Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, October 17, 2023

3,692 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1 steers $357.28/cwt -6.95 vs last sale · ≈ $1,522/hd at 426 lb · 343 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $326.20/cwt +13.34 vs last sale · ≈ $1,546/hd at 474 lb · 296 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1 steers $390.37/cwt +3.48 vs last sale · ≈ $1,460/hd at 374 lb · 169 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,692	2,242	2,071
Feeder cattle	2,595	1,584	1,460
Slaughter cattle	902	427	521
Replacement cattle	195	231	90

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to week: Yearling steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer under 550 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher, steers over 550 lbs were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend steady to weak undertones were noticed. Yearling heifers under 750 lbs sold 5.00-10.00 lower in a narrow comparison, yearling heifers over 750 lbs sold mostly 5.00 lower. Yearling quality was mostly average this week and not as attractive as last week. Heifer calves sold mostly steady to 5.00 lower on calves under 500 lbs, calves over 500 lbs were too lightly tested either this week or last to develop any market trend. Quality was average to very attractive for calves and mostly plain to average for yearlings. Several sets of calves offered buyers two rounds of vaccinations; these offerings sold with the best demand. Most calves continue to be light weight and in light flesh. CME positions traded higher today with the nearby October closing at 248.80, 0.20 higher than last Tuesdays close. The November closed at 250.45, 0.10 higher than last Tuesday. Market activity was mostly active today. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand and offerings. Demand for slaughter cows was lighter again this week as all packers showed lighter demand for cows. Slaughter cows sold steady to 4.00 lower on boning cows lean cows. Breaking cows were not well tested. High quality feeding cows, suitable to feed to premium white sold 3.00-5.00 lower however quality was not as attractive this week as last. Thin feeding or turn out cows sold steady to 3.00 lower. Cow quality was mostly plain to average this week with many sets of very thin low dressing or very low dressing cows seen. Packer buyers joined independent feeders this week in purchasing thin cows to put away for the holiday. This is historically very early in the season (2-3 weeks early) for packers to start buying thin cows for the holiday. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00 lower on a poorer quality offering. Weigh up conditions were mixed this week. Young age cows sold generally steady. Demand was good for all offerings.

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
304–340 unweaned	330	40	387.50–400.00	$393.15	$1,297	+15.65
350–395 unweaned	374	169	377.50–408.00	$390.37	$1,460	+3.48
402–446 unweaned	426	343	337.00–385.00	$357.28	$1,522	-6.95
451–497 unweaned	474	296	301.00–341.00	$326.20	$1,546	+13.34
500–543 unweaned	517	134	285.00–310.00	$302.23	$1,563	+5.10
576–587 unweaned	581	122	272.50–288.00	$277.66	$1,613	-9.84
605 unweaned	605	13	264.00–270.00	$265.38	$1,606	—
632	632	43	280.00	$280.00	$1,770	—
685 unweaned	685	4	249.00	$249.00	$1,706	—
693–696	694	122	271.00–273.00	$272.31	$1,890	-5.69
705 unweaned	705	13	251.00	$251.00	$1,770	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
275 unweaned	275	10	380.00	$380.00	$1,045	+27.50
300–334 unweaned	317	37	330.00–385.00	$362.37	$1,149	+5.47
355–398 unweaned	364	29	355.00–367.50	$357.83	$1,303	+25.63
403–448 unweaned	440	32	325.00–330.00	$326.36	$1,436	+1.36
455–490 unweaned	473	20	212.50–305.00	$275.53	$1,303	-11.97

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
410 unweaned	410	4	302.50	$302.50	$1,240	-20.50
525 unweaned	525	4	283.00	$283.00	$1,486	-14.50
733	733	8	229.00	$229.00	$1,679	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
316–334 unweaned	327	22	317.50–350.00	$328.90	$1,076	-15.72
350–389 unweaned	369	129	307.50–337.50	$328.16	$1,211	-0.32
406–431 unweaned	420	68	282.00–310.00	$302.94	$1,272	-11.52
451–484 unweaned	461	51	272.00–289.00	$285.26	$1,315	—
502–530 unweaned	521	28	259.00–269.00	$262.24	$1,366	-18.18
587 unweaned	587	13	242.50	$242.50	$1,423	-12.50
640 unweaned	640	8	254.00	$254.00	$1,626	—
660–683 unweaned	681	13	231.50–232.50	$231.57	$1,577	—
675–694	688	27	252.50–254.50	$254.19	$1,749	—
714–726	718	89	248.50–255.00	$251.40	$1,805	-11.96
758–797	777	52	233.50–240.50	$236.27	$1,836	-6.21
802–838	822	41	226.00–231.50	$229.22	$1,884	-6.86
854–859	857	27	219.50–226.00	$223.78	$1,918	-5.85

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
299 unweaned	299	8	312.50	$312.50	$934	+1.63
324 unweaned	324	5	312.50	$312.50	$1,012	—
376–393 unweaned	383	30	285.00–295.00	$289.11	$1,107	-19.62
428 unweaned	428	4	282.00	$282.00	$1,207	—
492 unweaned	492	12	270.00	$270.00	$1,328	+10.00
520 unweaned	520	7	248.00	$248.00	$1,290	—
700 unweaned	700	3	240.00	$240.00	$1,680	—
701–744	727	10	234.00–243.00	$237.00	$1,723	-16.00
795	795	2	229.00	$229.00	$1,821	—
800–815	809	5	222.50–226.00	$224.62	$1,817	+0.12
850–883	879	9	215.50–221.50	$216.14	$1,900	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
570 unweaned	570	2	240.00	$240.00	$1,368	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
367–375 unweaned	369	4	370.00–375.00	$373.73	$1,379	—
586–588 unweaned	586	9	252.50–254.00	$253.67	$1,487	—
640–643 unweaned	642	3	247.50–265.00	$259.18	$1,664	—
675 unweaned	675	1	222.50	$222.50	$1,502	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
445 unweaned	445	4	272.50	$272.50	$1,213	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
825–993	975	85-90%	16	71.00–78.00	$75.85	$740	—
980	980	85-90%	1	87.50	$87.50	$858	—
790–999	986	85-90%	34	65.00–66.00	$65.78	$649	—
1045–1115	1079	85-90%	31	105.00–106.00	$105.74	$1,141	—
946–1139	1088	85-90%	88	72.00–78.50	$77.82	$847	—
1013–1262	1113	85-90%	308	80.00–88.50	$84.25	$938	+0.66
1013–1345	1119	85-90%	46	67.00–79.00	$74.59	$835	-9.00
1060–1245	1165	85-90%	4	89.50–95.50	$91.62	$1,067	-9.76
995–1279	1176	85-90%	131	89.00–102.00	$95.75	$1,126	-5.63
1000–1354	1177	85-90%	69	79.00–89.00	$85.10	$1,002	-16.28

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1301–1610	1337	80-85%	17	83.00–89.00	$84.37	$1,128	-10.44
1345	1345	80-85%	1	94.50	$94.50	$1,271	-0.31
1349	1349	80-85%	8	106.00	$106.00	$1,430	+11.19
1263–1765	1359	80-85%	40	97.00–105.00	$100.22	$1,362	+8.84
1301–1580	1368	80-85%	33	86.00–96.50	$90.85	$1,243	-0.53
1415	1415	80-85%	1	103.00	$103.00	$1,457	-2.47

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1568	1568	75-80%	9	107.75	$107.75	$1,690	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1165	1165	1	100.00	$100.00	$1,165	—
1390–1665	1509	9	92.50–106.50	$99.41	$1,500	-3.53
1515	1515	1	106.00	$106.00	$1,606	+3.06
1463–1740	1550	10	95.00–103.50	$99.86	$1,548	-7.89
1635–2263	1988	5	107.00–110.50	$108.94	$2,166	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
682–718 thin fleshed	713	(<2 yrs)	Open	46	177.00–179.00	$177.29	$1,264
865–936 thin fleshed	881	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	27	107.00–109.00	$108.53	$956
790–990	890	(<2 yrs)	Open	45	162.00–202.00	$182.10	$1,621
926–1195	1015	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	54	102.00–135.00	$114.66	$1,164

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
924	924	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	186.00	$186.00	$1,719

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
953	953	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	105.00	$105.00	$1,001

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1005	1005	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	115.00	$115.00	$1,156

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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.