Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, January 5, 2021

1,926 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $157.86/cwt -1.38 vs last sale · ≈ $911/hd at 577 lb · 178 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $184.39/cwt +2.19 vs last sale · ≈ $869/hd at 471 lb · 136 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $155.44/cwt -2.68 vs last sale · ≈ $746/hd at 480 lb · 123 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,926	3,665	2,667
Feeder cattle	1,209	2,265	1,686
Slaughter cattle	548	575	186
Replacement cattle	169	825	795

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: steer calves under 450 lbs sold steady to 10.00 higher; 450-499 lbs steers sold generally steady; steers over 500 lbs sold steady to 3.00 lower. Yearling heifers were too lightly tested to develop an market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Heifers under 450 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher; heifers over 450 lbs sold generally steady to weak. Feeder cattle quality was mostly average today. The best demand was seen for lightweight calves suitable to run on grass. CME positions sold off sharply on Monday. Lower CME contract prices coupled with sharply higher feed costs put a damper on the market this week. Market activity was mostly moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for moderate offerings. Feeding cow buyers were the driving force behind the cow market this week. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 1.00 higher. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher as packing buyers competed with feeding buyers over offerings. Cow and bull quality was mostly average to attractive this week. Cow body condition scores have started to improve as winter has been very mild and many produces have weaned calves over 60 days. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend as most bulls sold to feeding buyers last sale. Demand for bulls was mostly good. Weigh up conditions were average this week. Young age cows sold sharply lower as the calendar has advanced too late in the year for southern ranchers to breed for fall calving. Many sets of young age cows sold as feeding cows 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
398	398	4	207.50	$207.50	$826	+11.05
421–425 unweaned	423	25	204.00–217.00	$211.25	$894	+26.41
458	458	18	200.50	$200.50	$918	+12.53
450–498	471	83	175.00–190.00	$180.85	$852	-7.12
476–492 unweaned	479	35	182.50–185.00	$184.49	$884	+8.42
514 unweaned	514	4	171.00	$171.00	$879	-2.65
503–533	522	35	165.00–171.50	$168.54	$880	-6.60
562–598	577	178	152.50–161.00	$157.86	$911	-3.43
605–648	624	38	147.00–153.50	$150.42	$939	+0.16
627 unweaned	627	3	148.00	$148.00	$928	-0.52
656 unweaned	656	8	145.50	$145.50	$954	—
659–683	677	46	140.00–145.00	$142.99	$968	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320	320	7	205.00	$205.00	$656	+18.50
370–389	385	36	172.00–190.00	$178.89	$689	—
430 unweaned	430	2	184.00	$184.00	$791	—
455–498	473	12	160.00–167.00	$163.07	$771	-9.93
540–548 unweaned	543	13	158.00	$158.00	$858	-4.00
570	570	12	150.00	$150.00	$855	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
405–448	411	75	159.50–177.00	$173.31	$712	+10.68
441–445 unweaned	444	23	158.00–162.00	$159.04	$706	-7.26
478–498	480	123	149.50–157.00	$155.44	$746	-1.24
521–534 unweaned	532	58	144.00–144.75	$144.65	$770	-0.25
529–541	533	22	143.50–147.25	$146.04	$778	-7.74
556–575	563	53	138.00–143.00	$142.06	$800	+8.45
610	610	6	131.00	$131.00	$799	—
941	941	13	117.00	$117.00	$1,101	-6.00
985	985	2	118.50	$118.50	$1,167	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	17	165.00	$165.00	$619	-3.00
433–442	438	5	150.00–155.00	$153.02	$670	+0.02
580	580	21	131.50	$131.50	$763	—
930	930	6	114.50	$114.50	$1,065	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
985	985	85-90%	2	45.00–46.00	$45.50	$448	+4.65
1055–1175	1120	85-90%	57	50.50–55.00	$52.62	$589	+9.11
1060–1235	1153	85-90%	17	31.00–40.00	$37.98	$438	—
1163	1163	85-90%	2	60.00	$60.00	$698	+13.79
1010–1285	1189	85-90%	111	45.50–50.00	$47.91	$570	+1.70
1053–1344	1190	85-90%	34	50.00–53.00	$52.02	$619	+5.81
1070–1370	1222	85-90%	47	41.00–49.00	$45.69	$558	-7.70

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1222–1695	1327	80-85%	142	52.00–59.50	$57.97	$769	+0.90
1338	1338	80-85%	6	59.50	$59.50	$796	+13.30
1308–1415	1340	80-85%	9	51.00	$51.00	$683	+4.80
1260–1500	1353	80-85%	6	43.00–47.00	$45.62	$617	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1363	1363	75-80%	8	58.50	$58.50	$797	—
1345–1715	1510	75-80%	24	55.00–57.50	$57.29	$865	—
1525	1525	75-80%	1	59.50	$59.50	$907	—
1544–1593	1556	75-80%	8	54.50–57.00	$55.14	$858	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2000	2000	65-75%	1	59.00	$59.00	$1,180	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1160–1660	1372	3	72.50–74.00	$73.58	$1,010	—
1390–1580	1485	2	78.50–79.00	$78.77	$1,170	—
1595–1905	1751	4	67.00–74.00	$72.16	$1,264	—
1425–2200	1900	26	77.00–82.50	$80.26	$1,525	—
1975	1975	1	84.00	$84.00	$1,659	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
845–865 thin fleshed	855	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	47.00–62.00	$54.41	$465
851–1220	1030	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	66	52.00–92.00	$61.06	$629
1099	1099	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	16	53.00	$53.00	$582

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1133–1395	1254	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	5	710.00–775.00	$738.91
1318	1318	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	26	1,035.00	$1,035.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
938	938	(<2 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	16	1,385.00	$1,385.00

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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.