Cattle Market Pulse

Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 2, 2021

1,678 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 heifers $166.30/cwt +7.48 vs last sale · ≈ $858/hd at 516 lb · 216 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $155.54/cwt +0.88 vs last sale · ≈ $899/hd at 578 lb · 130 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $167.14/cwt +3.32 vs last sale · ≈ $779/hd at 466 lb · 91 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,678 2,910 1,053
Feeder cattle 1,025 2,202 848
Slaughter cattle 405 288 90
Replacement cattle 248 420 115

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers sold mostly steady to firm on all offerings. Heifers sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher. Demand was mostly good with very good demand seen at times. Demand for grass cattle was mostly good to very good with several local ranchers actively bidding on high quality, thin fleshed offerings. Quality this week was mostly attractive. Market activity was mostly active with order buyers and ranchers both actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on moderate demand for light to moderate offerings. Slaughter cows sold steady to 1.00 lower. Cow offerings were slightly heavier this week with several sets of fed cows on offer. Packers showed mostly moderate demand for fed cows, however some of these offerings were pushing heavy amounts of fill this week. Several sets of fed cows were purchased to return to feed this week. Feeding cows sold steady to 1.00 lower as well. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market however steady to lower undertones were noticed. Overall weigh up conditions this week were mostly average. 2 year old to young age cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Moderate demand was seen this week for these offerings.

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
397 397 3 191.00 $191.00 $758 —
470–498 487 70 187.50–196.00 $191.70 $934 +3.48
500–543 513 22 183.00–191.00 $187.22 $960 +3.49
522 522 6 165.00 $165.00 $861 -18.73
553–592 572 66 164.00–177.50 $172.13 $985 +2.50
600–630 621 48 157.00–164.50 $161.91 $1,005 -1.51
650–670 669 61 144.00–150.00 $146.03 $977 -2.59
711–727 720 28 142.50–143.25 $143.08 $1,030 +0.94
766 766 7 141.00 $141.00 $1,080 -0.50
819 819 7 129.00 $129.00 $1,057 —
903 903 4 123.00 $123.00 $1,111 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
418 unweaned 418 6 173.00 $173.00 $723 —
473–498 491 11 174.00–182.00 $180.23 $885 +3.20
530 530 6 176.00 $176.00 $933 +10.02
598 598 2 151.00 $151.00 $903 +0.18
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
428–445 432 19 179.00–189.00 $186.29 $805 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
407 407 6 171.00 $171.00 $696 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
343 343 10 175.00 $175.00 $600 —
427–436 432 35 164.00–171.00 $164.96 $713 —
454–481 466 91 163.00–169.00 $167.14 $779 +3.00
503–517 thin fleshed 506 40 171.00–175.00 $174.34 $882 —
501–530 518 176 156.00–166.00 $164.47 $852 +4.82
566 thin fleshed 566 25 163.00 $163.00 $923 —
560–595 581 105 152.50–156.00 $153.76 $893 -0.97
635 635 2 150.50 $150.50 $956 +7.18
652–685 668 23 128.00–140.00 $132.29 $884 -4.47
733–739 737 13 115.00–120.00 $118.47 $873 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
485 485 5 154.00 $154.00 $747 -1.00
631 631 3 139.00 $139.00 $877 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
455 455 4 155.00 $155.00 $705 +7.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
648 648 2 137.50 $137.50 $891 —
796 796 4 117.00 $117.00 $931 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
875 875 85-90% 1 57.50 $57.50 $503 —
950–995 970 85-90% 3 45.00–53.00 $48.47 $470 +5.47
1053–1253 1110 85-90% 7 42.00–46.00 $44.98 $499 -3.02
1010–1213 1122 85-90% 77 48.00–57.75 $51.89 $582 +3.89
1005–1260 1175 85-90% 6 59.00–62.50 $60.82 $715 —
1120–1250 1200 85-90% 6 60.50–62.50 $61.07 $733 —
1205 1205 85-90% 1 64.00 $64.00 $771 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1595 1595 65-75% 43 63.00 $63.00 $1,005 —
1648–2020 1769 65-75% 55 57.75–60.50 $59.18 $1,047 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1220–1290 1243 80-85% 3 65.00–66.00 $65.33 $812 —
1242–1510 1322 80-85% 41 59.50–64.00 $61.85 $818 -0.24
1248–1485 1326 80-85% 26 55.50–58.50 $57.94 $768 -4.15
1340 1340 80-85% 1 64.50 $64.50 $864 +2.41
1296–1515 1380 80-85% 12 59.00–64.00 $60.82 $839 +1.33
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1487–1690 1510 75-80% 9 61.50–63.00 $62.81 $948 +2.70
1495–1785 1527 75-80% 10 53.50–59.50 $57.73 $882 -5.27
1446–1573 1532 75-80% 63 60.00–63.75 $62.76 $961 -0.24

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1265 1265 2 72.00 $72.00 $911 -11.50
1305 1305 2 83.25 $83.25 $1,086 —
1465 1465 1 72.00 $72.00 $1,055 —
1330–1933 1652 20 83.75–89.50 $85.97 $1,420 —
1725–2385 2010 3 90.00–90.50 $90.30 $1,815 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
773–858 thin fleshed 824 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 10 67.00–79.00 $71.50 $589
835–981 940 (<2 yrs)Open 19 90.00–111.00 $107.33 $1,009
975–1313 1206 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 8 59.00–88.00 $67.72 $817

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1190 thin fleshed 1190 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 7 750.00 $750.00
1269–1388 1310 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 71 860.00–910.00 $874.30
1346 1346 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 11 1,050.00 $1,050.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1014–1079 1045 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 95 1,425.00 $1,425.00

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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.