Cattle Market Pulse

Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, August 15, 2022

3,256 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $174.01/cwt +9.34 vs last sale · ≈ $1,611/hd at 926 lb · 149 head
light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $187.57/cwt +1.60 vs last sale · ≈ $1,527/hd at 814 lb · 68 head
light 9-weight M&L 1 steers $185.15/cwt ≈ $1,672/hd at 903 lb · 67 head
HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 3,256 3,284 12,750
Feeder cattle 948 586 2,858
Slaughter cattle 411 449 1,052
Replacement cattle 109 37 526

Only one sale was held this past week due to summer schedules. Please check out Billings livestock commission's report from Thursday for market commentary (https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/ams_1777.pdf.)

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
397 unweaned 397 20 211.00 $211.00 $838
488–492 unweaned 491 17 205.50–211.00 $209.07 $1,027
502 unweaned 502 29 209.00 $209.00 $1,049
731 731 9 187.50 $187.50 $1,371 -6.50
812–815 814 68 185.00–189.25 $187.57 $1,527 +1.60
903–918 903 67 173.50–185.50 $185.15 $1,672
953 953 3 172.50 $172.50 $1,644
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1114 1114 7 152.00 $152.00 $1,693
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
679–680 679 7 191.00–191.50 $191.21 $1,298
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
680 680 7 178.00 $178.00 $1,210
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
674 674 5 178.00 $178.00 $1,200
810 810 1 183.50 $183.50 $1,486

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Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
377 unweaned 377 8 182.50 $182.50 $688
452 unweaned 452 35 180.00 $180.00 $814
573 unweaned 573 3 169.00 $169.00 $968
631 631 11 183.50 $183.50 $1,158 +5.50
745 745 53 178.50 $178.50 $1,330 -2.90
768 768 3 177.00 $177.00 $1,359 +4.31
818 818 16 178.50 $178.50 $1,460 +9.60
870–878 873 6 168.50–170.00 $169.00 $1,475 +1.88
903–945 926 149 166.00–175.25 $174.01 $1,611 +9.34
955 955 5 159.00–166.00 $163.60 $1,562 +7.73
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
459 unweaned 459 4 169.00 $169.00 $776
598 598 18 171.50 $171.50 $1,026 -12.12
600–622 607 27 166.00–168.00 $166.68 $1,012 -8.32
786 786 18 159.50 $159.50 $1,254
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
777–798 788 8 161.00–165.00 $163.24 $1,286
895 895 1 161.00 $161.00 $1,441
900–938 904 29 158.00–161.00 $158.32 $1,431
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1021 1021 5 149.50 $149.50 $1,526
1066–1099 1083 14 149.50–156.00 $152.70 $1,654 -0.80
1100 1100 4 146.50 $146.50 $1,612
1170 1170 2 134.00 $134.00 $1,568
1245 1245 3 124.00 $124.00 $1,544
1283 1283 4 136.50 $136.50 $1,751
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1023 1023 6 144.00 $144.00 $1,473

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Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
663 unweaned 663 8 180.00 $180.00 $1,193
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
831 831 4 155.00 $155.00 $1,288
890 890 2 146.00 $146.00 $1,299
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1183 1183 2 131.00 $131.00 $1,550 +12.00
1247 1247 3 121.00 $121.00 $1,509

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Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1256–1460 1338 80-85% 7 93.50–94.75 $93.85 $1,256
1396 1396 80-85% 6 95.75 $95.75 $1,337 +3.46
1465 1465 80-85% 1 65.00 $65.00 $952 -19.27
1295–1693 1467 80-85% 79 86.50–93.50 $91.43 $1,341 +7.16
1375–1573 1503 80-85% 17 94.25–96.50 $94.71 $1,423
1246–1793 1534 80-85% 25 76.50–86.00 $83.04 $1,274
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
652–778 715 85-90% 6 50.00–55.00 $52.72 $377
754–910 806 85-90% 8 70.00–78.00 $73.17 $590
805–980 863 85-90% 3 80.00–82.50 $80.95 $699 +3.90
1005 1005 85-90% 2 61.00 $61.00 $613
1122 1122 85-90% 3 86.00 $86.00 $965 +6.75
1075–1348 1244 85-90% 18 84.50–91.25 $87.73 $1,091
1001–1547 1283 85-90% 49 74.00–84.50 $79.37 $1,018 -14.14
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1513–1835 1632 75-80% 8 88.00–91.00 $89.60 $1,462 +2.65
1490–1928 1669 75-80% 23 91.25–96.00 $93.31 $1,557 -5.79

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YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1283 1283 2 97.00 $97.00 $1,245
1300–1399 1357 10 111.50–115.00 $113.78 $1,544
1215–1570 1414 4 92.00–97.00 $94.99 $1,343 -0.33
1235–1865 1564 22 102.00–110.00 $106.32 $1,663
1455–2015 1648 9 92.00–100.50 $95.95 $1,581 +1.48
1410–2465 1831 52 102.00–109.00 $105.94 $1,940 +2.11
1515–2145 1906 11 109.00–115.50 $111.22 $2,120

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Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
820–1290 1134 (<2 yrs)Open 20 101.00–114.00 $104.89 $1,189
1135–1280 1260 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 8 90.00–95.50 $93.61 $1,179
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
930–1195 1063 (<2 yrs)Open 2 93.00–107.00 $100.87 $1,072

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Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1034 1034 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 10 1,575.00 $1,575.00
1502 1502 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 5 1,450.00 $1,450.00
1405–1593 1555 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 10 1,500.00–1,550.00 $1,540.97
1437–1663 1566 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 7 1,525.00–1,535.00 $1,528.93

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N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
183–198 188 6 79.00–81.00 $79.70 $150 +0.70
219 219 8 80.00 $80.00 $175 +9.00
305 305 2 72.00 $72.00 $220 -0.50

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Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
653 653 9 165.00 $165.00 $1,077
772 772 21 158.00 $158.00 $1,220
890 890 6 158.00 $158.00 $1,406

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Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
709 709 8 185.00 $185.00 $1,312
753 753 10 180.00 $180.00 $1,355
872 872 10 179.50 $179.50 $1,565
994 994 4 163.00 $163.00 $1,620
Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
794 794 4 132.00 $132.00 $1,048
1087 1087 12 96.50 $96.50 $1,049

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N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
143 143 2 41.00 $41.00 $59 -29.11
115–148 145 19 57.00 $57.00 $83 -13.11
157–163 158 26 57.00–61.00 $59.40 $94 +2.85
178 178 20 42.00 $42.00 $75 -12.86
170–192 179 17 51.00–60.00 $57.69 $103 +2.83
200 200 4 55.00 $55.00 $110 +1.35
219–245 223 13 53.00–57.00 $56.35 $126 +2.70
260 260 1 54.00 $54.00 $140 +6.00

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N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
85 85 1 223.00 $223.00 $190 +13.60

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Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
51–58 53 68 157.00–160.00 $158.67 $84 -30.53
60–68 66 144 149.00–161.00 $152.78 $101 -41.73
73–79 75 131 151.00–159.00 $155.55 $117 -22.00
81–89 85 333 152.50–159.00 $156.87 $133 +7.57
89 89 25 137.00 $137.00 $122 -12.30
90–99 97 376 141.50–158.00 $152.20 $148 +15.08
102 fancy 102 100 151.00 $151.00 $154
105–109 105 127 128.00–145.00 $138.89 $146 +8.24
110–116 111 35 122.00–123.00 $122.85 $136 +17.85
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
59 59 11 143.50 $143.50 $85 -38.50
65–68 67 30 144.00–147.00 $144.97 $97 -32.03
76–78 77 14 141.00–145.00 $143.26 $110 -33.74
82–89 84 18 136.00–137.50 $136.36 $115 +19.46
97 97 25 131.00 $131.00 $127 +14.10
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
75–79 77 9 112.50–115.00 $113.64 $88 -28.36
91–93 92 42 100.00–105.00 $101.33 $93 +1.33

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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.