Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, January 7, 2025

747 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 heifers $366.62/cwt +16.89 vs last sale · ≈ $1,595/hd at 435 lb · 83 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 steers $293.80/cwt +37.46 vs last sale · ≈ $2,112/hd at 719 lb · 72 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $314.21/cwt -2.46 vs last sale · ≈ $1,716/hd at 546 lb · 52 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	747	2,018	2,656
Feeder cattle	568	1,243	1,709
Slaughter cattle	154	420	663
Replacement cattle	25	355	284

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested either last sale or today to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed on both steers and heifers under 600 lbs and higher undertones were noticed on both steers and heifers over 600 lbs. Quality this week was mixed from plain to very attractive. Demand was good to very good on all offerings. Most offerings were weaned from 60-90 days, however, demand was similar for both weaned and un-weaned cattle as buyers focused on quality. Market activity was mostly active today. Bidders were active both ringside as well as over the internet this sale. Weigh up cows sold on good demand for light offerings. Demand for slaughter cows improved slightly this sale as packers purchased slightly better yielding cows to send to immediate harvest. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00 to 5.00 higher on boning and lean cows, breaking cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeding cow demand continues to be good. Both private feeders and packers both showed good demand for cows to feed. Private buyers continue to buy slightly lame or slightly blemished cows to but away on feed. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00 to 5.00 higher on high quality cows suitable to feed to premium white. Thin feeding cows sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher. Cow quality this week was average to attractive. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested either this sale or last to develop any market trend. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average this week for cows and bulls. Bull quality this week was mostly plain with many low dressing bulls on offer. Young age offerings were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Young age cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light offerings. 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
477	477	12	371.00	$371.00	$1,770	-0.38
514 unweaned	514	5	361.00	$361.00	$1,856	—
530	530	27	358.00	$358.00	$1,897	+3.91
555–594	590	52	326.50–335.50	$327.15	$1,930	+13.15
655	655	1	311.00	$311.00	$2,037	+28.00
657 unweaned	657	10	308.00	$308.00	$2,024	—
709–724	719	72	291.75–297.50	$293.80	$2,112	+37.46
898	898	2	250.00	$250.00	$2,245	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
379	379	4	425.00	$425.00	$1,611	—
418–430	419	23	370.00–403.00	$375.12	$1,572	-4.88

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
284	284	13	465.00	$465.00	$1,321	—
441	441	6	364.00	$364.00	$1,605	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
355–391	387	14	377.00–382.50	$378.23	$1,464	-3.02
429–445	435	83	356.50–369.50	$366.62	$1,595	+14.11
465 unweaned	465	11	354.00	$354.00	$1,646	+23.00
468–493	489	31	332.00–346.00	$336.98	$1,648	+5.83
535–549	546	52	312.00–315.00	$314.21	$1,716	-1.93
553–593	561	16	303.00–310.50	$307.53	$1,725	+12.70
572 unweaned	572	3	304.00	$304.00	$1,739	—
650	650	16	274.00	$274.00	$1,781	+12.00
700	700	2	262.50	$262.50	$1,838	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
375	375	7	370.00–372.50	$371.43	$1,393	—
444–448	446	13	344.50–345.00	$344.81	$1,538	+5.76
453	453	2	330.00	$330.00	$1,495	+22.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
379	379	13	350.00	$350.00	$1,326	—
440	440	3	325.00	$325.00	$1,430	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
368	368	2	365.00	$365.00	$1,343	—
448	448	5	357.00	$357.00	$1,599	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
482	482	7	360.00	$360.00	$1,735	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1293–1670	1359	80-85%	21	116.00–130.50	$123.22	$1,675	+1.05
1330–1505	1395	80-85%	6	109.50–114.00	$111.59	$1,557	-10.58
1435	1435	80-85%	1	107.00	$107.00	$1,535	+0.25
1440–1533	1510	80-85%	42	134.00–134.50	$134.08	$2,025	+32.95
1560–1735	1653	80-85%	4	111.00–112.50	$111.88	$1,849	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
730–930	830	85-90%	2	92.00–100.00	$96.48	$801	—
988	988	85-90%	12	110.00	$110.00	$1,087	+32.50
970–1305	1115	85-90%	13	100.00–117.00	$111.59	$1,244	+6.26
1035–1141	1119	85-90%	8	82.00–83.50	$83.08	$930	-22.25
1020–1230	1174	85-90%	11	117.00–118.00	$117.35	$1,378	+22.10
1240–1305	1270	85-90%	5	110.00–115.00	$112.00	$1,422	—
1220–1340	1280	85-90%	2	93.00–99.00	$95.86	$1,227	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1410	1410	1	105.00	$105.00	$1,480	-13.66
1435–1640	1538	2	135.00–138.50	$136.87	$2,105	—
1580–1685	1633	2	139.00	$139.00	$2,270	—
1490–2065	1696	6	119.00–139.00	$129.77	$2,201	—
1705–2285	1980	7	141.00–146.00	$144.10	$2,853	—
2180–2220	2200	2	150.00–150.50	$150.25	$3,306	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
810–1223	1050	(<2 yrs)	Open	9	159.00–197.50	$174.26	$1,830
1093–1185	1111	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	8	154.00–183.00	$175.53	$1,950

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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.