Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, December 1, 2020

3,029 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 $172.97/cwt +10.48 vs last sale · ≈ $895/hd at 517 lb · 235 head

light 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $155.80/cwt +6.56 vs last sale · ≈ $674/hd at 433 lb · 203 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $161.14/cwt +13.57 vs last sale · ≈ $757/hd at 470 lb · 196 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,029	2,542	2,439
Feeder cattle	1,885	1,479	1,413
Slaughter cattle	726	675	88
Replacement cattle	418	388	938

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested last sale to develop any market trend. Unweaned steer calves sold mostly 10.00-15.00 higher. Heifers under 550 lbs sold mostly 6.00-12.00 higher, heifers over 550 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was average to very attractive and much more attractive than last weeks light run. Many sets of calves were purchased to run on grass this coming summer and these offerings sold with the best demand. Demand for weaned calves was mostly good this week. Market activity was mostly active with bidders quickly bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on light to moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Packers showed light demand for all cows not suitable to feed. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 lower on all classes. Feeding cows sold weak on high quality cows suitable to feed to premium white and mostly 1.00 lower on short term feeding cows. Cow quality this week was average with many thin cows seen again this week. Slaughter bulls sold with steady to lower undertones. Packers showed light demand for bulls this week and offerings that were not suitable to feed sold lower. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold unevenly steady. Demand remains mostly good for young cows. Many cows continue to sell light and in thin flesh.

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
327 unweaned	327	11	202.50	$202.50	$662	—
373–394 unweaned	390	37	195.00–211.00	$204.60	$798	+13.60
404	404	14	210.00	$210.00	$848	—
401–433 unweaned	411	80	188.00–206.00	$198.16	$814	+17.73
454–498 unweaned	476	76	178.00–191.00	$188.70	$898	+12.96
491	491	20	183.00	$183.00	$899	—
501–533	504	62	166.00–179.50	$178.35	$899	+11.60
506–549 unweaned	522	173	159.00–177.50	$171.04	$893	+9.01
591–593 unweaned	593	20	147.00–150.00	$147.75	$876	-1.25
605–628 unweaned	613	58	146.00–154.50	$151.50	$929	+17.50
665–686 unweaned	685	19	144.00–146.00	$145.90	$999	+11.67
688	688	74	152.00	$152.00	$1,046	—
724 unweaned	724	15	141.50	$141.50	$1,024	—
814	814	7	140.00	$140.00	$1,140	—
895	895	7	133.00	$133.00	$1,190	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
303	303	15	187.50	$187.50	$568	—
387–398	389	44	186.00–190.00	$189.16	$736	—
425 unweaned	425	7	182.00	$182.00	$774	+10.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
363	363	27	165.00	$165.00	$599	—
362–393 unweaned	377	39	164.00–168.00	$165.75	$625	+13.97
406–448 unweaned	432	83	156.50–160.50	$158.19	$683	+8.95
411–439	433	120	151.00–163.00	$154.14	$667	—
456–469	463	58	153.50–159.50	$155.60	$720	—
455–482 fancy	469	102	167.00–167.50	$167.24	$784	—
462–498 unweaned	484	36	149.50–159.00	$152.76	$739	+5.19
505	505	12	152.00	$152.00	$768	—
509 fancy	509	16	160.00	$160.00	$814	—
502–535 unweaned	519	87	147.00–156.00	$153.43	$796	+12.79
550–563 unweaned	558	11	135.00–140.00	$138.21	$771	+3.21
565	565	17	142.00	$142.00	$802	+24.50
668 unweaned	668	32	133.50	$133.50	$892	+11.50
828	828	39	130.50	$130.50	$1,081	+5.04
936	936	13	127.50	$127.50	$1,193	+5.78

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
304	304	7	159.00	$159.00	$483	—
348 unweaned	348	11	157.00	$157.00	$546	—
419–441 unweaned	438	35	148.00–151.00	$150.72	$660	—
446	446	12	152.00	$152.00	$678	—
477 unweaned	477	5	144.00	$144.00	$687	+4.00
532 unweaned	532	9	135.00	$135.00	$718	+7.00
900	900	4	113.00	$113.00	$1,017	—
982	982	3	112.00	$112.00	$1,100	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1003 unweaned	1003	3	118.00	$118.00	$1,184	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
417	417	3	134.00	$134.00	$559	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
329 unweaned	329	4	187.50	$187.50	$617	—
413 unweaned	413	10	179.00	$179.00	$739	—
530	530	2	160.00	$160.00	$848	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
840	840	85-90%	1	27.50	$27.50	$231	—
955–960	958	85-90%	3	36.50–41.00	$37.99	$364	—
935–995	962	85-90%	3	42.00–47.00	$44.39	$427	—
962–1335	1033	85-90%	42	25.00–36.00	$34.02	$351	—
1129	1129	85-90%	8	59.00	$59.00	$666	+15.83
890–1370	1143	85-90%	44	38.50–46.00	$41.97	$480	-1.20
1010–1350	1150	85-90%	130	38.00–46.00	$43.19	$497	-6.97
940–1223	1165	85-90%	13	46.50–51.00	$47.35	$552	-2.81
983–1252	1176	85-90%	22	46.50–56.00	$49.82	$586	-0.34

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
958	958	80-85%	2	43.00	$43.00	$412	—
1290–1460	1304	80-85%	17	44.00–47.50	$46.30	$604	-0.56
1215–1635	1328	80-85%	47	49.00–59.50	$53.34	$708	+6.48
1350	1350	80-85%	4	51.00	$51.00	$688	+3.00
1360	1360	80-85%	1	47.00	$47.00	$639	-1.00
1430	1430	80-85%	1	62.00	$62.00	$887	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1490	1490	75-80%	1	46.00	$46.00	$685	—
1270–1572	1524	75-80%	14	58.50–64.50	$62.18	$948	-0.61

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1190–1928	1662	12	64.00–74.00	$70.81	$1,177	—
1665–2125	1853	7	54.00–74.00	$65.36	$1,211	-12.97
1963–2038	1984	7	77.50–80.50	$78.38	$1,555	+6.77

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
690–1172	934	(<2 yrs)	Open	103	50.00–91.00	$80.26	$750
821–1253	1000	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	95	50.00–88.00	$66.71	$667

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1055	1055	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	14	650.00	$650.00
1055	1055	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	800.00	$800.00

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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.