Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, February 15, 2022

960 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 steers $217.25/cwt +21.64 vs last sale · ≈ $1,141/hd at 525 lb · 104 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $199.31/cwt +9.98 vs last sale · ≈ $1,148/hd at 576 lb · 90 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1 heifers $201.13/cwt ≈ $748/hd at 372 lb · 83 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	960	1,175	1,237
Feeder cattle	592	642	1,100
Slaughter cattle	198	288	67
Replacement cattle	170	245	70

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were too lightly tested either this week or last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was average to attractive. Cattle were offered mostly in moderate size packages, with one light load on offer as well. Demand was moderate to good for light to moderate offerings. CME positions continue to trend higher. The March feeder cattle contract settled today at 168.725, April at 172.55 and May at 176.925. Market activity this week was mostly moderate to active. A large crowd was on hand for todays sale. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for light to moderate offerings. A heavy offering of fed cows was seen again this week. Most of these offerings needed 30-45 more days on hard feed to grade premium white. Packers opted to return the majority of the cows they purchased to feed this week. Feeding cows sold fully steady. Slaughter cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to weak undertones were noticed. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to lower undertones were noticed. Bull quality was not as attractive this week as it was last week. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested this week to develop any market trend.

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
448	448	8	230.00	$230.00	$1,030	—
460–463	462	7	215.00–217.50	$216.79	$1,002	-15.96
525	525	104	217.25	$217.25	$1,141	+21.64
567–584	576	90	198.00–201.00	$199.31	$1,148	+9.98
602	602	7	198.00	$198.00	$1,192	+12.50
657–660	658	8	175.00–175.50	$175.37	$1,154	-5.45
728	728	4	166.00	$166.00	$1,208	+2.00
755	755	2	161.00	$161.00	$1,216	—
788	788	3	147.00	$147.00	$1,158	—
815	815	5	146.50	$146.50	$1,194	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
358–391	372	83	192.00–209.50	$201.13	$748	—
401–433	430	67	192.00–200.75	$200.02	$860	—
467–495	471	48	177.00–185.50	$184.38	$868	-4.12
504	504	11	175.00	$175.00	$882	-2.92
557	557	3	172.00	$172.00	$958	+3.00
608	608	25	171.00	$171.00	$1,040	+3.49
657	657	5	151.00	$151.00	$992	+3.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
396	396	18	185.00	$185.00	$733	—
786	786	7	130.00	$130.00	$1,022	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
783	783	8	142.50	$142.50	$1,116	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1425–1621	1588	75-80%	103	74.00–78.25	$77.24	$1,227	—
1485–1775	1605	75-80%	4	71.50–73.00	$72.29	$1,160	-5.96
1585–1785	1627	75-80%	6	74.00–75.00	$74.83	$1,217	-2.91
1592–1673	1637	75-80%	25	75.00–76.25	$75.72	$1,240	-2.02

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
920	920	85-90%	1	63.50	$63.50	$584	—
950	950	85-90%	1	52.50	$52.50	$499	—
990	990	85-90%	1	66.00	$66.00	$653	—
1005–1335	1138	85-90%	6	56.00–64.50	$61.36	$698	—
1085–1260	1202	85-90%	3	67.00–73.75	$71.72	$862	+6.98
1165–1245	1205	85-90%	2	67.00–68.50	$67.77	$817	+3.03
1230–1245	1238	85-90%	2	75.00–75.50	$75.25	$932	-0.25

Boner ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1447–1514	1487	80-85%	15	985.00–1,110.00	$1,061.35	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1215–1460	1333	80-85%	5	72.00–75.00	$73.56	$981	—
1395	1395	80-85%	1	65.00	$65.00	$907	-11.86
1400–1495	1448	80-85%	2	71.50–73.50	$72.47	$1,049	-0.71
1625	1625	80-85%	1	75.50	$75.50	$1,227	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1310–1800	1552	10	77.50–85.00	$82.36	$1,278	—
1305–1850	1571	7	85.00–96.00	$89.10	$1,400	—
1920–1965	1943	2	104.50–106.25	$105.36	$2,047	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
961–1055	979	(<2 yrs)	Open	6	93.00–122.00	$116.79	$1,143
760–1460	1089	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	14	72.00–92.50	$76.21	$830

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1211	1211	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	1,450.00	$1,450.00
1292	1292	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	6	1,135.00	$1,135.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
977–1078	1024	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	132	1,450.00–1,585.00	$1,511.33

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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.