Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, January 3, 2022

2,545 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $202.79/cwt +6.26 vs last sale · ≈ $1,059/hd at 522 lb · 216 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $169.42/cwt +6.73 vs last sale · ≈ $904/hd at 533 lb · 179 head

light 4-weight M&L 1 steers $215.18/cwt +2.11 vs last sale · ≈ $917/hd at 426 lb · 91 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,545	13,342	9,071
Feeder cattle	1,848	6,964	7,263
Slaughter cattle	474	2,868	1,347
Replacement cattle	223	3,510	461

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: All yearlings were scarcely tested thus no trend is available. Steer calves under 550 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher. Steers over 550 lbs sold mostly 5.00-10.00 higher. Heifer calves 450-549 lbs offered the best test this week selling mostly 5.00-10.00 higher. All other heifer offerings were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, steady to higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Many calves were offered in small size packages with a load lot or light load lot seen as well. Small packages of calves sold on noticeably lighter demand this week. Most calves were weaned 45 days or more with several sets weaned over 90 days. The best demand this week was seen for calves suitable to develop into yearlings. CME feeder cattle contracts increased in price over the holidays. The January contract closed at 162.10, 1.85 higher than last report(Dec 17th). The March contract closed at 166.675, 4.975 higher. The August contract settled at 181.375 on Friday. Market activity this week was mostly active with a large buyer pool actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on moderate to good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packers showed good demand for cows for immediate harvest. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady on breaking cows. Boning and lean cows sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher. Both packers and private companies showed good demand for high quality cows suitable to feed to premium white. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 1.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Feeding bull buyers were active again this week which helped push bull prices slightly higher. Young age cows were too lightly tested this week to develop an accurate market trend, steady to lower undertones were noticed. Quality this week was plain to average. Demand from Southern fall breeding programs has lightened over the last few weeks as it is starting to get late in the season to rebreed for these producers.

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
406–445	426	91	211.00–219.00	$215.18	$917	+0.74
456–499	470	90	199.00–220.00	$212.92	$1,001	+11.61
511–546	522	216	192.00–209.50	$202.79	$1,059	+3.88
553–595	573	65	173.00–198.00	$189.48	$1,086	+10.66
603–633	619	58	167.00–187.00	$177.16	$1,097	+12.89
651–695	688	36	159.00–166.00	$164.17	$1,129	-0.58
750–775	754	34	158.50–160.00	$159.91	$1,206	—
857–891	883	46	147.00–154.50	$153.24	$1,353	+1.68

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300–349	336	23	191.00–208.00	$196.47	$660	-5.26
375	375	6	190.00	$190.00	$712	-4.95
465–495	491	7	190.00–192.00	$190.27	$934	+7.94
531–548	542	26	175.00–187.00	$184.52	$1,000	—
591	591	6	176.00	$176.00	$1,040	+19.75
603–643	632	25	161.00–164.00	$162.55	$1,027	+11.55

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
526	526	7	140.00	$140.00	$736	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
515–530	523	4	175.00–185.00	$179.93	$941	+6.93

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
391	391	17	180.50	$180.50	$706	+2.62
428	428	17	174.00–189.00	$183.71	$786	+13.85
451–488	476	71	170.00–174.00	$171.46	$816	+7.63
504–518 thin fleshed	513	44	175.00–177.00	$175.76	$902	—
529–547	540	135	165.00–170.00	$167.35	$904	+6.25
555–588 thin fleshed	562	27	168.00–173.00	$171.84	$966	—
554–591	576	35	142.00–160.00	$152.19	$877	-3.97
623–630	626	17	142.00–152.00	$150.00	$939	-3.20
655–678	657	49	142.00–153.00	$151.84	$998	+3.81
757–785	758	64	145.50–150.50	$149.70	$1,135	+1.88
877	877	19	148.50	$148.50	$1,302	+0.40

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
390	390	3	174.00	$174.00	$679	+11.00
435	435	32	166.50	$166.50	$724	+6.77
453–499	477	38	146.00–165.50	$155.94	$744	+6.51
520–545	541	14	145.00–160.00	$157.94	$854	+8.83

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
383	383	11	172.00	$172.00	$659	+2.85
419	419	8	176.00	$176.00	$737	+17.72

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
501	501	11	125.00	$125.00	$626	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1205	1205	8	112.50	$112.50	$1,356	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
688	688	3	135.00	$135.00	$929	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1373	1373	80-85%	2	55.50	$55.50	$762	+4.70
1305–1680	1382	80-85%	11	65.00–67.50	$66.04	$913	+15.24
1133–1523	1384	80-85%	26	48.00–55.00	$52.88	$732	+2.08
1309–1740	1424	80-85%	57	55.50–63.50	$59.42	$846	+13.20
1250–1630	1429	80-85%	106	56.00–64.00	$60.05	$858	+13.83
1430	1430	80-85%	1	66.50	$66.50	$951	+20.28

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
810–823	820	85-90%	5	41.00–44.00	$43.41	$356	—
1001–1313	1129	85-90%	28	42.00–54.00	$48.93	$552	+14.16
935–1290	1139	85-90%	25	45.00–52.50	$48.73	$555	+13.96
1020–1335	1216	85-90%	51	51.00–62.00	$55.84	$679	-5.42
1105–1300	1217	85-90%	60	54.00–61.00	$55.36	$674	-5.90
1150–1257	1247	85-90%	12	61.50–62.00	$61.58	$768	+0.32
1310	1310	85-90%	1	62.00	$62.00	$812	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1581	1581	75-80%	5	63.50	$63.50	$1,004	—
1629–1875	1693	75-80%	8	54.00–61.00	$57.87	$980	—
1550–1910	1790	75-80%	3	63.50–64.50	$63.79	$1,142	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1170–1415	1328	6	72.00–79.00	$76.11	$1,011	—
1145–1755	1666	12	82.00–87.00	$83.98	$1,399	+6.18
1445–2495	1837	14	83.00–89.50	$85.47	$1,570	—
1535–2260	1910	6	72.00–82.00	$78.34	$1,496	-0.54
2185–2415	2288	3	90.00–94.00	$92.27	$2,111	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
800–1290	1018	(<2 yrs)	Open	92	64.00–97.50	$81.94	$834
998–1193	1082	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	7	45.00–49.00	$47.11	$510
959–1428	1108	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	65	54.00–78.00	$66.01	$731

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
925–1330	1172	(<2 yrs)	Open	5	60.00–68.50	$64.78	$759

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1366	1366	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	1,100.00	$1,100.00
1433	1433	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	22	1,000.00	$1,000.00

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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.