Cattle Market Pulse

Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, April 3, 2023

2,280 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 heifers $230.77/cwt +1.22 vs last sale · ≈ $1,191/hd at 516 lb · 57 head
light 4-weight M 1 heifers $235.50/cwt +6.21 vs last sale · ≈ $1,036/hd at 440 lb · 43 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $213.30/cwt -4.99 vs last sale · ≈ $1,337/hd at 627 lb · 40 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,280 5,846 3,116
Feeder cattle 929 4,619 1,319
Slaughter cattle 725 693 991
Replacement cattle 626 534 806

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer and heifer feeder cattle all sold fully steady. Quality this week was mostly average and overall not as attractive as last weeks offering. All size packages sold on good demand. Demand for grass cattle remains good to very good. Positive market news late in the week helped spur interest for late week sales, as packers purchased slaughter cattle in the western corn belt at 175.00-177.00 and in Nebraska at 177.00. This pushed CME prices higher for both live cattle and feeder cattle Thursday. Market activity was mostly active this week despite a smaller offering of feeders. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packer buyers showed good demand for both slaughter and feeding cows this week. Slaughter cows sold 1.00-3.00 higher on all offerings. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher as packers were more competitive over high quality offerings. Weigh up conditions overall were mixed but many sets of cows were pushing moderate fill. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on very good demand as several order buyers were searching for this class of cows. The best demand was seen for first calf heifers which lost calves. Quality this week was attractive for these offerings and most sold 13.00-18.00 higher than last week.

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
555–559 557 20 250.00–254.00 $252.19 $1,405 -0.50
600–629 626 18 229.00–245.00 $230.70 $1,444 -8.43
678–686 682 10 215.00–220.00 $217.49 $1,483 -5.03
694 694 5 203.00 $203.00 $1,409 -19.52
728–737 736 25 198.00–210.00 $199.90 $1,471 -9.51
755–767 763 10 191.00–198.00 $194.30 $1,483 +0.55
855–875 856 40 182.00–187.50 $187.22 $1,603 +13.22
913–930 923 14 168.00–178.00 $172.24 $1,590 -0.26
972 972 10 175.00 $175.00 $1,701 +7.00
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350–397 386 25 237.00–270.00 $265.05 $1,023 —
443 443 33 272.50 $272.50 $1,207 +9.50
479 479 9 266.00 $266.00 $1,274 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
458–477 475 19 252.00–272.50 $256.30 $1,217 +6.62
523–535 528 11 235.00–254.00 $245.26 $1,295 +0.69
560–592 584 4 235.00 $235.00 $1,372 +2.45
673–690 680 7 205.00–211.00 $207.61 $1,412 +4.11
800–818 809 6 177.00 $177.00 $1,432 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
263 263 5 260.00 $260.00 $684 —
309 309 6 255.00 $255.00 $788 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
493 493 3 266.00 $266.00 $1,311 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
370 370 2 252.50 $252.50 $934 —
441 441 23 238.50 $238.50 $1,052 +0.56
449 unweaned 449 8 231.00 $231.00 $1,037 —
501–533 516 57 227.00–238.00 $230.77 $1,191 +1.22
585–591 590 18 226.00–232.00 $226.99 $1,339 -3.05
600–635 627 40 207.00–225.00 $213.30 $1,337 -3.85
676 676 24 210.00 $210.00 $1,420 -2.74
700–746 734 24 181.00–192.00 $188.27 $1,382 -13.28
763–799 790 17 163.00–172.00 $169.19 $1,337 -7.66
822 822 3 174.00 $174.00 $1,430 +4.58
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 335 14 235.00 $235.00 $787 —
384–388 385 19 235.00–237.50 $235.80 $908 +1.02
440 440 43 235.50 $235.50 $1,036 +6.21
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
523 523 5 225.00 $225.00 $1,177 —
700 700 13 194.00 $194.00 $1,358 —
825 825 18 175.00 $175.00 $1,444 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
385 385 2 230.00 $230.00 $886 -1.87
523 523 16 225.00 $225.00 $1,177 +3.07
550 550 2 217.50 $217.50 $1,196 —
648 648 8 214.00 $214.00 $1,387 +12.97
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
397 397 3 200.00 $200.00 $794 -10.00
483 483 2 195.00 $195.00 $942 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
70 unweaned 70 1 350.00 $350.00 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
528–540 533 —— 5 235.00–242.50 $239.46 $1,276 -1.79
584–588 585 —— 14 227.00–253.00 $236.33 $1,383 +11.33
607–614 610 —— 9 210.00–216.50 $213.59 $1,303 +4.33
696 696 —— 12 187.00 $187.00 $1,302 —
750–768 763 —— 14 165.00–178.00 $168.65 $1,287 —
805–885 825 (<2 yrs)N/A 16 183.50–185.00 $184.70 $1,524 —
947 947 —— 3 160.00 $160.00 $1,515 +4.00
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
339 339 4 248.00 $248.00 $841 —
395 395 5 232.50 $232.50 $918 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
70 unweaned 70 1 375.00 $375.00 —
100–110 unweaned 105 4 400.00–425.00 $413.10 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
910 910 2 152.00 $152.00 $1,383 +5.00
1105 1105 1 132.00 $132.00 $1,459 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1323–1620 1387 80-85% 34 79.00–91.50 $86.51 $1,200 —
1345–1558 1393 80-85% 26 100.00–106.00 $104.06 $1,450 —
1318–1551 1397 80-85% 54 91.00–98.50 $95.60 $1,336 —
1200–1674 1413 80-85% 122 88.00–99.50 $94.62 $1,337 +2.68
1350–1520 1425 80-85% 20 89.00–95.00 $91.39 $1,302 +4.51
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
760 760 85-90% 1 52.50 $52.50 $399 —
885–980 945 85-90% 4 73.00–80.00 $77.44 $732 —
965 965 85-90% 1 85.50 $85.50 $825 +5.18
933–1073 1017 85-90% 5 70.00 $70.00 $712 —
1089–1130 1091 85-90% 18 82.75–88.00 $83.05 $906 —
990–1310 1144 85-90% 67 74.50–87.00 $82.54 $944 -3.09
1220–1240 1223 85-90% 8 87.50–95.50 $88.51 $1,082 -0.41
1070–1310 1235 85-90% 93 86.00–96.00 $90.11 $1,113 -5.57
1195–1296 1255 85-90% 11 96.00–101.00 $98.53 $1,237 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1401 1401 75-80% 4 92.00 $92.00 $1,289 —
1460–1825 1631 75-80% 49 94.00–100.00 $96.99 $1,582 +7.29
1385–1880 1639 75-80% 17 90.00–94.50 $92.66 $1,519 +2.96
1760 1760 75-80% 1 101.50 $101.50 $1,786 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1385–1635 1463 65-75% 67 96.75 $96.75 $1,415 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1180 1180 1 108.00 $108.00 $1,274 —
1095–1395 1259 4 94.00–111.00 $103.36 $1,301 —
1190–1350 1283 3 85.00–101.00 $90.97 $1,167 —
1235–1440 1323 7 115.00–122.00 $117.68 $1,557 —
1455–1930 1633 11 98.00–114.00 $108.33 $1,769 +9.17
1365–1885 1647 22 85.00–112.00 $101.47 $1,671 +2.31
1355–1885 1730 8 115.50–124.00 $118.72 $2,054 +2.64
1515–2435 1763 17 108.00–123.00 $115.99 $2,045 +0.05
1780–2015 1853 4 125.00–130.00 $128.05 $2,373 —
1760–2410 2011 17 123.00–138.00 $129.09 $2,596 —
YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
2158 2158 3 116.00 $116.00 $2,503 —
2270 2270 1 115.00 $115.00 $2,610 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
945 thin fleshed 945 (<2 yrs)Open 2 132.50 $132.50 $1,252
970 thin fleshed 970 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 97.50 $97.50 $946
745–1435 972 (<2 yrs)Open 323 121.00–178.00 $156.95 $1,526
810–1490 1100 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 150 89.00–145.00 $116.73 $1,284
1040–1238 1150 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 6 89.00–100.00 $92.91 $1,068
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
703–1135 942 (<2 yrs)Open 24 101.00–153.00 $125.16 $1,179
1005–1215 1087 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 91.00–112.00 $97.85 $1,064
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
931–999 954 (<2 yrs)Open 25 132.00–160.00 $156.78 $1,496
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
695–784 766 (<2 yrs)Open 7 156.00–164.00 $162.96 $1,248

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Bred Cows

Small 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
614–749 715 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 40 47.00–57.00 $54.85 $392
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1208–1288 1248 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 4 1,775.00–1,825.00 $1,800.80

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Bred Heifers

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
985 985 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 11 1,800.00 $1,800.00
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1008 1008 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 3 2,010.00 $2,010.00

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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.