Cattle Market Pulse

Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, November 17, 2020

7,806 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $164.26/cwt +2.12 vs last sale · ≈ $866/hd at 527 lb · 773 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $153.60/cwt -3.79 vs last sale · ≈ $881/hd at 574 lb · 683 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $180.10/cwt +1.01 vs last sale · ≈ $849/hd at 472 lb · 595 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 7,806 3,821 4,682
Feeder cattle 5,832 2,804 3,161
Slaughter cattle 1,664 731 160
Replacement cattle 310 286 1,361

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested last week to develop any market trend. Moderate to good demand was seen for yearlings this week. Unweaned steer calves under 400 lbs were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, steady to weak undertones were noticed; 400-549 lbs unweaned steers sold steady to 2.00 higher; unweaned steers 550 lbs and heavier sold steady to 3.00 lower. Unweaned heifers under 450 lbs sold 5.00-10.00 higher; 450-599 lbs unweaned heifers sold unevenly steady from 3.00 lower to 5.00 higher; unweaned heifers over 600 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was outstanding with many long strings of attractive to very attractive calves. Demand was good and unwavering throughout todays very long sale which stretched well into the evening. Many load lots of fresh, clean calves were seen this sale and most calves were offered with fall preconditioning shots. Market activity was mostly active this week with a full house of ranchers and order buyers actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for heavy offerings. Packers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows this week, opting to send most offerings directly to slaughter instead of feed. While cow prices overall were steady with last week, the purpose they were purchased for changed. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher. Feeding cows sold steady to weak. Quality this week was mostly average and many thin cows continue to be marketed. Ranchers looking for cows to pregnancy test and feed help support a small portion of the cow market this week. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady. A higher quality bull offering was seen this week. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold 3.00-5.00 higher. Demand for these offerings was mostly good with several buyers in the market this week looking for this class of cow. Quality was mostly average.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
296 unweaned 296 18 221.00 $221.00 $654 +5.06
338–349 unweaned 346 24 200.00–218.00 $207.55 $718 —
351–395 unweaned 383 134 192.50–199.00 $197.35 $756 -4.85
410–442 unweaned 431 243 179.75–189.00 $185.01 $797 +0.79
442 442 9 183.00 $183.00 $809 —
465–478 fancy 467 144 184.50–187.00 $184.94 $864 —
453–489 unweaned 473 451 166.00–182.50 $178.56 $845 -0.53
505–545 513 98 161.50–164.50 $163.95 $841 —
500–545 unweaned 529 675 160.50–167.00 $164.30 $869 +2.16
550–598 unweaned 571 601 146.50–157.50 $153.13 $874 -4.26
582–592 592 82 150.50–157.25 $157.01 $929 —
600–649 unweaned 627 34 138.00–145.00 $142.62 $894 -3.66
662–697 unweaned 670 19 137.00–143.00 $138.76 $930 -2.25
700–704 unweaned 704 19 138.00–141.00 $140.69 $990 —
707 707 17 137.00 $137.00 $969 —
770 unweaned 770 1 140.00 $140.00 $1,078 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
322–325 unweaned 324 26 185.00–192.00 $187.41 $607 +2.15
362–373 unweaned 364 54 176.00–184.00 $177.37 $646 -7.21
400–447 unweaned 426 58 170.00–175.00 $172.54 $735 +5.27
480–491 unweaned 485 14 156.00–164.00 $158.12 $767 -3.08
526 unweaned 526 22 155.00 $155.00 $815 +4.00
685 unweaned 685 2 132.00 $132.00 $904 —
729 729 62 146.00 $146.00 $1,064 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
484 unweaned 484 24 161.00 $161.00 $779 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
438 unweaned 438 12 140.00 $140.00 $613 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
306–330 unweaned 311 27 174.00–175.00 $174.76 $544 +10.88
351–382 unweaned 371 190 164.00–174.00 $171.72 $637 +9.78
404–449 unweaned 434 362 154.00–164.00 $159.83 $694 +4.07
441 441 25 159.00 $159.00 $701 —
457 457 60 162.00 $162.00 $740 +1.94
452–498 unweaned 481 178 147.00–158.75 $151.41 $728 -1.00
500–539 unweaned 515 392 142.00–152.00 $148.52 $765 +4.75
527 527 88 159.00 $159.00 $838 —
554–589 unweaned 577 58 134.00–140.00 $135.84 $784 -4.11
617–638 unweaned 636 29 128.00–131.00 $128.30 $816 +4.75
701–705 704 39 131.50 $131.50 $926 —
783 783 27 132.50 $132.50 $1,037 +9.00
801–842 827 36 129.00–131.50 $131.07 $1,084 —
907 907 17 125.75 $125.75 $1,141 —
952 952 16 125.00 $125.00 $1,190 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
307–336 unweaned 316 55 150.00–155.00 $153.36 $485 -0.52
363–396 unweaned 380 76 144.00–161.00 $149.39 $568 -0.71
405–448 unweaned 435 113 149.00–152.50 $149.86 $652 +6.86
455–490 unweaned 474 77 124.00–146.50 $138.58 $657 -3.94
593–599 unweaned 596 16 122.00–125.00 $123.31 $735 —
761–766 765 23 127.50–129.00 $127.82 $978 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
639 639 33 139.00 $139.00 $888 —
725 725 4 123.00 $123.00 $892 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
383 unweaned 383 33 149.00 $149.00 $571 —
510 unweaned 510 3 121.00 $121.00 $617 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
802 802 5 125.00 $125.00 $1,002 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
401 unweaned 401 11 170.00 $170.00 $682 -2.89
632 unweaned 632 6 129.00 $129.00 $815 +1.50
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
422 unweaned 422 6 155.00 $155.00 $654 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
896–990 935 85-90% 21 34.00–47.00 $37.88 $354 —
805–993 936 85-90% 6 34.00–41.00 $35.35 $331 —
990 990 85-90% 1 49.50 $49.50 $490 +14.49
945–1325 1085 85-90% 31 34.00–40.00 $37.50 $407 +0.51
1020–1320 1147 85-90% 155 41.00–48.00 $44.73 $513 —
1040–1320 1194 85-90% 66 44.00–50.00 $47.82 $571 +4.26
1003–1295 1201 85-90% 107 49.50–59.00 $54.34 $653 —
1150–1318 1247 85-90% 15 47.00–51.00 $48.01 $599 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1278–1373 1335 80-85% 5 45.00–48.00 $46.15 $616 -0.47
1350 1350 80-85% 1 49.50 $49.50 $668 -7.98
1255–1670 1376 80-85% 32 50.50–59.00 $56.64 $779 -5.31
1465–1570 1518 80-85% 2 46.00–48.50 $47.29 $718 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1510–1515 1513 75-80% 3 62.00–63.50 $62.50 $946 +4.48

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1110–1230 1175 3 62.00–66.50 $64.61 $759 —
1320–1800 1548 11 55.00–74.00 $64.99 $1,006 —
1540–1615 1578 2 71.50–73.50 $72.52 $1,144 —
1700–1740 1720 2 82.00–83.00 $82.51 $1,419 —
1340–2100 1738 22 75.00–80.50 $77.78 $1,352 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
750–1203 967 (<2 yrs)Open 61 68.00–95.00 $83.83 $811
857–1270 1004 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 78 53.00–81.00 $72.41 $727
1057 thin fleshed 1057 (<2 yrs)Open 6 65.50 $65.50 $692
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1094 thin fleshed 1094 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 5 48.00 $48.00 $525

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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.