Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, May 14, 2024

1,363 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $298.00/cwt ≈ $1,722/hd at 578 lb · 44 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $295.83/cwt -10.67 vs last sale · ≈ $1,444/hd at 488 lb · 26 head

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $277.82/cwt ≈ $1,722/hd at 620 lb · 25 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,363	386	1,019
Feeder cattle	309	267	270
Slaughter cattle	580	89	316
Replacement cattle	474	30	433

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were too lightly tested either this week or last week to develop any market trend. Demand was mostly good for light offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average. Boxed beef values surged today, to 304.39 and 293.82 on choice and select respectfully. Up $5.44 on choice and $6.64 on select. This gave support to CME live cattle and feeder cattle contracts as all CME positions pushed sharply higher today with most contracts showing triple digit gains. Market activity was mostly active this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for light offerings. Demand for slaughter cows was stronger this week as packers showed good demand for cows for immediate harvest. Slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00 higher on breaking cows, boning and lean cows sold 2.00-4.00 higher. Demand for feeding cows was good to very good today as both packers and private buyers both showed very good demand for cows as tight supplies and high demand continue to be seen. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-3.00 higher on a higher quality cow offering. Cow quality was mostly average to very attractive this week. Slaughter bulls sold steady to firm in a narrow comparison. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to above average today as most cows were emptied out from being out grazing. Young cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, higher undertones were noticed on a higher quality offering. Demand for these offerings was good to very good. Quality this week was mostly attractive. The majority of open young wet bagged 2-3 year olds brought $1950-$2075 per head on todays sale. Heifers that never had a calf sold back mostly 10.00-15.00 per hundredweight to their wet bagged counterparts.

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
400	400	1	335.00	$335.00	$1,340	—
462–484	476	8	324.00–325.00	$324.36	$1,544	—
505	505	6	298.25	$298.25	$1,506	-33.75
611–638	620	25	271.00–286.00	$277.82	$1,722	—
668	668	4	254.00	$254.00	$1,697	+3.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310	310	1	390.00	$390.00	$1,209	—
569–580	570	15	314.00–317.00	$316.59	$1,805	—
662	662	10	284.00	$284.00	$1,880	-5.50
749	749	7	255.00	$255.00	$1,910	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
498	498	6	298.00	$298.00	$1,484	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
663	663	2	253.00	$253.00	$1,677	—
860	860	2	205.00	$205.00	$1,763	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
578	578	44	298.00	$298.00	$1,722	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
394	394	4	302.50	$302.50	$1,192	-20.00
448	448	4	306.00	$306.00	$1,371	—
459–495	488	26	286.00–298.00	$295.83	$1,444	-10.67
585–588	586	5	265.00–278.00	$272.78	$1,598	-7.94
668	668	2	249.00	$249.00	$1,663	+5.50

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
483	483	2	283.00	$283.00	$1,367	—
542	542	23	271.00	$271.00	$1,469	+6.00
599	599	7	255.00	$255.00	$1,527	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
412	412	6	284.00	$284.00	$1,170	—
494	494	9	272.00	$272.00	$1,344	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
759	759	4	216.00	$216.00	$1,639	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1175	1175	1	171.00	$171.00	$2,009	—
1245	1245	1	172.00	$172.00	$2,141	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1260–1570	1360	80-85%	36	139.00–146.00	$140.18	$1,906	+13.18
1225–1695	1373	80-85%	37	131.00–140.00	$136.52	$1,874	+9.52
1220–1600	1394	80-85%	84	129.00–140.00	$136.05	$1,897	+9.05
1270–1535	1410	80-85%	4	115.00–127.00	$122.55	$1,728	-9.84
1375–1560	1442	80-85%	3	120.00–127.00	$124.41	$1,794	-14.73
1265–1645	1489	80-85%	27	139.50–146.00	$140.47	$2,092	+21.40

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
905–990	944	85-90%	5	103.00–116.00	$110.45	$1,043	+4.72
995–1305	1099	85-90%	11	110.00–122.00	$118.30	$1,300	—
1075–1310	1178	85-90%	6	125.00–131.00	$127.89	$1,507	+18.84
1075–1290	1183	85-90%	6	90.00–102.00	$95.98	$1,135	-13.07
1045–1305	1188	85-90%	28	125.00–133.00	$129.86	$1,543	+20.81
1000–1300	1196	85-90%	40	133.00–139.00	$135.75	$1,624	+26.70
1130–1310	1216	85-90%	7	132.00–137.50	$134.61	$1,637	-1.20
1055–1435	1217	85-90%	10	108.00–121.00	$115.04	$1,400	-20.77

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1398–1458	1408	75-80%	18	138.50–139.75	$138.72	$1,953	—
1401–1770	1546	75-80%	69	135.00–140.00	$137.34	$2,123	+1.24
1454–1577	1546	75-80%	17	143.00–145.00	$144.66	$2,236	+8.56
1625–1730	1660	75-80%	3	131.00–132.00	$131.65	$2,185	—
2010	2010	75-80%	1	135.00	$135.00	$2,714	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1445	1445	65-75%	1	147.00	$147.00	$2,124	—
1386–1700	1498	65-75%	56	141.00–143.00	$141.22	$2,115	—
1655	1655	65-75%	10	139.00	$139.00	$2,300	—
2075	2075	65-75%	1	136.00	$136.00	$2,822	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1110–1400	1255	2	130.00–142.00	$135.31	$1,698	—
1260	1260	1	142.00	$142.00	$1,789	—
1260	1260	1	141.00	$141.00	$1,777	—
1393–2100	1580	14	122.00–141.00	$135.25	$2,137	—
1350–2215	1731	20	143.00–153.00	$147.55	$2,554	—
1595–2245	2037	13	154.00–160.00	$156.66	$3,191	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2395	2395	1	154.00	$154.00	$3,688	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
710–795 thin fleshed	753	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	211.00–213.00	$211.94	$1,596
755–1270	925	(<2 yrs)	Open	92	150.00–233.50	$210.74	$1,949
935–1245	1026	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	55	147.00–212.00	$183.04	$1,878

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
700–1140	904	(<2 yrs)	Open	32	141.00–190.00	$174.62	$1,579
880–1195	1038	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	140.00–150.00	$144.24	$1,497

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
775–785	780	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	181.00–197.00	$188.95	$1,474

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1165	1165	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	139.00	$139.00	$1,619

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1315	1315	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	2,300.00	$2,300.00
1370	1370	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,050.00	$2,050.00

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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
1378	1378	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	9	2,600.00	$2,600.00	—
1316–1575	1395	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	38	2,585.00–2,635.00	$2,595.70	—
1403	1403	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	4	2,875.00	$2,875.00	—
1614–1650	1623	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	8	2,725.00–2,750.00	$2,731.35	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
958–976 thin fleshed	966	(<2 yrs)	Open	58	3,150.00–3,275.00	$3,208.77	—

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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.