Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, February 28, 2023

893 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $193.07/cwt ≈ $1,471/hd at 762 lb · 136 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $238.18/cwt +19.18 vs last sale · ≈ $1,369/hd at 575 lb · 87 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $258.82/cwt +25.32 vs last sale · ≈ $1,364/hd at 527 lb · 65 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	893	1,154	970
Feeder cattle	701	209	573
Slaughter cattle	154	169	299
Replacement cattle	38	776	98

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed all feeder offerings. Demand was mostly good to very good today for light to moderate offerings. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Demand for grass weight cattle was very good. Several sets of very light fleshed calves were seen this week. Both CME feeder cattle and live cattle positions have climbed higher over the last few weeks which has provided support for feeder cattle. Market activity was mostly active this week with a very large crowd on hand. Weigh up cows sold on good demand for light offerings. A few sets of fed cows were seen again this week. Most of these offerings were not fleshy enough to grade premium white but producers are starting to market cows anyway as packers are not offering enough premium for producers to continue to feed them. Breaking cows sold mostly 2.00 higher. Boning cows sold steady to 2.00 higher. Lean cows sold fully steady. Packers purchased a few cows to feed this week for the first time in weeks. Feeding cows were too lightly tested last week to develop any market trend. Cow quality was average to attractive this sale. Bull quality was mostly plain. Weigh up conditions were average to above average this sale and better than last week. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 2.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, higher undertones were noticed. Packer buyers searching for slaughter offerings continue to push the bottom end of young offerings higher as they search for cows for immediate harvest.

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
475–481	478	20	261.00–273.00	$268.62	$1,284	—
526 thin fleshed	526	58	261.00	$261.00	$1,373	—
525–543	535	7	235.00–245.00	$240.80	$1,288	+7.30
562 thin fleshed	562	34	248.00	$248.00	$1,394	—
571–588	583	53	230.50–234.50	$231.88	$1,352	+12.88
600–639	629	8	217.00–220.50	$219.67	$1,382	—
654	654	8	214.00	$214.00	$1,400	—
658 thin fleshed	658	42	228.50	$228.50	$1,504	—
710–720	712	62	198.00–200.50	$199.89	$1,423	—
756–779	762	136	184.00–193.50	$193.07	$1,471	—
901	901	14	177.00	$177.00	$1,595	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
548	548	3	233.00	$233.00	$1,277	—
589	589	4	227.00	$227.00	$1,337	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
481–496	488	15	225.00–226.00	$225.53	$1,101	—
503	503	6	224.00	$224.00	$1,127	+6.40
561–586	566	36	220.25–224.50	$221.11	$1,251	+22.61
638	638	38	193.25	$193.25	$1,233	+7.82
676	676	4	179.00	$179.00	$1,210	—
711	711	4	172.50	$172.50	$1,226	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
485	485	27	217.25	$217.25	$1,054	—
508–546	518	21	201.00–214.50	$208.59	$1,080	+7.59

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
454–483	476	20	214.00–216.00	$214.59	$1,021	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
426	426	4	192.50	$192.50	$820	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
523–525	524	7	220.00–221.00	$220.72	$1,157	—

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1278–1650	1405	75-80%	31	90.50–94.50	$92.11	$1,294	—
1450	1450	75-80%	33	92.25	$92.25	$1,338	—
1425–1565	1503	75-80%	4	95.00–97.50	$96.34	$1,448	+6.55

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1313	1313	80-85%	6	92.00	$92.00	$1,208	—
1030–1490	1345	80-85%	20	88.00–93.50	$90.21	$1,213	—
1200–1700	1350	80-85%	6	83.00–88.50	$86.11	$1,162	—
1350–1580	1465	80-85%	2	94.50	$94.50	$1,384	+4.00

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
770	770	85-90%	1	57.50	$57.50	$443	—
965	965	85-90%	1	79.00	$79.00	$762	—
1025–1330	1128	85-90%	16	71.50–85.50	$80.92	$913	—
1095–1268	1223	85-90%	8	86.00–89.00	$87.11	$1,065	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1885	1885	65-75%	1	85.50	$85.50	$1,612	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1158	1158	2	100.00	$100.00	$1,158	—
1190–1390	1268	3	77.00–91.00	$83.70	$1,061	—
1345–2080	1633	11	91.00–109.00	$99.75	$1,629	-13.71
1900	1900	1	115.00	$115.00	$2,185	—
2255	2255	1	123.50	$123.50	$2,785	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
760	760	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	159.00	$159.00	$1,208
855–1375	1015	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	20	79.00–124.00	$109.21	$1,108

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
735–885	799	(<2 yrs)	Open	7	116.00–128.00	$119.41	$954
1080–1165	1123	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	93.00–98.00	$95.41	$1,071

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
660–760	717	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	122.50–151.00	$136.51	$979

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1320	1320	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,225.00	$1,225.00

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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.