Miles City Livestock Commission Auction Market Report

Miles City, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, March 3, 2026

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $495.64/cwt -13.24 vs last sale · ≈ $2,404/hd at 485 lb · 35 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	722	624	2,451
Feeder cattle	82	579	1,198
Slaughter cattle	99	28	368
Replacement cattle	541	17	885

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week (2-24-26): Feeder steers were to lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder heifers 450-499 lbs heifers offered the best test this week selling generally steady. All other weights of heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder cattle were mostly offered in small packages or as singles this week with barely enough feeders to build a single load. Quality was mostly average this week. Market activity was moderate to active despite light offerings. Weigh up cows sold on good demand for light offerings. Feeding cow buyers showed good demand for all cows which would feed. Feeding cows and slaughter cows were too lightly tested last week to develop any market comparison. A single load of fed cows was on offer this week. Packers pushed these offerings as far as their slaughter tickets allowed before passing. These cows were purchased by a private buyer to blend on fed cow loads to send to slaughter. Cow quality this week was average to attractive. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop a full market comparison, however higher undertones were noticed. Feeding type bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Young age cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive. A large offering of bred cows and heifers was on offer for todays sale. Demand was very good for light to moderate offerings. Record high prices were seen for aged broken mouth cows as this class topped $4,450/head for a set of 8-12 year old cows.

→ Feeder cattle: Feeder cattle were mostly offered in small packages or as singles this week with barely enough feeders to build a single load
→ Feeder heifers: Feeder heifers 450-499 lbs heifers offered the best test this week selling generally steady
→ Feeder steers: Feeder steers were to lightly tested to develop any market trend
→ Replacement cows: A large offering of bred cows and heifers was on offer for todays sale
→ Slaughter bulls: Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop a full market comparison
→ Slaughter cows: Feeding cows and slaughter cows were too lightly tested last week to develop any market comparison

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
595	595	4	457.50	$457.50	$2,722	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
580	580	2	462.50	$462.50	$2,682	-30.00
660–680	670	2	417.50–420.00	$418.73	$2,805	+2.24

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
733	733	3	367.50	$367.50	$2,694	+5.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
449	449	8	525.00	$525.00	$2,357	—
479–493	485	35	490.00–500.00	$495.64	$2,404	-13.24

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
460	460	1	485.00	$485.00	$2,231	—
594	594	4	405.00	$405.00	$2,406	—
665	665	2	366.00	$366.00	$2,434	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
723	723	4	350.00	$350.00	$2,530	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
550	550	1	465.00	$465.00	$2,558	—

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Slaughter Cows

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1725	1725	65-75%	30	168.00	$168.00	$2,898	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1310–1325	1318	80-85%	2	180.00–182.50	$181.26	$2,389	+13.74
1365–1430	1398	80-85%	2	125.00–130.00	$127.44	$1,782	—
1385–1410	1398	80-85%	2	144.00–163.00	$153.58	$2,147	—
1445	1445	80-85%	1	144.00	$144.00	$2,081	—
1310–1506	1470	80-85%	18	167.00–175.00	$172.02	$2,529	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1030–1215	1123	85-90%	2	132.50–137.50	$134.79	$1,514	-32.23
1123–1195	1137	85-90%	5	170.00–171.00	$170.79	$1,942	+3.77
1135–1177	1167	85-90%	9	143.00–160.00	$150.88	$1,761	+21.88
1145–1245	1210	85-90%	3	122.50–125.00	$123.35	$1,493	-34.65

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1455	1455	75-80%	1	180.00	$180.00	$2,619	—
1580–1810	1659	75-80%	5	162.00–171.00	$166.93	$2,769	—
1855	1855	75-80%	1	158.00	$158.00	$2,931	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1370	1370	1	155.00	$155.00	$2,124	—
1420–1880	1575	3	183.00–186.00	$184.19	$2,901	—
1495–1700	1577	3	155.00–165.00	$158.59	$2,501	—
1605–1785	1700	3	175.00–180.00	$177.76	$3,022	—
1580–1985	1766	7	190.00–200.00	$194.73	$3,439	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1125–1156	1141	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	12	259.00–272.50	$266.21	$3,037

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
978–1190	1061	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	237.50–277.50	$254.67	$2,702

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1088	1088	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	3,100.00	$3,100.00
1179–1233	1192	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	171	4,750.00–5,400.00	$5,332.45
1283–1550	1340	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	42	4,800.00–5,400.00	$5,286.47
1378	1378	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	2,750.00	$2,750.00
1257–1514	1413	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	126	3,650.00–4,450.00	$4,054.89
1272–1538	1497	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	38	4,150.00–4,450.00	$4,374.59
1518	1518	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	2,650.00	$2,650.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1126	1126	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	8	4,425.00	$4,425.00
1193	1193	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	4,150.00	$4,150.00
1203	1203	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	2,800.00	$2,800.00
1254	1254	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	3,750.00	$3,750.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
864–938	895	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	59	4,150.00–4,400.00	$4,340.19

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1027–1123	1082	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	37	4,300.00–4,500.00	$4,422.99

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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.