Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, February 14, 2022

2,746 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 $217.34/cwt +14.69 vs last sale · ≈ $1,132/hd at 521 lb · 175 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $200.23/cwt +7.22 vs last sale · ≈ $1,143/hd at 571 lb · 125 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1 heifers $201.98/cwt +13.61 vs last sale · ≈ $753/hd at 373 lb · 96 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,746	8,600	3,254
Feeder cattle	1,441	4,329	2,028
Slaughter cattle	747	1,135	821
Replacement cattle	558	554	405

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer calves 500-599 lbs offered the best comparisons to the previous week. These offerings sold mostly 5.00 to 10.00 higher. All other weights of steers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Heifer calves under 550 lbs sold mostly 8.00-10.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Heifers over 550 lbs sold steady. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. A few load lots were seen this week and these offerings were met with mostly good demand. Cattle suitable to develop into yearlings sold on mostly good demand this week. Cattle suitable to develop into yearlings were of higher quality this week compared to last week. The August feeder cattle contract continues to hold on in the mid 180's. This week the August feeder cattle contract settled at 186.075, 1.375 higher. CME positions traded near steady on the nearby months this week. The March closed at 165.425, down 0.675 from last week, the April closed at 170.85, 0.15 higher. Market activity this week was mostly moderate to active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Packers showed moderate to good demand for slaughter cows this week. Packers continued to send many cows to feed this week. Many sets of cows had been started on feed and packers opted to purchased most of these offerings to put back on feed as most offerings needed 30-45 more days on feed to grade Premium white. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 lower on all classes. Feeding cow sold mostly steady to weak. Feeding type cows were of mostly attractive quality this week. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00-3.00 lower. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady. Demand for these offerings was mostly moderate to good. A small portion of the offering was comprised of heifers that lost their 1st calves. These offerings continue to be met with very good 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
395	395	21	240.00	$240.00	$948	+9.00
435–448	447	16	230.00–231.00	$230.50	$1,030	-0.29
451–470	458	22	209.00–217.50	$214.45	$982	-11.26
503–535	521	175	204.00–223.00	$217.34	$1,132	+14.69
550–584	571	125	198.00–207.00	$200.23	$1,143	+7.22
602–635	617	25	183.00–198.00	$189.11	$1,167	+4.85
657–661	659	12	175.00–175.50	$175.25	$1,155	-2.13
707–745	718	58	154.00–166.00	$159.95	$1,148	-8.51
755–776	774	19	153.00–161.00	$153.82	$1,191	-14.01
788	788	3	147.00	$147.00	$1,158	-20.83
815–830	820	11	146.50–156.00	$149.53	$1,226	-9.47
870	870	74	155.50	$155.50	$1,353	+7.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
292	292	3	205.00	$205.00	$599	—
365–398	380	6	195.00–210.00	$204.76	$778	-5.24
465–490	486	9	199.00–205.00	$199.99	$972	-6.01
510–543	532	3	187.00–190.00	$187.96	$1,000	-2.00
600	600	2	176.00	$176.00	$1,056	+3.80
658–689	677	15	157.00–167.00	$160.89	$1,089	-4.26
720–728	724	4	146.00–153.00	$149.48	$1,082	-10.77
770	770	1	151.00	$151.00	$1,163	-1.00
815–848	843	6	143.00–145.00	$143.32	$1,208	-11.18

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300	300	4	175.00	$175.00	$525	—
433	433	2	187.50	$187.50	$812	—
485	485	1	175.00	$175.00	$849	—
645	645	1	147.00	$147.00	$948	—

Small 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
532	532	7	160.00	$160.00	$851	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
334	334	8	200.00	$200.00	$668	—
358–391	373	96	192.00–210.00	$201.98	$753	+13.61
401–449	433	81	192.00–203.00	$200.55	$868	+5.89
453–495	467	74	177.00–197.50	$188.67	$881	-0.03
503–528	517	42	174.00–192.00	$180.55	$933	+3.86
556–588	568	25	169.00–180.00	$174.34	$990	+1.89
608–635	620	81	157.50–171.00	$162.72	$1,009	-2.41
657–662	660	12	149.00–151.00	$149.83	$989	-12.37
739–743	740	45	143.50–144.00	$143.64	$1,063	-9.77

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
334–345	337	12	175.00–182.50	$181.36	$611	—
387–396	395	21	183.00–185.00	$184.72	$730	—
405–442	436	38	170.00–185.00	$182.73	$797	+2.01
455–478	470	4	158.00–177.50	$164.75	$774	-12.33
505	505	1	179.00	$179.00	$904	+19.99
567–595	572	7	160.00–162.00	$160.87	$920	-1.13
609–617	612	9	146.00–157.00	$149.70	$916	+1.24
650–684	672	10	149.00–161.00	$154.82	$1,040	+6.82
750–786	782	8	130.00–140.00	$131.20	$1,026	-11.80
801–820	807	6	122.00–131.00	$125.05	$1,009	—
880	880	3	133.50	$133.50	$1,175	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
405	405	3	150.00	$150.00	$608	-2.50
514–528	519	6	145.00–149.00	$147.64	$766	—
606	606	8	131.00	$131.00	$794	—
718	718	2	120.00	$120.00	$862	—
845	845	2	112.50	$112.50	$951	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310–345	333	3	160.00–172.50	$163.88	$546	—
378–398	388	4	142.50–145.00	$143.78	$558	—
428	428	2	167.50	$167.50	$717	+9.50
473	473	3	147.50	$147.50	$698	+2.50
550	550	2	142.00	$142.00	$781	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
453	453	3	202.00	$202.00	$915	—
515	515	1	197.50	$197.50	$1,017	—
575	575	1	170.00	$170.00	$978	-7.00
605	605	1	171.00	$171.00	$1,035	+11.71
783	783	8	142.50	$142.50	$1,116	-4.38
1023	1023	2	120.00	$120.00	$1,228	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
740	740	2	146.00	$146.00	$1,080	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1140–1515	1288	80-85%	107	67.00–77.00	$69.76	$899	—
1035–1841	1319	80-85%	192	67.00–75.50	$70.23	$926	—
1062–1525	1322	80-85%	14	59.00–67.00	$62.39	$825	—
1200–1625	1469	80-85%	6	75.50–76.00	$75.91	$1,115	-0.21
1395–1513	1474	80-85%	3	63.00–65.00	$63.63	$938	-12.49

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1235–1775	1445	75-80%	10	65.00–73.00	$69.79	$1,008	—
1525	1525	75-80%	3	77.50	$77.50	$1,182	—
1245–1673	1532	75-80%	83	67.00–76.25	$72.95	$1,118	—
173–1785	1556	75-80%	87	72.00–75.50	$73.01	$1,136	+0.51
1425–1621	1570	75-80%	121	73.00–78.25	$76.98	$1,209	+4.48

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
920	920	85-90%	1	63.50	$63.50	$584	+2.82
950	950	85-90%	1	52.50	$52.50	$499	—
815–1167	1027	85-90%	11	50.00–56.00	$53.30	$547	—
880–1335	1119	85-90%	39	56.00–65.00	$61.05	$683	+6.25
1020–1260	1145	85-90%	28	66.00–73.75	$67.89	$777	+5.00
990–1372	1196	85-90%	12	64.00–67.00	$65.36	$782	-6.22
1010–1550	1211	85-90%	117	65.00–73.00	$65.98	$799	-9.75
1230–1245	1238	85-90%	2	75.00–75.50	$75.25	$932	-0.48

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1736–1810	1742	65-75%	26	75.00–77.00	$76.84	$1,339	—

Boner ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1447–1514	1487	80-85%	15	985.00–1,110.00	$1,061.35	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1170–1825	1493	29	77.50–92.00	$85.23	$1,272	—
1305–2035	1752	28	85.00–101.00	$94.22	$1,651	—
1690–2365	2022	14	104.50–110.00	$106.61	$2,156	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
765–1420	1048	(<2 yrs)	Open	66	81.00–124.00	$101.25	$1,061
760–1460	1148	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	39	65.00–92.50	$73.30	$841

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1035–1130	1054	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	900.00–950.00	$939.28
1257	1257	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	860.00	$860.00
1211–1538	1425	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	34	1,250.00–1,500.00	$1,460.65
1292–1593	1492	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	37	1,010.00–1,135.00	$1,075.55

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1175	1175	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,125.00	$1,125.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
892	892	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	900.00	$900.00
845–1078	1021	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	134	950.00–1,585.00	$1,504.40

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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.