Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 21, 2023

1,454 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $212.24/cwt +9.49 vs last sale · ≈ $1,337/hd at 630 lb · 447 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $217.54/cwt +4.02 vs last sale · ≈ $1,245/hd at 572 lb · 169 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $191.61/cwt ≈ $1,403/hd at 732 lb · 96 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,454	1,053	1,253
Feeder cattle	1,218	973	773
Slaughter cattle	90	43	231
Replacement cattle	146	37	249

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder heifers sold steady to firm in a narrow comparison. Quality this sale was mixed from plain to very attractive. Demand was mostly good to very good today for moderate offerings. A large crowd of ranchers was on hand for todays annual trailhead replacement heifer special. Several ranchers reported they planned to sort and feed the bottom end of the heifers and breed the front end. Market activity was mostly active to very active this week as a very large crowd was on hand actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light offerings. Slaughter cows were all too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Major packers and local packers continue to be very aggressive as they fight over limited offerings. Packers purchased a few attractive offerings to feed this week. No feeding cows were seen last week so no comparisons can be made. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Cow quality was average to attractive this sale. Bull quality was mixed. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to attractive to buyers this sale. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 10.00-15.00 higher, with sharply higher sales seen on very attractive offerings. Several buyers looking for young cows that lost calves were very active this week. Demand for young open cows was good to very good.

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
522	522	5	265.00	$265.00	$1,383	-4.30
564	564	5	246.00	$246.00	$1,387	-7.00
615–645	636	13	220.50–226.50	$223.02	$1,418	-11.37
790	790	4	185.50	$185.50	$1,465	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
455–458	457	7	252.00–272.50	$257.83	$1,178	—
510–531	527	11	243.00–252.00	$244.58	$1,289	-8.42
550	550	4	220.00	$220.00	$1,210	—
660–695	678	2	189.00–205.00	$196.79	$1,334	-2.21

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
443	443	4	227.50	$227.50	$1,008	—
488–490	489	6	225.00–226.00	$225.50	$1,103	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
382	382	3	243.00	$243.00	$928	—
428	428	5	235.00	$235.00	$1,006	—
495	495	15	235.00	$235.00	$1,163	—
515–540	519	41	215.00–228.50	$226.44	$1,175	+7.97
560–594	565	58	206.00–219.50	$215.54	$1,218	+2.02
561–596	576	111	209.00–228.00	$218.58	$1,259	+5.06
600–633	618	67	202.50–206.00	$203.88	$1,260	+1.13
606–647	632	380	205.00–217.50	$213.71	$1,351	+10.96
652–663	655	68	210.50–212.00	$210.72	$1,380	+21.64
662	662	3	190.00	$190.00	$1,258	+0.92
721–735	726	44	178.00–186.00	$183.34	$1,331	—
700–745	737	52	190.00–200.50	$198.61	$1,464	—
771	771	22	179.00	$179.00	$1,380	—
835–837	836	8	168.00–169.00	$168.62	$1,410	—
865–873	868	6	164.00–167.00	$165.99	$1,441	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400–446	426	11	215.00–227.50	$222.72	$949	+3.58
463–475	469	4	217.50–222.00	$219.72	$1,030	+2.08
511–545	531	10	212.50–214.50	$213.73	$1,135	-0.19
562–570	563	6	200.00–205.50	$200.93	$1,131	—
700	700	1	170.00	$170.00	$1,190	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
777–797	787	20	1,400.00–1,500.00	$1,450.64	—
846	846	10	1,450.00	$1,450.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
900	900	85-90%	1	85.00	$85.00	$765	—
1105	1105	85-90%	1	70.00	$70.00	$774	-14.13
1178	1178	85-90%	3	89.00	$89.00	$1,048	-2.10
1030–1333	1191	85-90%	8	86.00–93.50	$91.39	$1,088	+0.29
1070–1300	1215	85-90%	10	80.00–85.50	$82.70	$1,005	—
1230–1240	1235	85-90%	2	97.00	$97.00	$1,198	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1295	1295	80-85%	1	85.50	$85.50	$1,107	—
1280–1330	1307	80-85%	11	93.50–96.00	$94.13	$1,230	—
1315	1315	80-85%	1	86.50	$86.50	$1,137	—
1295–1510	1416	80-85%	6	88.50–92.00	$89.98	$1,274	+4.71
1370–1515	1421	80-85%	5	97.00–101.50	$98.95	$1,406	+13.68

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1470–1515	1490	75-80%	4	96.00–97.00	$96.37	$1,436	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1795	1795	1	106.00	$106.00	$1,903	—
1640–1990	1805	4	111.00–115.00	$112.18	$2,025	—
1950–2110	2030	2	125.50–126.00	$125.74	$2,553	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
760–1170	931	(<2 yrs)	Open	36	120.00–166.00	$147.99	$1,378
935–1190	1061	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	20	86.00–125.00	$109.02	$1,157

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
790–960	909	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	114.00–142.00	$131.35	$1,194
1025	1025	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	95.00	$95.00	$974

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
770	770	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	120.00	$120.00	$924

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1146	1146	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	4	1,050.00	$1,050.00
1359	1359	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	10	2,100.00	$2,100.00
1465	1465	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	5	2,100.00	$2,100.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1158	1158	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	9	1,950.00	$1,950.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
914	914	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	1,750.00	$1,750.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1352	1352	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	3	1,875.00	$1,875.00	—

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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.