Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, May 23, 2023

751 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $198.15/cwt ≈ $1,621/hd at 818 lb · 78 head

heavy 5-weight M 1 heifers $204.00/cwt ≈ $1,216/hd at 596 lb · 13 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $229.00/cwt -3.00 vs last sale · ≈ $1,305/hd at 570 lb · 10 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	751	1,019	791
Feeder cattle	178	270	204
Slaughter cattle	334	316	388
Replacement cattle	239	433	199

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last reported sale: Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested this week and last reported sale to develop any market trend. Quality this sale was mostly plain to average with a few offerings of very attractive replacement quality heifers seen. Demand was mostly good to very good for light offerings. Cattle were offered in mostly small packages or as singles. Market activity was mostly active this week. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light to moderate offerings. Slaughter cows were sold mostly 5.00-8.00 higher on all classes. Packers showed good demand for both feeding and slaughter cows today as they pushed to own as many offerings as possible. Feeding cows sold mostly 5.00-7.00 higher. Rain fell across many locations in the southern plains as the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles as well as portions of Northern New Mexico and Kansas all received much needed rain. This has helped slow some cow culling and tightened supplies forcing packers to become more aggressive as they search for cows to cover slaughter needs. Culling from spring brandings is starting to wrap up across much of the country further tightening the availability of cows to the packer. Packers continue to be aggressive as they try to put cows away on feed for the 4th of July holiday. Slaughter bulls sold 7.00-8.00 higher on very good demand. Demand for feeding bulls remains good. Cow and bull quality was mostly attractive to very attractive this week. Weigh up conditions were average to above average this week as many cows have been out on grass and were emptied out on fresh green grass. Young age cows sold mostly 6.00-8.00 higher. Demand for young age cows was very good this week. Several buyers purchased cows up to 6 years old to rebreed and much of the advancement in this class was seen for 3-6 year old cows.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
531	531	4	262.50	$262.50	$1,394	—
566–577	571	7	257.00–263.00	$260.40	$1,487	+22.90
615	615	1	234.00	$234.00	$1,439	—
690	690	1	221.00	$221.00	$1,525	+17.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1006	1006	4	181.00	$181.00	$1,821	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
570	570	10	229.00	$229.00	$1,305	-3.00
616–628	618	10	224.00–228.00	$227.19	$1,404	+7.89
809–833	818	78	191.00–202.50	$198.15	$1,621	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
525	525	3	226.00	$226.00	$1,186	+2.13
596	596	13	204.00	$204.00	$1,216	—
603	603	2	204.00	$204.00	$1,230	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
603–618	608	6	202.00–222.00	$215.22	$1,309	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
854	854	4	172.00	$172.00	$1,469	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1075	1075	1	161.00	$161.00	$1,731	-6.00
1148	1148	2	152.00	$152.00	$1,745	+19.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
760	760	1	184.00	$184.00	$1,398	—
950	950	1	166.00	$166.00	$1,577	-8.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1060	1060	1	142.00	$142.00	$1,505	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1090–1460	1275	80-85%	2	92.00–96.00	$94.29	$1,202	—
1190–1530	1361	80-85%	63	99.00–105.00	$102.54	$1,396	+6.93
1230–1670	1367	80-85%	22	97.00–105.00	$99.90	$1,366	+4.29
1252–1617	1383	80-85%	38	105.00–112.00	$106.26	$1,470	+5.93
1385	1385	80-85%	1	92.00	$92.00	$1,274	-8.33
1240–1595	1397	80-85%	12	105.50–109.00	$106.44	$1,487	+18.59

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
850–990	920	85-90%	7	86.00–89.00	$87.77	$807	—
1020–1265	1128	85-90%	10	82.00–92.00	$87.89	$991	+6.57
1145	1145	85-90%	1	80.00	$80.00	$916	-1.32
1105–1174	1160	85-90%	5	89.00–90.50	$89.29	$1,036	+3.15
950–1285	1165	85-90%	35	92.00–99.00	$95.96	$1,118	+9.82
1010–1345	1173	85-90%	13	93.00–96.50	$94.68	$1,111	+8.54
1085–1230	1180	85-90%	3	100.50–103.00	$101.83	$1,202	+15.69
1176–1257	1210	85-90%	14	99.00–106.50	$103.19	$1,249	+9.70

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1512	1512	75-80%	9	100.50	$100.50	$1,520	—
1415–1905	1562	75-80%	10	108.00–113.00	$109.27	$1,707	+11.27
1520–1656	1610	75-80%	15	105.50–107.00	$105.95	$1,706	—
1910	1910	75-80%	1	94.00	$94.00	$1,795	—
2050	2050	75-80%	1	107.00	$107.00	$2,194	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1135–1420	1279	4	105.00–113.00	$109.89	$1,405	—
1280	1280	1	95.00	$95.00	$1,216	—
1325–1362	1353	4	120.00–121.00	$120.76	$1,634	—
1475	1475	1	104.00	$104.00	$1,534	—
1305–2295	1600	14	96.00–118.00	$111.71	$1,787	—
1325–1910	1693	21	118.00–129.00	$122.94	$2,081	—
1760–2180	1950	9	129.00–137.00	$132.86	$2,591	—
2025	2025	1	136.00	$136.00	$2,754	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
725–1103	936	(<2 yrs)	Open	68	154.00–190.00	$171.99	$1,610
914–1385	1048	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	93	106.00–182.00	$138.71	$1,454
1102–1256	1222	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	16	104.00–109.00	$105.91	$1,294

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
823–955	885	(<2 yrs)	Open	19	143.00–167.00	$150.49	$1,332
1005	1005	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	111.00	$111.00	$1,116

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
967	967	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	152.50	$152.50	$1,475

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
675–720	705	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	156.00–165.00	$162.13	$1,143

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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
1351–1406	1379	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	8	2,000.00–2,050.00	$2,025.50	+169.00

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
954	954	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	2,200.00	$2,200.00	—

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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.