Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, November 30, 2021

3,790 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 steers $205.14/cwt +0.14 vs last sale · ≈ $990/hd at 482 lb · 249 head

light 4-weight M&L 1 steers $213.58/cwt +17.03 vs last sale · ≈ $918/hd at 430 lb · 192 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $190.07/cwt +14.63 vs last sale · ≈ $997/hd at 525 lb · 167 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,790	1,558	3,029
Feeder cattle	1,852	794	1,885
Slaughter cattle	1,330	459	726
Replacement cattle	608	305	418

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Demand for yearlings was moderate to good for light offerings. Feeder steers were all too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. The best test for feeder heifers was for 450-549 lbs which sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher in a narrow comparison. All other weights of heifers were too lightly tested to trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was average to very attractive. Calves were mostly offered in mostly small to moderate size packages with many partial loads on offer today. Demand for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings was good to very good. Market activity this week was mostly active with many bidders actively participating. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for heavy offerings. A large run of cows was seen this week as ranchers continue to cull cows. Packers were aggressive this week in purchasing slaughter cows as they showed strong demand for cows for immediate harvest following the holiday. The best demand seen this week was for lean cows which sold 3.00-4.00 higher. Both packers and feeding cow buyers were active in bidding on these offerings. Boning cows sold steady to 2.00 higher, while breaking cows were too lightly tested last week to develop any trend. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher with the highest price increase seen on thin cows. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher. Quality week was average to attractive and more buyers were seen this week compared to last.

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
308–348	341	12	230.00–235.00	$234.25	$799	—
373–384 unweaned	377	22	225.00–230.00	$227.60	$858	—
407–448	417	61	201.00–224.00	$217.93	$909	—
400–447 unweaned	436	131	203.00–219.00	$211.55	$922	+15.00
457–486	469	109	201.50–215.50	$210.28	$986	—
476–498 unweaned	493	140	198.00–206.00	$201.13	$992	—
516–536	521	44	186.00–189.00	$187.29	$976	+7.33
500–545 unweaned	526	123	180.00–204.00	$191.07	$1,005	+18.56
571–585	576	54	172.00–177.50	$175.64	$1,012	+10.64
575–598 unweaned	590	44	165.00–172.00	$168.52	$994	-5.89
611–633 unweaned	623	86	160.50–169.50	$163.78	$1,020	+0.23
661 unweaned	661	18	154.00	$154.00	$1,018	+2.81

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
309 unweaned	309	4	217.50	$217.50	$672	—
335	335	4	205.00	$205.00	$687	—
367 unweaned	367	3	200.00	$200.00	$734	—
435 unweaned	435	2	192.00	$192.00	$835	—
448	448	6	165.00	$165.00	$739	—
451–483 unweaned	462	9	185.00–199.00	$194.12	$897	—
518–525	524	18	172.50–179.00	$173.21	$908	—
541 unweaned	541	8	174.00	$174.00	$941	+8.00

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
399 unweaned	399	5	210.00	$210.00	$838	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
344–345	344	22	182.00–190.00	$188.18	$647	—
353–368 unweaned	361	35	172.00–193.00	$181.62	$656	+11.62
374–392	379	37	172.00–191.00	$186.47	$707	—
405–445 unweaned	421	76	162.00–175.00	$168.20	$708	+6.71
429–443	436	24	162.00–173.00	$167.41	$730	+0.41
451–480	457	96	162.00–164.75	$164.21	$750	—
450–485 unweaned	468	32	157.50–165.00	$161.84	$757	+4.74
504	504	19	160.00	$160.00	$806	+4.86
500–532 unweaned	526	138	152.00–160.00	$154.77	$814	+3.03
593–596 unweaned	595	38	150.00–151.50	$150.35	$895	+7.43
606–622 unweaned	617	22	148.00–149.50	$149.03	$920	+10.33
883	883	3	145.00	$145.00	$1,280	+6.00
1005	1005	2	133.50	$133.50	$1,342	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
533	533	21	149.00	$149.00	$794	—
530–549 unweaned	544	8	141.00–143.00	$142.51	$775	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
323 unweaned	323	2	175.00	$175.00	$565	—
451–479	460	15	137.00–145.00	$139.77	$643	-15.23
537 unweaned	537	3	147.00	$147.00	$789	—
703	703	2	142.00	$142.00	$998	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
430 unweaned	430	2	182.50	$182.50	$785	—
597 unweaned	597	3	137.00	$137.00	$818	—
698	698	6	128.00	$128.00	$893	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
910–940	925	85-90%	2	24.00–30.00	$27.05	$250	-7.06
805–995	965	85-90%	38	30.00–43.00	$38.25	$369	—
1028–1073	1054	85-90%	24	37.00–39.00	$38.19	$403	—
1001–1244	1094	85-90%	103	38.00–48.50	$44.52	$487	—
1037–1295	1113	85-90%	110	47.00–55.00	$49.88	$555	+10.78
1020–1395	1140	85-90%	19	31.00–37.50	$35.05	$400	-4.05
1073–1305	1160	85-90%	40	46.50–53.50	$47.97	$556	-1.65
1013–1350	1165	85-90%	197	38.00–46.50	$42.41	$494	-7.21
1110–1265	1186	85-90%	15	58.00–63.00	$60.94	$723	+13.29

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1300–1604	1404	80-85%	67	54.00–60.75	$57.35	$805	+7.35
1340–1615	1414	80-85%	8	44.00–53.00	$47.49	$672	-2.51
1385–1515	1460	80-85%	3	54.00–58.00	$55.44	$809	—
1380–1650	1461	80-85%	11	42.00–54.00	$45.57	$666	—
1290–1565	1466	80-85%	7	62.00–64.00	$62.51	$916	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1511–1527	1515	75-80%	49	63.50–64.00	$63.63	$964	—
1568–1975	1670	75-80%	4	58.00–62.00	$59.18	$988	—
1425–1935	1679	75-80%	4	63.00–66.00	$64.68	$1,086	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1210–1320	1267	3	65.50–74.00	$70.12	$888	—
1410–1650	1530	2	77.00–79.00	$77.92	$1,192	—
1275–1885	1616	9	80.00–85.50	$82.51	$1,333	-0.28
1400–2155	1680	8	70.50–79.50	$74.96	$1,259	+3.87
1728–1845	1777	4	81.00–84.00	$82.51	$1,466	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1885	1885	1	81.50	$81.50	$1,536	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
875 thin fleshed	875	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	89.00	$89.00	$779
798–1060	915	(<2 yrs)	Open	222	80.00–104.75	$94.06	$861
961–1152	991	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	56	59.00–70.00	$62.94	$624
760–1305	1000	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	47	53.00–86.00	$68.91	$689
1195 thin fleshed	1195	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	48.00	$48.00	$574

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
905	905	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	86.00	$86.00	$778

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1249 thin fleshed	1249	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	10	575.00	$575.00
1337	1337	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	11	870.00	$870.00
1342	1342	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	6	1,000.00	$1,000.00
1374	1374	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	11	820.00	$820.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1264	1264	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	18	50.75	$50.75	$641

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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.