Cattle Market Pulse

Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, April 23, 2024

995 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $367.07/cwt +36.07 vs last sale · ≈ $1,674/hd at 456 lb · 113 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $276.43/cwt +12.11 vs last sale · ≈ $1,757/hd at 636 lb · 83 head
heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $250.00/cwt +20.00 vs last sale · ≈ $1,980/hd at 792 lb · 49 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 995 1,034 1,916
Feeder cattle 544 485 1,701
Slaughter cattle 163 386 75
Replacement cattle 288 163 140

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were too lightly tested either this week or last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Demand was mostly moderate to good for light offerings. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. A couple consignments of replacement quality heifers were seen this week. Demand was mostly good for these offerings. CME positions pushed higher again today following last weeks cattle on feed and in anticipation of tomorrows cold storage reports. Market activity was mostly moderate to active this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for light to moderate offerings. Demand for slaughter cows was mostly moderate to good, however demand for slaughter cows was mostly lighter this week as packers pushed to buy cows mostly to feed. Breaking slaughter cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend, boning cows sold steady to 2.00 lower, lean cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 lower. Demand for feeding cows was good today as several private feeders and packer buyers both pushed to own offerings. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00-4.00 lower, as fewer buyers were actively participating in buying bulls. Weigh up conditions were mixed today with both empty and full offerings noticed. Young cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 5.00-10.00 higher. Demand for these offerings was good to very good. Demand for 3-4 year old cows was very good this week as several larger consignments of one iron home-raised cows of this age was seen. Most of these offerings were wet bagged cows which lost calves this week. Most of these offerings were purchased to rebreed this week. Young cow quality was mostly average to very attractive this week.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
454–474 456 113 341.00–370.00 $367.07 $1,674 +36.07
535 535 13 330.00–334.00 $333.69 $1,785 —
660 660 3 281.00 $281.00 $1,855 -9.62
708 708 3 265.00 $265.00 $1,876 +6.38
855–878 874 6 224.50–227.00 $224.91 $1,966 —
919 919 7 219.50 $219.50 $2,017 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
321 321 4 360.00 $360.00 $1,156 —
445–446 446 6 336.00–339.00 $338.00 $1,507 —
510–535 529 4 320.00–326.00 $321.45 $1,700 —
575 575 4 300.00 $300.00 $1,725 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
418 418 3 338.00 $338.00 $1,413 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
451 451 18 320.00 $320.00 $1,443 +10.00
557–564 561 12 294.00–298.00 $296.35 $1,663 +28.17
600–608 607 22 277.00–284.00 $277.63 $1,685 +13.31
646 646 61 276.00 $276.00 $1,783 +11.68
654 654 8 260.50 $260.50 $1,704 +6.00
792 792 49 250.00 $250.00 $1,980 +20.00
815–825 823 4 212.00–215.50 $212.87 $1,752 —
859 859 4 209.00 $209.00 $1,795 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310–349 341 28 325.00–342.50 $335.16 $1,143 +12.66
375 375 3 327.50 $327.50 $1,228 —
403–449 420 11 302.50–314.00 $308.13 $1,294 +4.60
473–493 481 16 287.00–303.00 $296.84 $1,428 -2.39
530–545 541 45 281.00–289.50 $286.02 $1,547 —
580 580 2 262.00 $262.00 $1,520 —
652 652 3 229.00 $229.00 $1,493 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
527 527 15 279.00 $279.00 $1,470 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
445 445 8 292.00 $292.00 $1,299 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
607 607 3 275.00 $275.00 $1,669 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
595 595 2 269.00 $269.00 $1,601 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
175 175 1 231.00 $231.00 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1145–1440 1293 80-85% 2 140.00–142.00 $140.89 $1,822 —
1226–1585 1340 80-85% 42 129.00–137.00 $131.81 $1,766 -3.80
1285–1430 1372 80-85% 3 115.00–125.00 $120.84 $1,658 -7.64
1350–1505 1388 80-85% 6 123.00–127.00 $125.31 $1,739 -3.17
1380–1550 1443 80-85% 3 128.00–136.00 $131.52 $1,898 —
1440–1595 1471 80-85% 5 135.00–136.00 $135.22 $1,989 -5.10
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
965 965 85-90% 1 79.00 $79.00 $762 —
1000–1220 1100 85-90% 9 114.00–121.00 $117.38 $1,291 +2.75
1030–1245 1129 85-90% 4 104.00–119.00 $109.74 $1,239 +14.22
1095–1170 1133 85-90% 2 84.00–86.50 $85.21 $965 -10.31
1095–1275 1219 85-90% 16 121.00–132.00 $126.61 $1,543 -9.33
1240–1290 1265 85-90% 2 125.00–129.00 $127.04 $1,607 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1640 1640 75-80% 1 135.00 $135.00 $2,214 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1175 1175 1 142.50 $142.50 $1,674 —
1140–1390 1306 7 113.00–130.00 $121.72 $1,590 —
1365 1365 1 126.00 $126.00 $1,720 —
1265–1855 1498 5 116.00–129.00 $121.23 $1,816 —
1520–1995 1760 12 135.00–145.00 $141.72 $2,494 —
1575–2360 1951 12 147.00–157.00 $150.47 $2,936 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
870–1200 1003 (<2 yrs)Open 112 165.00–204.00 $185.43 $1,860
852–1350 1033 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 122 130.00–202.00 $173.98 $1,797
995–1360 1113 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 5 122.00–141.00 $133.60 $1,487
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
770–840 805 (<2 yrs)Open 2 185.00–199.00 $191.70 $1,543
890–1130 1036 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 4 119.00–157.50 $130.39 $1,351

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1411 1411 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 4 2,500.00 $2,500.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1059 1059 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 4 241.00 $241.00 $2,552

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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.