Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, August 23, 2021

6,068 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1 steers $214.57/cwt +17.09 vs last sale · ≈ $903/hd at 421 lb · 327 head

light 3-weight M&L 1 heifers $198.67/cwt +15.57 vs last sale · ≈ $650/hd at 327 lb · 297 head

light 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $181.03/cwt +11.29 vs last sale · ≈ $764/hd at 422 lb · 226 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	6,068	13,205	2,537
Feeder cattle	3,851	2,858	1,912
Slaughter cattle	1,545	1,052	400
Replacement cattle	672	526	225

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers calves under 400 lbs sold mostly 5.00-7.00 higher, 400-499 lbs sold 5.00-15.00 higher, steer calves over 500 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Yearling steers sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher. Heifer calves under 450 lbs sold mostly steady to 10.00 higher, heifer calves over 450 lbs sold generally steady. Yearling heifers under 800 lbs sold unevenly steady, yearling heifers over 800 lbs sold mostly 1.00-2.00 lower. Quality this week was mixed from plain to very attractive. Yearling offerings were notably not as attractive as the week prior. Calf offerings were mostly attractive to very attractive with several load lots of calves seen. Demand for calves and yearlings was moderate to good. Many small packages of yearlings were seen this week. This forced buyers to piece together loads. CME positions traded sharply higher on Monday and spent the week slowly giving up most of the profits seen Monday. The August feeder contract settled on Thursday at 159.45, 0.425 higher than last Friday. The September contract closed at 164.65, 0.85 lower, while the October closed at 168.425, 0.80 higher. Market activity this week was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on mixed demand for heavy offerings. Cows continue to sell 3 different ways as they are being purchased for slaughter, feed, and to return to the country to test for breds. Slaughter cows sold 2.00-4.00 higher on breaking cows as feeding buyers pushed these offerings higher. Boning and lean cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 lower. The majority of the slaughter cow market was comprised of low yielding cows as most were coming out of dry country and had freshly weaned calves. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher as pressure from rebreed buyers helped push high quality cows higher. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 1.00 lower. Bull yields remain near their seasonal low. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this week on cows and bulls. Demand for replacement stock remains good. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady.

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
203–245 unweaned	217	3	225.00–240.00	$230.65	$501	—
276–285 unweaned	279	75	220.00–235.00	$232.32	$648	+13.24
300–349 unweaned	330	139	205.00–227.00	$221.14	$730	+8.14
351–392 unweaned	373	115	197.50–223.00	$217.58	$812	+3.53
401–437 unweaned	421	327	181.00–222.00	$214.57	$903	+14.78
462–490 unweaned	467	35	183.50–185.00	$183.77	$858	+5.85
563–580 unweaned	566	5	160.00–161.00	$160.80	$910	-5.59
620–627 unweaned	625	4	155.00–167.50	$164.40	$1,028	+9.48
659–698	666	27	174.00–174.50	$174.10	$1,160	+3.19
716–747	725	114	167.00–175.50	$174.46	$1,265	+9.52
755–783	774	34	162.00–169.00	$164.36	$1,272	+0.32
818–842	832	12	158.50–165.50	$162.87	$1,355	+3.00
854	854	6	151.00	$151.00	$1,290	-4.80
879–899	889	22	154.00–157.00	$155.26	$1,380	-0.54
900–945	926	53	145.00–155.50	$151.41	$1,402	-4.02
962–989	972	11	140.00–140.50	$140.31	$1,364	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
254–267 unweaned	262	10	177.50–226.00	$207.18	$543	—
357 unweaned	357	21	202.00	$202.00	$721	+6.00
428 unweaned	428	46	196.50	$196.50	$841	+20.41
476 unweaned	476	7	145.00	$145.00	$690	—
673–699	689	13	163.50–167.00	$164.81	$1,136	—
713–745	735	8	151.00–162.00	$157.61	$1,158	-1.19
815–835	823	5	147.00–150.00	$148.22	$1,220	-6.28

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
381	381	15	207.00	$207.00	$789	+14.50
1000–1049	1033	27	137.00–143.00	$139.50	$1,441	—
1115	1115	6	132.00	$132.00	$1,472	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
625	625	15	174.50	$174.50	$1,091	+7.50
681	681	16	165.50	$165.50	$1,127	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
554–568	562	10	159.00–163.00	$160.58	$902	+2.29

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
921	921	9	137.00	$137.00	$1,262	+3.00

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
265–292 unweaned	274	44	182.50–202.50	$196.79	$539	+11.79
302–345 unweaned	327	297	180.00–203.00	$198.67	$650	+14.48
355–395 unweaned	386	171	166.00–185.00	$182.48	$704	+0.36
407–445 unweaned	422	226	164.00–183.50	$181.03	$764	+11.29
455–480 unweaned	469	18	155.00–171.00	$164.30	$771	-1.39
510–539 unweaned	533	9	150.00–154.00	$150.85	$804	-3.59
566–570 unweaned	567	32	150.00–155.50	$154.29	$875	+3.28
611–643	621	45	146.75–159.00	$150.90	$937	—
663–697	679	27	151.00–157.00	$155.01	$1,053	-1.99
709	709	4	144.00	$144.00	$1,021	-10.31
704–749	737	166	148.00–157.00	$153.22	$1,129	-1.09
750–797	777	215	147.00–155.00	$151.87	$1,180	+1.05
758–798	790	10	145.50–146.00	$145.90	$1,153	-4.92
805–847	816	95	144.00–148.00	$146.32	$1,194	-1.28
815–829	823	14	140.00–143.00	$141.27	$1,163	-6.33
852–898	869	114	141.00–147.50	$144.23	$1,253	-1.72
916 fancy	916	23	144.25	$144.25	$1,321	—
900–941	931	35	139.00–141.50	$140.20	$1,305	+0.29
935	935	6	134.50	$134.50	$1,258	-5.41
951–994	966	62	133.50–140.50	$136.59	$1,319	-2.39

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
309 unweaned	309	5	157.50	$157.50	$487	—
605–633	611	18	150.00–151.00	$150.67	$921	—
664–694	674	47	147.00–155.50	$152.93	$1,031	+2.93
717	717	21	151.00	$151.00	$1,083	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
374 unweaned	374	9	164.00	$164.00	$613	-5.00
411	411	38	177.50	$177.50	$730	—
683	683	6	150.00	$150.00	$1,024	-0.11
703–730	713	15	144.00–151.50	$145.02	$1,034	-1.98
750–775	763	4	143.00–145.00	$144.02	$1,099	-3.03
805	805	13	130.00	$130.00	$1,046	—
895	895	1	139.50	$139.50	$1,249	±0.00
998	998	2	124.00	$124.00	$1,238	-6.50

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
744	744	28	149.50	$149.50	$1,112	—
853	853	10	142.00	$142.00	$1,211	—
1003–1028	1014	22	132.50–136.50	$133.97	$1,358	-1.53
1063–1083	1075	6	128.00–131.50	$129.67	$1,394	+4.17

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
542	542	12	149.00	$149.00	$808	+11.75
630	630	3	145.00	$145.00	$914	+10.00
693	693	11	143.00	$143.00	$991	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
358 unweaned	358	2	210.00	$210.00	$752	—
450 unweaned	450	20	164.00	$164.00	$738	+1.00
501 unweaned	501	11	157.00	$157.00	$787	—
585 unweaned	585	3	149.00	$149.00	$872	—
686 unweaned	686	7	144.00	$144.00	$988	—
815	815	3	134.00	$134.00	$1,092	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
695	695	30	143.50	$143.50	$997	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105–1130	1124	4	117.00–120.00	$117.74	$1,323	+7.74

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
878	878	3	104.00	$104.00	$913	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
915–965	929	85-90%	7	44.00–51.00	$47.53	$442	—
965	965	85-90%	1	41.00	$41.00	$396	-13.18
1000–1383	1174	85-90%	104	50.50–58.00	$53.95	$633	-15.43
1000–1280	1182	85-90%	3	41.00–45.50	$42.63	$504	-14.24
420–1350	1189	85-90%	262	50.00–61.00	$55.10	$655	-1.77
1070–1295	1210	85-90%	4	58.50–62.00	$60.33	$730	+1.04
1240	1240	85-90%	1	67.00	$67.00	$831	+7.71
1231–1252	1247	85-90%	46	59.50–63.50	$60.51	$755	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1308–1660	1397	80-85%	32	55.00–62.00	$56.17	$785	-3.70
1301–1581	1420	80-85%	109	62.00–69.25	$64.90	$922	-5.92
1348–1657	1429	80-85%	50	69.50–78.00	$71.50	$1,022	+0.68
1347–1668	1461	80-85%	28	53.50–59.00	$57.30	$837	-7.87
1340–1635	1462	80-85%	23	60.00–64.00	$62.10	$908	-3.07
1466	1466	80-85%	4	67.00	$67.00	$982	+1.83

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1518–1880	1624	75-80%	7	74.00–78.50	$77.20	$1,254	+3.51
1545–1818	1629	75-80%	12	65.50–73.00	$68.02	$1,108	-5.67
1583–1685	1629	75-80%	5	79.00–80.00	$79.79	$1,300	+6.10
1613–1750	1682	75-80%	4	67.00–67.50	$67.26	$1,131	—
1590–1990	1782	75-80%	8	79.00–83.00	$81.24	$1,448	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1155	1155	1	78.50	$78.50	$907	—
1315–1690	1532	18	73.00–81.00	$78.48	$1,202	—
1340–2110	1719	76	65.00–81.50	$77.38	$1,330	—
1275–1916	1755	25	82.00–90.00	$85.15	$1,494	—
1588–2250	1848	60	82.00–89.00	$84.95	$1,570	-0.50
2125	2125	1	83.00	$83.00	$1,764	—
1800–2365	2130	13	88.00–98.00	$94.27	$2,008	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
808–1272	1002	(<2 yrs)	Open	85	70.00–95.00	$81.20	$814
919–1430	1167	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	43	63.00–83.00	$70.79	$826
1270–1371	1349	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	22	60.50–65.50	$64.46	$870
1414	1414	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	5	54.00	$54.00	$764

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1038–1134 thin fleshed	1089	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	34	54.00–54.50	$54.28	$591
1178–1438	1207	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	72	57.00–58.25	$58.08	$701
1187–1275	1211	Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	15	56.50–61.50	$58.93	$714
1184–1356	1308	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	52	56.50–65.00	$61.25	$801

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1026–1265	1086	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	12	1,000.00–1,025.00	$1,017.72
1282	1282	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	81	1,025.00	$1,025.00

Small 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
768–778	773	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	40	39.50–44.00	$41.65	$322

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
879–949	919	(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	50	1,210.00–1,275.00	$1,251.70

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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
1275–1402	1334	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	26	1,675.00–1,710.00	$1,691.98	—
1410–1655	1513	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	19	1,650.00–1,685.00	$1,666.12	+45.58
1705	1705	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	1,510.00	$1,510.00	—
1761	1761	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	1,525.00	$1,525.00	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
413	413	10	63.00	$63.00	$260	—
511–543	530	10	63.50–71.00	$68.11	$361	—
780–784	784	23	67.00	$67.00	$525	—
963	963	6	74.50	$74.50	$717	—

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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.