608–637 unweaned	630	88	134.00–142.50	$140.25	$884	+7.02
662–679 unweaned	675	38	128.00–134.50	$133.16	$899	+5.16

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
324–331 unweaned	328	12	155.00–183.00	$171.48	$562	-14.94
353–388 unweaned	363	12	175.00–179.00	$176.63	$641	-1.20
479–481 unweaned	480	9	154.00–158.50	$156.50	$751	+13.83
501–543 unweaned	519	29	142.00–151.00	$146.94	$763	+14.48
584 unweaned	584	5	140.00	$140.00	$818	+14.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
545 unweaned	545	6	151.50	$151.50	$826	—
568–598 unweaned	590	15	134.00–137.00	$136.23	$804	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
352–397 unweaned	384	115	152.00–160.00	$155.08	$596	-0.26
385–390 thin fleshed	389	18	168.00	$168.00	$654	—
402–447 unweaned	413	114	147.00–158.00	$154.73	$639	+7.65
450–496 unweaned	467	406	140.00–152.00	$147.28	$688	+6.18
512	512	46	141.50	$141.50	$724	—
510–545 unweaned	517	127	135.00–140.00	$138.39	$715	+3.33
598 unweaned	598	23	128.00	$128.00	$765	—
661–691 unweaned	672	12	123.00–124.00	$123.57	$830	—
832	832	5	129.00	$129.00	$1,073	-0.72
858	858	4	114.00	$114.00	$978	-9.64

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300–322 unweaned	316	31	144.00–151.00	$149.82	$473	-2.18
373–381 unweaned	374	30	140.00–150.00	$141.36	$529	-3.95
453–460 unweaned	457	24	139.00–140.00	$139.59	$638	—
547 unweaned	547	9	121.00	$121.00	$662	-5.07
580–582 unweaned	581	10	121.00–122.00	$121.30	$705	+5.30
848	848	4	115.00	$115.00	$975	-7.00
975–983	982	11	100.00–105.00	$104.10	$1,022	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
301 unweaned	301	5	141.00	$141.00	$424	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
800–980	935	85-90%	11	31.00–43.00	$40.33	$377	+1.64
925–988	950	85-90%	7	41.50–47.00	$43.69	$415	-7.32
881–1315	1094	85-90%	90	45.00–51.00	$49.02	$536	—
1088–1300	1112	85-90%	9	64.50	$64.50	$717	+18.01
1005–1340	1125	85-90%	132	44.00–49.00	$46.20	$520	-0.29
1020–1219	1139	85-90%	38	33.00–44.50	$41.84	$477	-4.65
1000–1301	1163	85-90%	187	51.00–61.50	$55.00	$640	+4.15
1055–1345	1184	85-90%	50	49.00–55.00	$51.86	$614	-3.55

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1210–1345	1300	80-85%	3	53.50	$53.50	$696	-0.26
1240–1474	1367	80-85%	20	56.50–62.50	$57.96	$792	+6.14
1367	1367	80-85%	10	64.50	$64.50	$882	+12.68
1320–1480	1368	80-85%	6	46.50–50.00	$49.28	$674	-2.54
1375	1375	80-85%	1	43.00	$43.00	$591	-15.75
1160–1435	1379	80-85%	17	63.00–65.00	$64.07	$884	+5.32
1500	1500	80-85%	3	50.50	$50.50	$758	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1399–1765	1486	75-80%	11	64.00–69.00	$65.31	$971	-4.19
1560–1600	1580	75-80%	2	57.00–63.50	$60.21	$951	-8.79

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1320–1950	1640	7	63.00–74.50	$69.68	$1,143	+0.15
1705–1815	1734	7	75.00–83.00	$78.06	$1,354	—
1995	1995	1	74.75	$74.75	$1,491	—
2010	2010	1	80.50	$80.50	$1,618	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
810 thin fleshed	810	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	60.00	$60.00	$486
905–1018	936	(<2 yrs)	Open	49	66.50–86.00	$80.48	$753
895–1210	1017	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	14	58.00–75.00	$64.85	$660

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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.