Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, May 17, 2021

6,886 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $160.45/cwt -15.69 vs last sale · ≈ $1,006/hd at 627 lb · 54 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $139.22/cwt +2.91 vs last sale · ≈ $919/hd at 660 lb · 47 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $148.43/cwt -9.15 vs last sale · ≈ $843/hd at 568 lb · 42 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	6,886	6,325	3,307
Feeder cattle	814	3,576	1,164
Slaughter cattle	1,498	1,507	477
Replacement cattle	951	1,242	1,666

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: The best test for feeder steers was 600-649 lbs which sold generally steady. All other weights of steers were too lightly tested either this week or last to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. The best test for heifers was 650-699 lbs which sold steady to firm. All other heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mostly plain to average and overall lower than last week. Most calves were offered in small packages or as singles. No load lots were seen this week. Demand was mostly moderate for light offerings. Ranchers continue to show up to purchase feeders to run on pasture this summer. This created some stronger competition in places as order buyers were forced to be more aggressive in order to fill loads. The May feeder contract closed Friday at 137.225 while the August closed at 153.70, 0.325 lower and 2.55 higher respectfully. Market activity was mostly moderate this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Heavy supplies of cows continue to be seen across the upper plains as drought conditions are driving cows to market. Packers opted to send most cows to feed this week as they only slaughtered cows with some type of blemish. Packers opted to feed high quality cows to premium white and plain to average quality cows they put on a holding ration until they can find the shackle space to slaughter them. The weekly cutter cow cutout value was up 4.42 to 209.34. Breaking cows sold 1.00-2.00 higher, boning and lean cows sold 1.00-2.00 lower. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 lower. Packers put a lower quality set of cows on feed this week as they purchased many sets of cows to hold which would have normally sold as slaughter cows. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold unevenly steady from firm to 5.00 lower. Good demand was seen for high quality rebreed type cows, while average to plain feeding cows sold with lighter demand.

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
385	385	1	200.00	$200.00	$770	—
515	515	11	188.00	$188.00	$968	+7.00
550–563	559	7	159.00–179.00	$164.62	$920	-12.64
609–643	627	54	157.00–166.00	$160.45	$1,006	-3.44
670	670	4	151.50	$151.50	$1,015	-5.81
703–749	738	28	141.00–153.00	$147.56	$1,089	+4.63
755–785	765	6	138.00–140.00	$139.01	$1,063	+3.88
800–833	822	3	126.00–136.00	$132.76	$1,091	+3.24
841	841	4	124.00	$124.00	$1,043	-5.52
962	962	16	119.50	$119.50	$1,150	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
338	338	3	185.00	$185.00	$625	—
476–495	484	12	167.50–171.00	$168.99	$818	+10.93
523–545	529	8	165.00–174.00	$167.32	$885	+4.61
580	580	6	153.50	$153.50	$890	+6.00
650–674	654	29	133.00–140.00	$138.04	$903	-2.08
700	700	2	134.00	$134.00	$938	-0.51
787	787	3	129.00	$129.00	$1,015	+1.49

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
392	392	5	150.00	$150.00	$588	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
581	581	4	131.00	$131.00	$761	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
613	613	4	132.00	$132.00	$809	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1255	1255	2	117.00	$117.00	$1,468	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
535	535	2	157.50	$157.50	$843	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
493	493	4	153.00	$153.00	$754	—
503–518	508	6	150.00–152.00	$151.32	$769	-3.69
561–593	568	42	146.00–157.00	$148.43	$843	-8.51
608–646	621	12	142.00–146.00	$144.61	$898	-2.95
653–694	660	47	135.00–142.50	$139.22	$919	+4.56
702–714	708	22	126.00–132.00	$129.32	$916	-7.28
750–798	787	11	120.00–122.00	$121.00	$952	-1.75
808–815	812	6	116.00–120.00	$117.99	$958	-9.51

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
324	324	4	150.00	$150.00	$486	—
394–398	396	11	148.00–154.00	$150.74	$597	+0.74
465–482	479	11	147.00	$147.00	$704	-1.49
509–523	511	14	135.00–145.00	$136.46	$697	-8.68
570–588	586	15	140.00–144.00	$141.86	$831	+0.37
638–640	639	3	124.00–129.00	$125.67	$803	—
719–745	724	5	119.00–120.00	$119.79	$867	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1016	1016	4	105.00	$105.00	$1,067	—
1033	1033	5	97.00	$97.00	$1,002	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1093	1093	6	98.00	$98.00	$1,071	-6.00
1118	1118	9	96.00	$96.00	$1,073	—
1205	1205	7	94.00	$94.00	$1,133	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
802–841	814	13	110.50–114.50	$113.23	$922	-2.27
898	898	2	106.00	$106.00	$952	—
988	988	2	105.00	$105.00	$1,037	+4.00

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
548	548	5	122.50	$122.50	$671	—
635	635	2	122.00	$122.00	$775	—
753	753	3	110.00	$110.00	$828	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
840	840	85-90%	1	42.50	$42.50	$357	—
840–920	888	85-90%	3	59.00–63.00	$61.33	$545	—
805–985	932	85-90%	12	48.00–58.50	$54.40	$507	-1.08
983–1158	1050	85-90%	6	41.00–43.00	$42.67	$448	-6.75
1060–1240	1152	85-90%	5	68.00–69.50	$68.62	$791	+11.10
980–1405	1164	85-90%	215	47.00–62.50	$56.05	$652	-1.47
990–1310	1166	85-90%	92	52.00–62.00	$57.50	$670	-0.02
1045–1315	1214	85-90%	165	57.50–68.50	$61.82	$750	-2.01
1000–1380	1234	85-90%	144	58.00–67.00	$61.19	$755	-2.64
1140–1298	1243	85-90%	12	68.00–73.50	$70.08	$871	+6.25

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1230–1685	1389	80-85%	203	59.00–69.00	$64.87	$901	+5.18
1185–1506	1394	80-85%	103	68.50–76.00	$72.28	$1,008	+12.59
1302–1625	1405	80-85%	75	60.00–67.75	$63.83	$897	-2.45
1175–1600	1409	80-85%	61	51.00–63.00	$58.49	$824	-7.79
1310–1590	1420	80-85%	50	53.00–62.50	$58.95	$837	-5.59
1455–1555	1506	80-85%	4	71.00–73.00	$72.27	$1,088	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1527	1527	75-80%	3	58.50	$58.50	$893	—
1448–1705	1552	75-80%	23	60.00–64.50	$62.00	$962	—
1560	1560	75-80%	2	70.00	$70.00	$1,092	—
1474–1890	1592	75-80%	16	65.00–70.50	$68.45	$1,090	—
1510–1975	1722	75-80%	15	70.00–74.50	$71.78	$1,236	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1250–1500	1371	8	85.00–91.00	$86.62	$1,188	—
1275–2255	1573	23	72.00–84.50	$80.74	$1,270	-6.66
1155–1873	1682	7	72.00–84.00	$75.27	$1,266	—
1300–2305	1795	51	84.00–93.00	$88.03	$1,580	+0.39
1755–2380	2029	41	93.00–104.50	$96.55	$1,959	—
2550	2550	1	82.00	$82.00	$2,091	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
910 thin fleshed	910	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	72.00	$72.00	$655
710–1448	969	(<2 yrs)	Open	427	63.00–105.00	$89.62	$868
847–1260 thin fleshed	1024	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	19	51.00–70.00	$58.03	$594
1068	1068	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	74.00	$74.00	$790
765–1450	1098	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	175	55.00–90.00	$70.25	$771

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
735–880 thin fleshed	808	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	65.00–71.00	$67.73	$547
790–1045	887	(<2 yrs)	Open	22	62.00–80.00	$73.80	$655
820–945	891	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	61.00–72.00	$64.33	$573
790–1036 thin fleshed	1005	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	8	52.00	$52.00	$523

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1099–1445	1109	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	33	900.00–975.00	$972.04
1147	1147	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	7	800.00	$800.00
1155 thin fleshed	1155	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	6	600.00	$600.00
1170–1190	1188	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	18	1,050.00–1,085.00	$1,081.15
1286 thin fleshed	1286	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	7	800.00	$800.00
1362	1362	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	1,050.00	$1,050.00

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
140	140	1	75.00	$75.00	$105	—
155	155	2	93.00	$93.00	$144	—
170	170	1	65.00	$65.00	$110	—
186	186	5	94.00	$94.00	$175	—
200–240	213	10	81.00–85.00	$83.28	$177	—
215–245	225	3	87.00–88.00	$87.36	$197	—
220–240	230	3	74.00–78.00	$76.67	$176	—
255–285	263	4	75.00–76.00	$75.27	$198	—
250–298	267	9	80.00–84.00	$81.66	$218	—
308	308	3	82.00	$82.00	$253	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
49	49	4	155.00	$155.00	$76	—
80–88	86	5	175.00–185.00	$183.15	$158	—
108	108	5	210.00	$210.00	$227	—
114	114	8	160.00	$160.00	$182	—
130	130	4	220.00–250.00	$238.75	$310	—
150	150	3	230.00	$230.00	$345	—
173	173	2	140.00	$140.00	$242	—
200	200	1	195.00	$195.00	$390	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1137	1137	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	1,500.00	$1,500.00	—
1180–1294	1272	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	20	900.00–950.00	$919.17	-736.68
1300–1331 thin fleshed	1321	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	9	1,200.00–1,225.00	$1,216.80	+216.80
1329 thin fleshed	1329	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	7	1,100.00	$1,100.00	+100.00
1376 thin fleshed	1376	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	10	1,350.00	$1,350.00	—
1378	1378	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	10	1,010.00	$1,010.00	-58.35

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1228	1228	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	1,275.00	$1,275.00	—
1197–1303 thin fleshed	1239	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	1,150.00	$1,150.00	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
105–124	120	10	71.00–76.00	$75.13	$90	—
111–135	122	39	82.00–87.00	$85.48	$104	—
105–148	132	293	85.00–98.00	$91.50	$121	—
125–140	137	17	77.00–78.00	$77.92	$107	—
150–165	158	267	85.00–96.00	$89.72	$142	—
153–170	159	11	77.00–83.00	$80.33	$128	—
161–198	180	109	82.00–87.00	$85.21	$153	—
165–199	184	216	73.00–82.00	$76.92	$142	—
184	184	8	61.00	$61.00	$112	—
200–240	213	155	68.00–77.00	$74.14	$158	—
215–218	217	4	81.00–85.00	$83.01	$180	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
130–146	142	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	65	101.00–111.00	$105.28	$149	—
149	149	Aged (>6yrs)	Open	4	84.00	$84.00	$125	—
158–164	163	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	29	91.00–110.00	$106.83	$174	—
165	165	Middle Aged (4-6 yrs)	Open	3	94.00	$94.00	$155	—
168	168	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	25	83.00	$83.00	$139	—
180	180	Aged (>6yrs)	Open	1	84.00	$84.00	$151	—
206	206	Middle Aged (4-6 yrs)	Open	17	91.00	$91.00	$187	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
134	134	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	10	100.00	$100.00	—
157	157	Middle Aged (4-6 yrs)	Open	58	89.00	$89.00	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
53	53	9	230.00	$230.00	$122	—
58	58	16	260.00	$260.00	$151	—
69	69	25	235.00	$235.00	$162	—
70	70	35	250.00	$250.00	$175	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
95	95	6	95.00	$95.00	$90	—
116	116	19	96.00	$96.00	$111	—
118–143	126	43	79.00–82.00	$79.93	$101	—
178	178	2	82.00	$82.00	$146	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
26	26	4	330.00	$330.00	$86	—
30–36	35	31	225.00–270.00	$249.36	$87	—
43	43	3	280.00	$280.00	$120	—
40–45	44	21	220.00–245.00	$230.62	$101	—
43–47	44	43	310.00–330.00	$317.22	$140	—
43–48	45	25	235.00–290.00	$248.25	$112	—
50	50	1	255.00	$255.00	$128	—
50	50	1	305.00	$305.00	$152	—
51–56	54	20	260.00–295.00	$278.95	$151	—
57	57	19	190.00	$190.00	$108	—
58	58	5	230.00	$230.00	$133	—
59	59	7	315.00	$315.00	$186	—
61–67	63	27	260.00–280.00	$273.68	$172	—
63	63	6	220.00	$220.00	$139	—
64	64	18	185.00	$185.00	$118	—
60–69	65	43	307.50–335.00	$322.45	$210	—
70	70	1	240.00	$240.00	$168	—
70–75	72	8	295.00–322.50	$312.17	$225	—
72–76	74	10	220.00–255.00	$237.97	$176	—
75	75	2	255.00	$255.00	$191	—
81	81	4	267.50	$267.50	$217	—
85	85	3	225.00–240.00	$235.00	$200	—
90	90	1	305.00	$305.00	$274	—
90	90	1	205.00	$205.00	$184	—
94	94	12	225.00	$225.00	$212	—
105–115	111	5	280.00–285.00	$283.11	$314	—
113	113	3	250.00	$250.00	$282	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
59	59	17	292.50	$292.50	$173	—
60–68	63	69	286.00–295.00	$290.14	$183	—
73–76	74	78	282.50–295.00	$288.67	$214	—
80–89	88	29	253.00–272.50	$255.46	$225	—
92	92	16	225.00	$225.00	$207	—
94	94	28	232.50	$232.50	$219	—
116	116	34	195.00	$195.00	$226	—
122	122	17	187.50	$187.50	$229	—

Receipts

Market comments — USDA reporter

Feeder Steers

Feeder Heifers

Feeder Bulls

Slaughter Cows

Slaughter Bulls

Stock Cows

Bred Cows

Bred Heifers

Bucks

Bucks Billies

Cow-Calf Pairs

Ewes

Families

Hair Breeds

Hair Bucks

Hair Ewes

Kids

Lambs

Nannies Does

Wethers

Wooled & Shorn

Reading this report

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
43	43	12	112.50	$112.50	$48	—
55	55	2	85.00	$85.00	$47	—
70	70	1	100.00	$100.00	$70	—
70–75	73	2	132.50–135.00	$133.71	$98	—
92–95	93	5	132.50–140.00	$135.56	$126	—
103–110	105	6	95.00–107.50	$98.85	$104	—
100–130	112	33	105.00–142.50	$130.31	$146	—
100–135	119	19	147.50–160.00	$155.25	$185	—
157	157	3	110.00	$110.00	$173	—
165–170	168	5	135.00–142.50	$137.95	$232	—
160–173	169	3	105.00	$105.00	$177	—
220	220	2	130.00	$130.00	$286	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
63	63	2	125.00	$125.00	$79	—
127	127	3	245.00	$245.00	$311	—
129	129	5	150.00	$150.00	$194	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
36	36	4	285.00	$285.00	$103	—
46	46	7	272.50	$272.50	$125	—
53–58	56	39	287.50–295.00	$290.93	$163	—
53–58	57	62	255.00–285.00	$263.95	$150	—
64	64	10	245.00	$245.00	$157	—
61–68	67	130	285.00–297.50	$289.87	$194	—
70–76	71	54	275.00–291.00	$288.55	$205	—
76–79	78	65	232.50–242.50	$235.08	$183	—
80–88	84	30	260.00–280.00	$266.19	$224	—
92–94	93	110	245.00–247.00	$245.70	$229	—
100–115	108	47	229.00–239.00	$237.93	$257	—