Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, May 3, 2021

3,896 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary report →

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $130.40/cwt -3.46 vs last sale · ≈ $936/hd at 718 lb · 169 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $125.96/cwt -4.77 vs last sale · ≈ $959/hd at 761 lb · 166 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $149.20/cwt -2.81 vs last sale · ≈ $850/hd at 570 lb · 107 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,896	6,881	2,854
Feeder cattle	1,944	4,246	1,410
Slaughter cattle	1,214	1,154	633
Replacement cattle	738	1,481	811

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers were all too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Heifers under 550 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however sharply lower undertones were noticed. Heifers over 550 lbs sold mostly 3.00-9.00 lower. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Ranches in Eastern Montana are culling replacement heifers due to drought conditions and low water levels in reservoirs due to light snowfall this winter. Heifer quality this week was much more attractive than steer quality. Most of these offerings sold as feeder cattle and not as replacements. CME feeder cattle positions were lower again this week as high feed cost continue to put stress on the market. May feeder cattle settled Friday at 131.725, while the August settled at 144.275 which is 1.875 and 2.475 lower respectfully. Market activity was slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Seasonally heavy supplies of cows are being marketed as drought conditions drive cows to market. Packers continue to show need for cows as they sent a large portion of them to immediate harvest this week. The cutter cow cutout continues to inch higher as we are entering the height of ground beef season. The weekly cutter cow cutout was 201.16 up 4.13 from last week. However, heavy supplies allowed packers to buy slaughter cows mostly lower this week. Slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 lower on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows sold steady to firm. Feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-2.00 lower. Packers continue to purchase large amounts of feeding cows as well. With high feed cost many private ranchers are mostly out of the market, but order buyers continue to search for and bid on cows that they think are bred. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady this week. Weigh up conditions were mixed this week. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. This class sold generally steady. Demand for rebreed type cattle was mostly good as quality was attractive. Feeding type cattle saw prices stabilize this week after several weeks of lower prices.

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
425	425	6	187.00	$187.00	$795	-6.75
459–460	460	12	182.00	$182.00	$837	-6.86
513 thin fleshed	513	15	190.00	$190.00	$975	-5.00
543	543	3	165.00	$165.00	$896	-17.22
563	563	14	160.00–160.50	$160.29	$902	-15.97
609–646	629	39	150.00–164.00	$153.20	$964	-11.37
673–690	683	9	139.00–150.50	$146.35	$1,000	-11.83
700 thin fleshed	700	3	150.00	$150.00	$1,050	—
717–732	727	23	134.50–136.00	$135.01	$982	-10.51
761–768	765	18	132.00–138.00	$134.99	$1,033	-0.95
822	822	5	120.50	$120.50	$991	-0.50
918	918	5	114.00	$114.00	$1,047	-3.91

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	2	180.00	$180.00	$603	—
468–495	484	23	161.00–175.00	$166.38	$805	-11.80
505–523	521	18	151.00–167.50	$153.21	$798	-17.83
555–580	568	2	160.00	$160.00	$909	-6.22
600	600	2	148.00	$148.00	$888	-2.30
650	650	14	135.00	$135.00	$878	—
810	810	3	117.00	$117.00	$948	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
580	580	8	140.00	$140.00	$812	—
650–657	652	55	121.00–125.00	$123.90	$808	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
429	429	4	155.00	$155.00	$665	-8.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
463–479	473	14	146.00	$146.00	$691	-14.33
513–539	522	62	144.00–152.00	$149.01	$778	-9.57
554–595	570	107	146.50–156.00	$149.20	$850	+11.20
600–635	627	85	133.00–146.75	$141.40	$887	-7.19
652–675	670	29	131.00–139.50	$136.90	$917	+2.97
702–740	718	169	125.00–133.00	$130.40	$936	+9.76
757 fancy	757	64	130.00	$130.00	$984	—
758–795	764	102	120.00–124.00	$123.43	$943	-8.82
807–811	810	10	111.00–118.00	$113.09	$916	-9.58
810	810	2	109.00	$109.00	$883	-13.67
895	895	5	108.00	$108.00	$967	±0.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
398	398	4	150.00	$150.00	$597	-8.05
427–448	435	18	135.00–150.00	$146.94	$639	-6.33
450–496	483	26	131.00–145.00	$137.09	$662	-15.82
516–525	520	18	145.00–148.00	$146.10	$760	-2.96
558–586	580	48	130.00–142.00	$138.61	$804	+2.18
600–645	629	31	130.00–137.50	$135.52	$852	-3.67
653–663	662	63	132.75–133.50	$132.84	$879	+0.99
710	710	1	122.00	$122.00	$866	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
324	324	10	146.00	$146.00	$473	—
376	376	18	147.50	$147.50	$555	—
425–449	434	33	145.00–147.00	$146.41	$635	—
489	489	4	149.00	$149.00	$729	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
438	438	12	143.00	$143.00	$626	—
485	485	7	122.50	$122.50	$594	—
571	571	17	100.00	$100.00	$571	-27.28
648	648	15	101.00	$101.00	$654	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
473	473	6	135.00	$135.00	$639	±0.00
550–587	556	18	120.00–132.00	$122.11	$679	-1.89
713	713	19	112.00	$112.00	$799	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
518	518	12	134.00	$134.00	$694	-14.68

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
461–499	480	10	132.50–135.00	$133.80	$642	—
507–547	520	22	128.00–136.00	$132.76	$690	—
555–596	584	10	128.00–137.00	$130.57	$763	—
651–688	662	12	115.00–124.00	$118.64	$785	-8.36
708	708	4	117.00	$117.00	$828	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
902–925	912	7	106.00–109.00	$108.13	$986	+2.63
955–960	959	5	100.00–105.50	$101.10	$970	-6.54

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
70	70	—	—	2	225.00–275.00	$250.00	+50.00
1040–1240	1110	(<2 yrs)	N/A	6	1,600.00–2,100.00	$1,810.13	—
1790	1790	Young (2-4 yrs)	N/A	1	1,900.00	$1,900.00	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
426	426	4	138.00	$138.00	$588	—
492	492	5	130.00	$130.00	$640	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1125	1125	6	92.00–98.00	$95.17	$1,071	-4.12

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
808	808	2	106.00	$106.00	$856	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
745–858	820	85-90%	3	43.00–48.50	$46.84	$384	—
805–930	875	85-90%	3	61.00–63.00	$62.02	$543	—
755–995	919	85-90%	11	50.00–58.00	$53.31	$490	-2.06
1070–1080	1075	85-90%	2	41.00–50.00	$45.52	$489	—
1108–1163	1145	85-90%	6	67.50–69.75	$69.02	$790	-1.65
950–1370	1169	85-90%	140	47.00–63.50	$55.99	$655	+5.24
1014–1335	1174	85-90%	124	52.00–65.00	$57.49	$675	+6.74
1065–1295	1179	85-90%	90	62.00–68.50	$65.93	$777	+6.49
1020–1395	1205	85-90%	101	57.00–66.50	$61.09	$736	-10.55
1165–1300	1214	85-90%	11	68.50–72.00	$70.26	$853	+4.20

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1362–1445	1383	80-85%	4	69.50	$69.50	$961	+15.50
1165–1620	1393	80-85%	55	62.00–67.50	$63.97	$891	+9.97
1253–1525	1404	80-85%	28	67.00–73.50	$71.23	$1,000	+8.05
1265–1665	1416	80-85%	39	57.00–64.50	$61.94	$877	-6.10
1100–1795	1420	80-85%	88	53.00–62.50	$58.56	$832	-9.48
1244–1646	1427	80-85%	149	62.50–68.50	$66.15	$944	-5.88
1493	1493	80-85%	4	53.00	$53.00	$791	-18.66

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1548	1548	75-80%	2	73.50	$73.50	$1,138	+6.68
1515–1955	1606	75-80%	30	65.00–69.50	$67.13	$1,078	—
1475–1885	1613	75-80%	30	61.00–66.50	$63.51	$1,024	-0.54
1694–1865	1735	75-80%	9	72.50–73.50	$72.61	$1,260	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1125	1125	1	65.00	$65.00	$731	—
1080–1375	1247	19	72.00–83.50	$77.98	$972	—
1125–1385	1255	2	84.00–88.00	$85.79	$1,077	-2.28
1250–2000	1593	37	72.00–83.50	$78.90	$1,257	—
1465–2355	1794	52	83.00–92.50	$87.25	$1,565	—
1680–2445	2019	32	90.00–102.00	$95.14	$1,921	+0.32

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1540	1540	1	79.00	$79.00	$1,217	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
738–845 thin fleshed	787	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	6	61.00–79.00	$71.44	$562
790 thin fleshed	790	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	84.00	$84.00	$664
718–1325	958	(<2 yrs)	Open	309	75.50–107.00	$91.36	$875
750–1585	1087	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	207	61.00–96.00	$77.42	$842

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1000	1000	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	65.00	$65.00	$650
890–1060	1022	(<2 yrs)	Open	23	81.00–85.00	$81.15	$829

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
885–940	929	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	84.00–86.00	$84.38	$784
1220	1220	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	62.00	$62.00	$756

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1055	1055	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	14	850.00	$850.00
1111–1259	1168	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	13	900.00–1,200.00	$1,024.38
1219–1432	1287	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	13	1,000.00–1,375.00	$1,155.27
1456–1518	1487	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	10	850.00–935.00	$893.39

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1130–1321	1283	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	5	92.00–101.00	$93.59	$1,201

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
987–1320	1043	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	12	1,025.00–1,050.00	$1,030.28

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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
1186	1186	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	4	800.00	$800.00	—
1100–1520	1326	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	7	1,085.00–1,150.00	$1,100.98	—

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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.