Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, January 17, 2023

1,485 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 $186.42/cwt +7.91 vs last sale · ≈ $1,043/hd at 559 lb · 94 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $186.59/cwt +21.59 vs last sale · ≈ $1,152/hd at 618 lb · 74 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $194.78/cwt -5.07 vs last sale · ≈ $1,030/hd at 529 lb · 56 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,485	1,815	3,371
Feeder cattle	585	1,444	1,902
Slaughter cattle	187	346	549
Replacement cattle	713	25	920

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed on steers. Heifers under 500 lbs sold with steady undertones while heifers over 500 lbs sold with higher undertones. Demand was mostly moderate to good for all feeders on offer. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Most offerings were weaned 45-90 days. Offerings were offered in mostly small packages, however demand was mostly good for all size packages. Market activity was mostly moderate to active this week. A large buyer pool of both order buyers and farmer feeders was on hand actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packer buyers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows this week as eastern packers become more competitive as the sale progressed. Slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00 higher in a narrow compairson. Feeding cows were too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady in a narrow compairson. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. A large portion of the cow offering was comprised of bred cows this week. Quality was good to very good. A very large buyer pool of ranchers was in the stands by the 1:00 pm start. Demand was good to very good for all bred cows and heifers on offer. 3rd trimester is today through Apri 21; 2nd trimester is April 21 to July 24; 1st trimester is After July 21st.

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
365–386	384	10	277.50–283.00	$282.48	$1,085	+11.97
443	443	12	248.00	$248.00	$1,099	-8.96
451–473	466	12	239.50–243.00	$240.63	$1,121	+6.58
506–539	513	43	226.00–231.00	$229.90	$1,179	+3.92
553–593	578	46	210.25–228.00	$215.44	$1,245	+5.16
605–613	607	12	207.00–210.75	$209.80	$1,273	+8.52
660	660	6	186.50	$186.50	$1,231	-0.16
716	716	19	179.00	$179.00	$1,282	-6.04
765	765	4	164.50	$164.50	$1,258	—
790	790	3	162.00	$162.00	$1,280	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
416	416	6	242.50	$242.50	$1,009	-3.13
455–489	472	15	225.00–234.00	$229.58	$1,084	+16.58
540	540	2	219.00	$219.00	$1,183	+11.74

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
542	542	7	219.00	$219.00	$1,187	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
363	363	10	208.50	$208.50	$757	-6.27
444	444	20	196.00–201.50	$198.75	$882	-12.04
461–487	474	22	193.00–196.00	$194.00	$920	-9.37
519–546	529	56	191.00–197.50	$194.78	$1,030	-5.07
552 fancy	552	8	196.00	$196.00	$1,082	—
550–575	560	86	182.00–189.50	$185.53	$1,039	+7.02
603	603	27	188.50	$188.50	$1,137	+22.00
626	626	47	185.50	$185.50	$1,161	+19.00
670	670	6	178.00	$178.00	$1,193	+13.43

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
353	353	5	195.00	$195.00	$688	—
402–439	423	7	190.00–194.00	$192.37	$814	-8.63
450–490	460	19	180.00–191.50	$190.80	$878	+5.67
543	543	2	186.00	$186.00	$1,010	+3.18
601	601	6	169.00	$169.00	$1,016	+5.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
463	463	2	234.00	$234.00	$1,083	—
525	525	2	207.00	$207.00	$1,087	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
587	587	3	171.00	$171.00	$1,004	—
660	660	1	147.00	$147.00	$970	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
85 unweaned	85	1	550.00	$550.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
845	845	85-90%	1	53.00	$53.00	$448	—
865–1065	965	85-90%	2	58.00–58.50	$58.28	$562	-5.24
965	965	85-90%	1	43.00	$43.00	$415	-20.52
960–985	973	85-90%	2	64.00–68.00	$66.03	$642	+2.51
1045–1205	1125	85-90%	2	70.50–74.00	$72.37	$814	+0.21
1010–1245	1126	85-90%	30	52.00–62.50	$59.48	$670	-12.68
1107–1202	1155	85-90%	6	70.00–71.50	$70.72	$817	—
1058–1290	1169	85-90%	20	62.00–67.50	$64.38	$753	-6.62
1020–1275	1170	85-90%	16	62.50–69.50	$67.01	$784	-3.99

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1280–1455	1343	80-85%	7	64.50–70.50	$68.90	$925	—
1320–1490	1374	80-85%	4	60.00–65.00	$63.14	$868	—
1270–1495	1388	80-85%	16	71.50–76.50	$73.57	$1,021	—
1295–1565	1397	80-85%	13	70.50–75.00	$72.99	$1,020	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1400	1400	75-80%	1	75.50	$75.50	$1,057	—
1405–1915	1567	75-80%	10	75.00–76.50	$75.84	$1,188	+0.61
1640	1640	75-80%	1	72.00	$72.00	$1,181	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1515	1515	1	97.50	$97.50	$1,477	—
1530–1615	1562	6	81.50–92.50	$87.29	$1,363	—
1470–1740	1605	2	95.50–96.50	$95.96	$1,540	+9.91
1795	1795	1	85.50	$85.50	$1,535	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
845–981	954	(<2 yrs)	Open	15	146.00–149.50	$148.67	$1,418
915–1193	1081	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	34	65.00–89.50	$77.03	$833

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
740–805	783	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	131.00–145.00	$135.41	$1,060

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1135 thin fleshed	1135	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	1,085.00	$1,085.00
1147–1218	1175	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	15	885.00–950.00	$923.06
1119–1282	1227	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	75	1,700.00–2,250.00	$2,148.82
1224–1240	1236	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	102	1,800.00–2,050.00	$1,931.49
1152–1403	1259	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	149	975.00–1,350.00	$1,109.34
1308	1308	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	31	1,600.00	$1,600.00
1181–1515	1323	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	30	1,135.00–1,550.00	$1,345.68
1124–1505	1328	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	67	1,550.00–2,275.00	$1,949.17
1345	1345	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	975.00	$975.00
1378	1378	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	32	1,300.00	$1,300.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1024–1107	1085	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	37	1,250.00–1,625.00	$1,545.85
1113	1113	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	850.00	$850.00
1342	1342	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	960.00	$960.00

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1007	1007	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	9	1,600.00	$1,600.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1132–1147	1137	(<2 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	29	2,200.00–2,235.00	$2,224.04

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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.