Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, March 21, 2022

2,393 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 heifers $168.24/cwt +0.93 vs last sale · ≈ $1,028/hd at 611 lb · 289 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $162.59/cwt +4.03 vs last sale · ≈ $1,123/hd at 691 lb · 121 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $172.83/cwt -10.79 vs last sale · ≈ $931/hd at 539 lb · 107 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,393	4,300	1,469
Feeder cattle	1,128	1,537	772
Slaughter cattle	717	569	393
Replacement cattle	548	537	304

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer calves were all too lightly tested this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to weak undertones were noticed. Feeder heifers under 600 lbs were too lightly tested either this week or last to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to weak undertones were noticed. Heifers 600-799 lbs sold steady to 8.00 higher; heifers over 800 lbs were not well compared. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Grass cattle buyers needing to fill out grass orders purchased mostly high quality cattle this week. Demand for feeder cattle was mixed this week as buyers searched for quality offerings. Demand for replacement cattle was moderate to good this week but with better market conditions for most of the week, order buyers were able to buy most of these offerings away from ranchers searching for replacements. CME positions traded mixed this week but finished the week lower after last weeks late week improvement. The August feeder cattle contract closed Friday at 178.45, 2.25 lower than last week. The March closed at 156.425, down 0.575 from last week, the April closed at 161.575, 0.75 lower. Market activity this week was mostly moderate to active with a good crowd on hand at ever sale this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packers continue to show good demand for all cows on offer. Cow quality was average to attractive this week and packers were aggressive as they bid on high quality cows suitable to feed. Feeding cows sold steady to 2.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Slaughter cows sold fully steady. Slaughter cows were lower in quality this week compared to last. A large portion of the offering was comprised of fed cows again this week. These offerings were mostly purchased to return to feed. Weigh up conditions were mixed this week. Slaughter bulls sold steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady to weak. These offerings were met with moderate to good demand to both feed and rebreed.

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
417	417	8	218.00	$218.00	$909	—
460–498	480	20	205.50–210.00	$207.27	$995	-18.76
507–545	520	30	197.00–207.00	$202.86	$1,055	-2.14
551–580	565	38	185.00–201.00	$198.50	$1,122	+1.00
610–646	633	15	178.00–186.50	$180.88	$1,145	-5.42
659	659	4	160.00	$160.00	$1,054	-11.00
710–748	734	23	150.00–165.00	$156.22	$1,147	-6.16
768–771	769	20	149.00–163.00	$158.09	$1,216	+3.09

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320	320	2	195.00	$195.00	$624	—
420	420	3	210.00	$210.00	$882	—
514–545	529	10	190.00–194.00	$193.08	$1,021	-11.82
557–593	578	17	181.00	$181.00	$1,046	+7.50
667–673	670	7	160.00–163.00	$161.72	$1,084	-0.78

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
629	629	5	175.00	$175.00	$1,101	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
422–447	439	62	181.50–185.50	$182.96	$803	-6.02
455–487	473	30	179.00–185.00	$182.06	$861	+0.65
525–548	538	100	168.50–185.00	$173.66	$934	+6.16
547	547	7	161.00	$161.00	$881	-6.50
559–593	574	7	171.00–172.00	$171.56	$985	+1.56
600–648	609	268	157.00–175.50	$169.36	$1,031	-2.64
639	639	21	154.00	$154.00	$984	-11.58
668–695	691	121	151.00–164.50	$162.59	$1,123	+1.59
707–743	736	46	139.00–154.00	$146.94	$1,081	-9.31
805	805	2	143.50	$143.50	$1,155	—
888	888	17	130.50	$130.50	$1,159	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
480	480	9	179.00	$179.00	$859	+1.62
564–581	573	8	164.00–165.00	$164.49	$943	+2.78
623	623	2	160.00	$160.00	$997	+11.00
653–675	666	6	149.00–152.00	$150.15	$1,000	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
351	351	4	160.00	$160.00	$562	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
432	432	3	208.50	$208.50	$901	—
466	466	4	204.00	$204.00	$951	—
535	535	3	184.00	$184.00	$984	—
585–590	586	5	178.00–187.00	$185.19	$1,085	—
618–644	637	14	168.00–175.00	$169.94	$1,083	—
808	808	2	139.00	$139.00	$1,123	—
900–933	917	6	113.50–128.00	$120.62	$1,106	—
1180	1180	1	111.00	$111.00	$1,310	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
918	918	3	111.00	$111.00	$1,019	—
1019	1019	7	118.00	$118.00	$1,202	—
1153	1153	13	110.00	$110.00	$1,268	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
90	90	1	425.00	$425.00	—
105	105	1	350.00	$350.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1309–1570	1362	80-85%	16	70.00–76.00	$73.48	$1,001	-1.52
1243–1545	1378	80-85%	80	74.00–84.00	$77.81	$1,072	+2.81
1365–1445	1401	80-85%	5	83.50–87.00	$85.38	$1,196	+11.15
1200–1745	1427	80-85%	72	78.50–86.50	$81.98	$1,170	-5.13
1370–1498	1480	80-85%	7	87.00	$87.00	$1,288	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
925	925	85-90%	1	71.00	$71.00	$657	+18.43
885–975	930	85-90%	2	65.50–66.00	$65.76	$612	+13.19
860–955	934	85-90%	7	51.00–59.00	$57.70	$539	+5.13
1059–1080	1062	85-90%	11	62.00–68.00	$67.26	$714	+6.78
1130	1130	85-90%	1	88.00	$88.00	$994	—
1090–1310	1196	85-90%	36	74.50–82.50	$77.32	$925	+5.94
1030–1320	1205	85-90%	68	53.00–76.50	$71.72	$864	-6.57
1208–1325	1222	85-90%	21	79.00–83.00	$81.35	$994	+3.06
1070–1300	1223	85-90%	4	82.00–85.00	$83.52	$1,021	+5.23

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1393–1725	1520	75-80%	20	85.00–87.00	$86.39	$1,313	+2.96
1565–1615	1584	75-80%	4	78.50–80.50	$79.50	$1,259	—
1450–1905	1655	75-80%	11	82.50–88.00	$84.83	$1,404	+5.00
1657	1657	75-80%	28	89.25	$89.25	$1,479	+9.42
1335–1830	1670	75-80%	7	78.50–82.00	$79.53	$1,328	-0.30
1695–1840	1768	75-80%	2	87.00–88.00	$87.52	$1,547	+15.52
2025	2025	75-80%	1	85.00	$85.00	$1,721	+8.00

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1790	1790	65-75%	3	87.00	$87.00	$1,557	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1325	1325	1	94.00	$94.00	$1,246	—
1210–1425	1326	7	88.00–95.00	$92.85	$1,231	—
1340	1340	1	87.00	$87.00	$1,166	—
1372–1910	1472	23	84.00–102.00	$90.49	$1,332	+4.49
1365–1865	1590	36	80.00–94.50	$90.97	$1,446	-10.30
1418–1955	1636	31	96.00–112.50	$103.50	$1,693	—
1770	1770	1	97.00	$97.00	$1,717	—
1450–2280	1779	35	95.00–108.00	$101.54	$1,806	—
1855–2310	2105	13	108.50–112.00	$109.75	$2,310	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
738–1320	1023	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	91	75.00–106.00	$92.98	$951
755–1410	1025	(<2 yrs)	Open	209	100.00–135.00	$117.93	$1,209

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
885–965	930	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	75.00–79.00	$77.82	$724
890–1195	1085	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	99.00–103.00	$100.37	$1,089

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1115–1402	1218	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	59	1,000.00–1,150.00	$1,068.76
1123–1335	1232	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	15	1,300.00–1,450.00	$1,330.87
1292	1292	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	5	1,250.00	$1,250.00
1258–1585	1445	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	43	1,210.00–1,285.00	$1,247.44

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1215 thin fleshed	1215	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	73.00	$73.00	$887

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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.