Cattle Market Pulse

Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, April 4, 2022

3,116 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $146.39/cwt -9.14 vs last sale · ≈ $1,128/hd at 771 lb · 152 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $210.74/cwt -4.16 vs last sale · ≈ $1,031/hd at 489 lb · 103 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $165.64/cwt -3.28 vs last sale · ≈ $1,116/hd at 674 lb · 101 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 3,116 8,452 2,878
Feeder cattle 1,319 5,750 1,064
Slaughter cattle 991 1,107 1,234
Replacement cattle 806 1,595 580

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer calves under 700 lbs sold mostly 10.00 lower; steers over 700 lbs were not well compared. Heifers under 650 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, lower undertones were noticed; heifers over 650 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Quality was noticeably lower compared to last weeks attractive offering. The best demand continues to be for grass cattle. Heifer demand remains very good this week as heifers continue to offer buyers higher quality consignments compared to steers. Many sets of heifers are off of, or were save for replacements by the rancher, but were forced to sell due to drought conditions. CME positions were mostly lower this past week. Many feeders are weighing higher input costs and are being forced to buy cattle lower as increased inputs have not been offset by higher live cattle contracts. The August feeder cattle contract closed Friday at 173.55, 2.80 lower than last week. The April closed Friday at 156.55, 4.85 lower; the May contract closed Friday at 159.375, 7.175 lower. Market activity was mostly moderate this week with a smaller crowd compared to last week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for moderate offerings. Slaughter demand was mostly moderate this week. While packers tried to buy slaughter cows lower, feeding cow buyers kept prices near steady as they competed over lower quality cows which packers would normally send to harvest. Slaughter cows sold steady to 1.00 higher on breaking cows. Boning and lean cows sold steady to weak. Feeding cows sold steady to weak. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average for buyers this week with many cows were pushing heavy amounts of fill. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold steady to 3.00-8.00 lower. These offerings were met with moderate demand this week, which was lighter than last week. Feeding demand was off significantly as high input costs and lower live cattle futures are mostly to blame.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
482–490 489 103 201.00–212.50 $210.74 $1,031 -7.00
537 537 12 196.00 $196.00 $1,053 -17.58
550–583 555 47 188.00–197.50 $195.91 $1,087 -2.05
624 624 72 190.00 $190.00 $1,186 -5.50
639 639 9 184.00 $184.00 $1,176 -15.50
651 651 7 176.00 $176.00 $1,146 -15.62
717 717 11 155.00 $155.00 $1,111 -22.86
790 790 61 149.00 $149.00 $1,177 -12.06
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
348 348 6 195.00 $195.00 $679 —
380 380 5 205.00 $205.00 $779 -6.15
398 unweaned 398 2 175.00 $175.00 $696 -30.00
400–440 416 9 187.50–201.00 $196.00 $815 -17.78
478–485 482 4 190.00–194.00 $192.01 $925 -17.86
515–546 533 39 185.00–193.00 $190.10 $1,013 +1.16
599 599 7 180.00 $180.00 $1,078 -7.62
646 646 8 170.00 $170.00 $1,098 -9.64
670–683 677 23 154.00–164.00 $158.26 $1,071 -14.43
706–718 711 7 154.00–156.00 $154.87 $1,101 -3.27
811–840 815 16 139.00–144.00 $139.64 $1,138 +0.14
868 868 2 140.00 $140.00 $1,215 -3.00
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
599 599 8 165.00 $165.00 $988 —
779 779 7 143.00 $143.00 $1,114 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
598 598 4 164.00 $164.00 $981 —
637 637 5 151.00 $151.00 $962 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
405 unweaned 405 7 175.00 $175.00 $709 -1.50
500–523 513 22 175.00–185.00 $178.17 $914 -7.05
560 unweaned 560 10 166.50 $166.50 $932 —
570–583 573 12 164.00–174.00 $171.46 $982 -5.00
625 625 2 158.00 $158.00 $988 -10.33
663–675 674 101 154.00–167.00 $165.64 $1,116 +2.24
703–730 715 44 145.00–155.50 $151.87 $1,086 -7.24
757 757 83 152.00 $152.00 $1,151 -15.50
779–793 787 69 139.00–140.50 $139.65 $1,099 -3.09
837 837 9 143.00 $143.00 $1,197 -2.95
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
313 313 5 170.00 $170.00 $532 —
386 386 5 170.00 $170.00 $656 -16.90
404–439 423 36 162.50–180.50 $173.43 $734 -12.53
489 489 8 171.00 $171.00 $836 -6.06
510–549 519 29 165.50–171.00 $166.79 $866 -6.82
555–574 564 24 157.00–159.00 $158.07 $892 -8.54
630–648 647 26 149.00–155.00 $149.45 $967 -13.23
658 658 19 144.00 $144.00 $948 -10.00
773 773 2 135.00 $135.00 $1,044 -6.56
838 838 2 132.00 $132.00 $1,106 ±0.00
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
425 425 4 159.00 $159.00 $676 —
570 570 5 142.00 $142.00 $809 —
627 627 10 138.00 $138.00 $865 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
353 353 3 165.00 $165.00 $582 —
414 414 9 165.00 $165.00 $683 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
150 150 1 250.00 $250.00 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
618–624 622 9 160.00–161.50 $161.00 $1,001 —
708–725 723 70 138.50–147.75 $146.71 $1,061 —
772–798 788 13 134.00–139.00 $137.12 $1,081 -5.88
898 898 2 126.00 $126.00 $1,131 -3.28
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1058–1086 1070 15 111.00–113.00 $111.66 $1,195 -8.34
1250 1250 2 103.50 $103.50 $1,294 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
590 590 1 164.00 $164.00 $968 —
689 689 9 140.50 $140.50 $968 —
765 765 2 124.00 $124.00 $949 -18.00
941 941 5 119.00 $119.00 $1,120 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
740 740 3 125.00 $125.00 $925 —
854 854 7 118.00 $118.00 $1,008 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
100 100 7 175.00 $175.00 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
90 90 1 425.00 $425.00 -60.00
100–120 110 2 325.00–350.00 $338.64 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1065 1065 1 104.00 $104.00 $1,108 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
800–930 868 85-90% 4 54.00–60.00 $57.23 $497 -2.98
855–994 936 85-90% 21 65.00–77.50 $69.18 $648 -0.03
970–993 985 85-90% 3 75.50–76.00 $75.66 $745 +1.66
1045–1300 1154 85-90% 7 54.00–64.00 $61.88 $714 -17.84
912–1300 1161 85-90% 54 67.00–78.00 $73.19 $850 -6.53
1000–1390 1176 85-90% 127 61.50–77.50 $74.02 $870 -5.70
970–1330 1193 85-90% 77 77.00–84.50 $79.31 $946 +6.82
1010–1366 1222 85-90% 137 76.50–85.00 $79.05 $966 —
1185–1365 1285 85-90% 5 85.00–86.50 $85.71 $1,101 —
1290 1290 85-90% 1 86.00 $86.00 $1,109 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1260–1605 1403 80-85% 16 86.50–89.00 $87.77 $1,231 +12.76
1304–1625 1416 80-85% 102 80.00–86.50 $82.67 $1,171 +7.66
1140–1745 1445 80-85% 50 78.00–85.50 $81.63 $1,180 +0.47
1325–1600 1445 80-85% 65 72.00–77.00 $75.38 $1,089 -5.78
1140–1705 1476 80-85% 15 73.50–78.00 $76.35 $1,127 -11.10
1323–1747 1569 80-85% 7 85.50–89.50 $87.55 $1,374 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1390–1720 1605 75-80% 13 84.00–88.50 $86.14 $1,383 —
1430–1855 1651 75-80% 24 84.50–87.50 $86.15 $1,422 —
1542–1965 1666 75-80% 18 77.00–84.00 $81.01 $1,350 —
1840 1840 75-80% 1 88.00 $88.00 $1,619 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
758–1200 787 15 55.00–80.50 $57.59 $453 —
1210 1210 4 100.00 $100.00 $1,210 +2.00
1265–1390 1334 5 84.00–94.00 $90.67 $1,210 —
1510 1510 1 105.00 $105.00 $1,586 +14.34
1145–1790 1530 19 88.00–99.50 $93.70 $1,434 +3.04
1410–2030 1808 37 99.00–110.00 $104.44 $1,888 +0.30
1695–2405 2040 22 109.50–115.00 $111.30 $2,271 —
2365 2365 1 115.00 $115.00 $2,720 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
773 thin fleshed 773 (<2 yrs)Open 3 104.00 $104.00 $804
714–1270 980 (<2 yrs)Open 357 91.00–129.00 $111.31 $1,091
793–1470 1047 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 220 78.00–106.00 $91.94 $963
1048–1378 1221 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 29 77.00–83.50 $79.87 $975
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
835 thin fleshed 835 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 70.00 $70.00 $584
750–1115 966 (<2 yrs)Open 8 85.00–105.00 $93.22 $901
755–1400 1068 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 5 71.00–84.00 $76.87 $821
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1275 1275 (<2 yrs)Open 1 85.00 $85.00 $1,084

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1328–1408 1397 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 14 1,235.00–1,475.00 $1,442.40
1145–1537 1507 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 13 1,200.00–1,400.00 $1,388.31
1597 1597 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 16 1,325.00 $1,325.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1364 1364 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 4 1,300.00 $1,300.00

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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.