Cattle Market Pulse

Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 30, 2021

1,433 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $163.99/cwt -2.04 vs last sale · ≈ $779/hd at 475 lb · 157 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $188.31/cwt +26.84 vs last sale · ≈ $1,037/hd at 551 lb · 138 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $163.77/cwt +9.78 vs last sale · ≈ $848/hd at 518 lb · 116 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,433 646 1,365
Feeder cattle 1,183 326 1,022
Slaughter cattle 130 139 99
Replacement cattle 120 181 244

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers were all too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed. Heifers were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Demand was mostly good this week. Bidders were very active this week with more participants bidding and buying this week. CME positions were higher six consecutive days in a row and buyers showed good demand as a result. Some moisture fell across the region over the past week this helped bolster demand for grass cattle this week. Boxed beef cutout values traded sharply higher over the last couple days as warmer weather and easing restrictions in some states has bolstered demand for beef. The Boxed beef cutout value was 244.83 on choice and 235.92 on select, 5.30 and 3.42 higher respectively. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand for light offerings. Packers and feeding buyers both were very active in bidding on cows this week. Light supplies across the upper Plains states have pushed cow prices higher. Packers and feeding buyers competing over offerings pushed cows sharply higher. Feeding cows sold 2.00-4.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Slaughter cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher. Bull quality this week was very attractive. Bull offerings were heavy. 2 year old to young age cows sold mostly 10.00-12.00 higher. Stronger demand was seen for these offerings again 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 $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
360–383 381 11 189.50–192.00 $189.71 $723 —
438–446 443 18 191.00–194.50 $192.15 $851 —
452 452 53 194.00 $194.00 $877 +11.00
527–543 540 110 183.00–188.25 $187.41 $1,012 +16.25
550 thin fleshed 550 81 190.00 $190.00 $1,045 —
550–552 552 57 185.50–186.00 $185.90 $1,026 —
630–646 639 36 169.00–177.00 $172.28 $1,101 +15.14
652 652 35 165.00 $165.00 $1,076 —
710–749 743 6 145.50–150.00 $146.22 $1,086 +8.22
777–791 780 38 141.50–142.75 $142.45 $1,111 —
935 935 10 131.00 $131.00 $1,225 —
958 958 6 129.00 $129.00 $1,236 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
489 489 10 185.00 $185.00 $905 +21.00
505–544 539 51 173.00–177.00 $173.22 $934 +9.22
584–596 590 10 154.00–165.00 $159.56 $941 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1022 1022 5 119.00 $119.00 $1,216 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
401–448 416 29 167.25–167.50 $167.33 $696 +1.60
455–498 475 157 161.00–164.75 $163.99 $779 -2.04
505–530 518 116 158.50–166.00 $163.77 $848 +9.78
572–583 573 67 150.00–159.00 $158.32 $907 +15.47
608–635 611 35 143.00–154.00 $152.44 $931 +15.46
660–695 693 14 138.50–143.50 $138.84 $962 +12.02
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
446 446 7 160.50 $160.50 $716 —
478 478 2 154.00 $154.00 $736 —
545 545 4 145.00 $145.00 $790 -4.00
571–573 572 10 144.00 $144.00 $824 —
610–627 620 5 138.00–143.00 $139.97 $868 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
95 95 1 325.00 $325.00 —

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1100–1122 1111 6 115.00–118.00 $116.51 $1,294 —
1215 1215 2 104.50 $104.50 $1,270 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
532 532 7 153.00 $153.00 $814 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1053 1053 5 113.00 $113.00 $1,190 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
505 505 4 173.00 $173.00 $874 —
985 985 1 118.00 $118.00 $1,162 +5.00
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
75 75 1 200.00 $200.00 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
905 905 85-90% 1 64.50 $64.50 $584 +11.62
855–988 944 85-90% 3 52.00–55.00 $52.91 $499 +0.03
995 995 85-90% 1 47.00 $47.00 $468 —
1055–1135 1081 85-90% 6 55.00–58.00 $57.02 $616 —
1055–1140 1098 85-90% 2 61.50–63.00 $62.28 $684 —
1075–1335 1228 85-90% 4 64.50–67.00 $65.90 $809 —
1205–1265 1228 85-90% 4 63.50–67.00 $64.65 $794 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1360 1360 80-85% 1 62.50 $62.50 $850 +3.50
1363–1583 1466 80-85% 15 63.00–67.50 $65.35 $958 —
1450–1515 1483 80-85% 2 70.75–71.00 $70.87 $1,051 —
1670 1670 80-85% 1 67.50 $67.50 $1,127 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1505–1750 1608 75-80% 3 67.50–69.00 $68.17 $1,096 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1300 1300 1 84.50 $84.50 $1,098 —
1468 1468 3 87.50 $87.50 $1,284 —
1300–1900 1670 11 73.50–83.50 $80.67 $1,347 —
1270–2480 1776 37 83.50–92.00 $87.05 $1,546 —
1865–2360 2014 18 93.00–99.50 $96.22 $1,938 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
900 thin fleshed 900 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 65.00 $65.00 $585
745–1325 931 (<2 yrs)Open 72 72.00–114.00 $103.28 $962
910–1240 1066 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 36 66.50–93.00 $76.60 $817
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
853 853 (<2 yrs)Open 2 88.00 $88.00 $751

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
655 655 4 60.50 $60.50 $396 —

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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.