Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, February 21, 2022

2,469 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 $161.60/cwt +17.96 vs last sale · ≈ $1,176/hd at 728 lb · 259 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $172.74/cwt +10.02 vs last sale · ≈ $1,066/hd at 617 lb · 258 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $157.51/cwt ≈ $1,192/hd at 757 lb · 136 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,469	2,746	9,154
Feeder cattle	1,974	1,441	7,442
Slaughter cattle	330	747	913
Replacement cattle	165	558	799

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer calves weighing less than 700 lbs sold generally steady to firm in a narrow comparison. Steers over 700 lbs sold mostly 5.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Heifer calves under 500 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Heifers 500-699 lbs sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher, heifers over 700 lbs were not well tested last week, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mostly average 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 again this week. Cattle destined for the feedlot sold on very good demand as order buyers purchasing feeders for packers showed very good demand for this weight of cattle. Cattle were in mostly light to moderate flesh this week despite the fact most cattle over 650 lbs came out of grow lots. This week the August feeder cattle contract settled at 186.075, 1.375 higher. CME feeder cattle positions traded lower this week as gain prices shot higher on uncertainty in Europe. The March closed at 160.025, down 5.40 from last week, the April closed at 164.75, 6.10 lower. Market activity this week was mostly moderate to active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand for light offerings. Extremely cold temperatures were seen early in the week which limited to volume of cattle in the offering. Packers showed good demand for a very light offering of cows this week. Packers opted to send most of the cow offering to immediate harvest this week. Feeding buyers were active this week as well and pushed packer buyers on most all offerings this week, especially ones that have been on feed. Slaughter cows sold mostly 5.00-7.00 higher on all classes. Feeding cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Cow quality this week was average to attractive. Weigh up conditions were average. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested to trend. Most of the <2 year old's are now comprised of heifers which lost 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
400–420	419	17	228.00–232.00	$228.22	$956	-2.28
456–498	478	105	219.00–235.00	$232.95	$1,114	+18.50
508–545	529	26	205.00–221.00	$210.72	$1,115	-6.62
552–582	569	55	205.50–216.00	$209.69	$1,193	+9.46
600–646	616	50	180.00–196.00	$192.07	$1,183	+2.96
660–681	675	48	178.00–181.00	$178.61	$1,206	+3.36
714–744	735	70	172.00–172.50	$172.36	$1,267	+12.41
764–766	765	28	165.50–166.75	$166.44	$1,273	+12.62
830	830	4	161.00	$161.00	$1,336	+11.47
879–891	888	28	154.50–155.00	$154.62	$1,373	-0.88
906	906	35	155.00	$155.00	$1,404	—
977	977	5	145.00	$145.00	$1,417	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
455–475	473	8	212.00–217.00	$212.60	$1,006	+12.61
569	569	5	202.00	$202.00	$1,149	—
608	608	3	167.00	$167.00	$1,015	-9.00
656–692	670	85	158.50–175.00	$169.39	$1,135	+8.50

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
755	755	8	163.00	$163.00	$1,231	—
900	900	23	151.00	$151.00	$1,359	—
1104	1104	6	135.00	$135.00	$1,490	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
542	542	6	168.50	$168.50	$913	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
430–445	443	13	192.00–196.00	$195.40	$866	-5.15
480	480	9	194.00	$194.00	$931	+5.33
505–538	515	71	181.00–190.00	$188.33	$970	+7.78
553–599	582	34	175.00–187.00	$178.87	$1,041	+4.53
604 fancy	604	42	183.00	$183.00	$1,105	—
607–627	620	216	168.25–177.00	$170.74	$1,059	+8.02
651–681	666	108	164.00–170.00	$165.74	$1,104	+15.91
701–732	728	259	161.00–164.50	$161.60	$1,176	+17.96
753–789	757	136	154.00–159.00	$157.51	$1,192	—
818–840	825	72	149.00–152.25	$151.15	$1,247	—
860	860	16	145.00	$145.00	$1,247	—
902	902	25	145.50	$145.50	$1,312	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
328–349 unweaned	344	8	189.00	$189.00	$650	—
423	423	2	189.00	$189.00	$799	+6.27
540–546	543	15	172.00–175.00	$173.61	$943	—
552	552	9	168.00	$168.00	$927	+7.13
626	626	36	161.00	$161.00	$1,008	+11.30
664	664	7	155.00	$155.00	$1,029	+0.18
700–736	719	22	138.00–152.50	$144.19	$1,037	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
828–844	843	22	144.50–146.00	$144.63	$1,219	—
1235	1235	3	126.00	$126.00	$1,556	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
472	472	9	183.00	$183.00	$864	—
640	640	4	162.00	$162.00	$1,037	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
540	540	4	152.00	$152.00	$821	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
763–773	767	8	144.00–147.00	$145.13	$1,113	—
835	835	3	120.00	$120.00	$1,002	—
948	948	4	106.00	$106.00	$1,005	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1035	1035	1	112.00	$112.00	$1,159	—
1110	1110	2	105.00	$105.00	$1,166	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
618	618	2	159.00	$159.00	$983	-12.00

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
852–910	861	85-90%	11	54.00–59.00	$58.14	$501	—
887–958	929	85-90%	21	58.00–63.00	$60.75	$564	-2.75
950–960	955	85-90%	2	66.00–78.00	$72.03	$688	+19.53
1054	1054	85-90%	4	56.00	$56.00	$590	—
1023–1289	1158	85-90%	37	74.00–78.50	$76.52	$886	—
1030–1315	1160	85-90%	19	61.00–74.00	$70.13	$814	—
1063–1280	1203	85-90%	71	66.50–79.00	$75.99	$914	+10.01

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1429–1623	1579	65-75%	35	82.00–83.25	$82.28	$1,299	—
1573–2005	1659	65-75%	5	82.00–85.00	$84.28	$1,398	—

Lean ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1268	1268	85-90%	5	875.00	$875.00	—
1308	1308	85-90%	22	930.00	$930.00	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1300–1440	1370	80-85%	2	70.00–74.00	$71.90	$985	—
1395	1395	80-85%	1	80.00	$80.00	$1,116	—
1363–1630	1480	80-85%	6	77.00–80.00	$78.45	$1,161	+14.82
1365–1575	1484	80-85%	14	76.50–81.00	$79.00	$1,172	+15.37

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1420–1733	1570	75-80%	11	80.00–82.00	$81.26	$1,276	+4.28

Boner ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1388	1388	80-85%	6	985.00	$985.00	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1200–1215	1208	2	93.00–96.00	$94.49	$1,141	—
1200–1645	1471	4	75.00–85.00	$79.89	$1,175	-5.34
1350–1708	1549	9	71.00–94.50	$87.60	$1,357	—
1575–1895	1705	4	87.00–95.00	$90.92	$1,550	—
1575–1943	1829	8	89.00–104.00	$99.62	$1,822	—
1870	1870	1	106.00	$106.00	$1,982	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2505	2505	1	89.00	$89.00	$2,229	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
810–1400	890	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	115	71.50–113.25	$103.38	$920
795–1110	930	(<2 yrs)	Open	17	108.00–136.00	$116.51	$1,084

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
773	773	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	75.00	$75.00	$580
715–856	812	(<2 yrs)	Open	12	90.00–134.00	$130.17	$1,057

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1225–1352	1329	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	11	910.00–1,050.00	$1,026.54

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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.