Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, May 9, 2023

1,019 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 heifers $241.40/cwt -17.10 vs last sale · ≈ $1,241/hd at 514 lb · 40 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $219.30/cwt -6.26 vs last sale · ≈ $1,349/hd at 615 lb · 37 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $237.00/cwt ≈ $1,168/hd at 493 lb · 16 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,019	588	1,354
Feeder cattle	270	222	398
Slaughter cattle	316	177	465
Replacement cattle	433	189	491

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested this week and last week to develop any market trend. Quality this sale was mostly plain to average. Demand was mostly moderate for light offerings. Cattle were offered in mostly small packages or as singles. CME feeder cattle contract prices traded higher today as grains sold off. Market activity was mostly moderate to active this week. Weigh up cows sold on moderate to good demand for light to moderate offerings. Slaughter cows were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed on breaking and lean cows, boning cows sold with firm undertones. Packers opted to send most of the cow offering to feed this week as they try to put cows away for the 4th of July. Demand for high quality feeding cows improved as the sale progressed. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 1.00 higher. Slaughter bulls sold on moderate to good demand this sale. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady. Demand for feeding bulls remains good and continues to keep bull prices near steady. Cow and bull quality was mostly average to attractive this week. Weigh up conditions were mixed this week. Young age cows comprised a large portion of the sale again this week as ranchers continue to sell off cows which lost calves. Young age cows sold unevenly steady. Prices started the sale higher but cheapened as buyers filled loads and exited the market. Demand for bred cows and pairs was good this sale. Quality was mostly average.

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	279.00	$279.00	$1,456	+3.00
560–565	563	2	257.50–263.00	$260.26	$1,465	-14.74
718	718	8	220.00	$220.00	$1,580	—
845	845	2	196.00	$196.00	$1,656	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
550	550	1	237.50	$237.50	$1,306	—
690	690	1	204.00	$204.00	$1,408	—
725	725	2	210.00	$210.00	$1,522	—
780	780	1	202.00	$202.00	$1,576	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
506–528	514	40	240.50–243.00	$241.40	$1,241	-17.10
584	584	7	232.00	$232.00	$1,355	—
606–616	615	37	218.00–219.50	$219.30	$1,349	-6.26
678–688	686	10	211.00–212.50	$212.20	$1,456	—
712 fancy	712	6	209.00	$209.00	$1,488	—
716	716	4	192.00	$192.00	$1,375	—
797 fancy	797	9	192.00	$192.00	$1,530	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
440	440	2	227.50	$227.50	$1,001	—
493	493	16	237.00	$237.00	$1,168	—
547	547	3	233.00	$233.00	$1,275	—
550–587	578	12	225.00–227.00	$226.26	$1,308	+7.23
652	652	3	191.00	$191.00	$1,245	—
753	753	3	183.00	$183.00	$1,378	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
530–533	532	13	210.00–230.00	$223.87	$1,191	—
708	708	4	177.00	$177.00	$1,253	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
75	75	4	125.00	$125.00	-75.00

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
443	443	4	272.50	$272.50	$1,207	—
1093	1093	3	167.00	$167.00	$1,825	—
1125	1125	1	133.00	$133.00	$1,496	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
725	725	1	181.00	$181.00	$1,312	-11.43
870	870	1	178.00	$178.00	$1,549	—
979	979	5	174.00	$174.00	$1,703	-1.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
85	85	—	—	2	220.00	$220.00	—
1300	1300	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	2,500.00	$2,500.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105	1105	1	138.50	$138.50	$1,530	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
920–985	964	85-90%	4	72.00–83.00	$77.80	$750	—
990	990	85-90%	3	85.00	$85.00	$842	—
1010	1010	85-90%	1	84.00	$84.00	$848	—
1035–1260	1137	85-90%	21	73.00–84.50	$81.32	$925	+1.46
1030–1273	1160	85-90%	42	84.50–92.50	$86.14	$999	-7.85
1085–1330	1202	85-90%	22	88.00–96.50	$93.49	$1,124	-0.46
1200–1270	1232	85-90%	19	97.00–104.00	$98.05	$1,208	+4.10
1235–1256	1252	85-90%	5	93.00–98.25	$97.21	$1,217	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1263–1485	1312	80-85%	17	90.00–97.50	$94.76	$1,243	+5.78
1255–1585	1363	80-85%	57	90.50–98.00	$95.61	$1,303	+11.95
1280–1485	1375	80-85%	11	99.00–102.00	$100.33	$1,380	+16.67
1375–1495	1395	80-85%	10	85.50–88.50	$87.85	$1,226	-6.30
1395	1395	80-85%	1	88.00	$88.00	$1,228	-6.15
1450	1450	80-85%	1	100.00	$100.00	$1,450	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1448	1448	75-80%	2	97.50	$97.50	$1,412	—
1535–1601	1594	75-80%	10	98.00	$98.00	$1,562	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1410–1575	1509	7	114.00–119.00	$116.02	$1,751	—
1340–1620	1517	7	103.00–111.00	$106.82	$1,620	—
1493–2105	1715	11	111.00–119.00	$115.61	$1,983	—
1730–2070	1900	4	121.50–128.00	$124.70	$2,369	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
745–1161	939	(<2 yrs)	Open	75	131.00–181.00	$162.83	$1,529
730–1165	1005	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	86	92.00–170.00	$137.73	$1,384
1033–1167	1124	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	16	89.00–116.00	$97.57	$1,097

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
960	960	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	141.00	$141.00	$1,354

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
730–1135	898	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	124.00–152.50	$135.72	$1,219

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1319–1365	1334	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	6	1,800.00–1,900.00	$1,865.90
1310–1376	1347	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	9	1,600.00–1,850.00	$1,708.09

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1243	1243	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,700.00	$1,700.00
1528	1528	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,650.00	$1,650.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1170	1170	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	2,500.00	$2,500.00	—
1137–1435	1286	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	9	2,500.00–2,650.00	$2,586.12	—
1349–1405	1352	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	20	1,850.00–1,975.00	$1,856.50	—
1492	1492	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	5	2,525.00	$2,525.00	—
1496–1865	1558	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	18	2,350.00–2,750.00	$2,548.29	—
1563	1563	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	3	2,400.00	$2,400.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1088	1088	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	2,350.00	$2,350.00	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1035	1035	(<2 yrs)	Open	27	2,925.00	$2,925.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1044	1044	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	2,375.00	$2,375.00	—

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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.