Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 23, 2021

646 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 heifers $142.85/cwt -9.40 vs last sale · ≈ $827/hd at 579 lb · 52 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $166.03/cwt -0.91 vs last sale · ≈ $802/hd at 483 lb · 43 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $171.16/cwt -2.70 vs last sale · ≈ $923/hd at 539 lb · 27 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	646	2,951	922
Feeder cattle	326	2,671	737
Slaughter cattle	139	165	85
Replacement cattle	181	115	100

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers and heifers were all too lightly tested this week to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed on all offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average and significantly lower in quality than last weeks mostly very attractive offering. Light offerings limited demand this week as fewer buyers were on hand bidding on offerings and some buyers were reluctant to start loads due to limited supplies. Market activity was slow to moderate this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand this week. Feeding and packer buyers both showed good demand as they competed over limited offerings. Packers purchased most cows to return to feed this week. Slaughter cow demand was mostly good as packers competed with feeding buyers over lower quality or older offerings. Slaughter and feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher in a very narrow comparison. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady. Two year old to young age cows were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Stronger demand was seen for these offerings this week as rebreed buyers were searching for cows that lost calves.

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
487	487	14	183.00	$183.00	$891	-3.67
510–543	539	27	170.00–181.00	$171.16	$923	-2.70
550–598	594	14	160.00–167.50	$161.47	$959	-5.77
600–635	626	9	155.50–159.00	$157.14	$984	-6.42
693	693	14	150.50	$150.50	$1,043	-2.93
725	725	3	138.00	$138.00	$1,000	-7.43

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
376–398	391	24	184.00–189.50	$185.76	$726	—
456	456	4	164.00	$164.00	$748	—
511	511	6	164.00	$164.00	$838	-1.01

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
411–445	429	17	165.50–166.00	$165.73	$711	-12.40
464–485	483	43	165.00–167.25	$166.03	$802	-0.51
507–530	517	23	147.00–156.00	$153.99	$796	-5.32
560–595	579	52	138.00–146.00	$142.85	$827	-9.40
602–627	613	11	133.50–140.00	$136.98	$840	-5.34
663–677	673	12	126.00–129.00	$126.82	$853	-13.00
745	745	3	124.50	$124.50	$928	-13.64
772	772	16	125.00	$125.00	$965	-5.24
838	838	2	114.00	$114.00	$955	-4.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
545	545	3	149.00	$149.00	$812	-2.17

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
668	668	2	131.00	$131.00	$875	-3.50
764	764	10	128.00	$128.00	$978	—
975	975	4	113.00	$113.00	$1,102	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
890	890	85-90%	1	42.00	$42.00	$374	±0.00
860–995	928	85-90%	2	51.00–54.50	$52.88	$491	—
1035–1230	1109	85-90%	9	51.50–60.00	$58.54	$649	+13.30
1055–1295	1144	85-90%	6	49.50–56.00	$53.83	$616	-5.31
1010–1335	1150	85-90%	14	61.50–65.00	$63.17	$726	—
1150–1268	1264	85-90%	27	59.50–63.25	$63.12	$798	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1258–1493	1314	80-85%	50	62.00–64.50	$63.10	$829	+6.29
1268–1455	1330	80-85%	3	67.00–67.50	$67.32	$895	+10.51
1325–1340	1335	80-85%	3	63.50–65.50	$64.16	$857	+7.35
1395	1395	80-85%	1	59.00	$59.00	$823	—
1555	1555	80-85%	1	58.50	$58.50	$910	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1125	1125	1	78.00	$78.00	$878	-4.50
1215–1395	1287	3	61.00–72.00	$64.46	$830	—
1440–1875	1544	5	82.00–83.50	$82.92	$1,280	—
1442–1760	1571	8	64.00–81.50	$77.86	$1,223	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
745–1290	995	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	20	75.50–100.00	$84.70	$843
760–1192	998	(<2 yrs)	Open	56	83.00–105.00	$90.39	$902
1128	1128	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	20	65.00	$65.00	$733

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1398	1398	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	65	1,110.00	$1,110.00
1451–1483	1465	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	14	875.00–885.00	$880.66

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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.