Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, July 31, 2023

3,383 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $267.00/cwt -0.50 vs last sale · ≈ $1,703/hd at 638 lb · 16 head

heavy 8-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $206.14/cwt +4.14 vs last sale · ≈ $1,775/hd at 861 lb · 11 head

heavy 5-weight M 1 heifers $250.00/cwt ≈ $1,425/hd at 570 lb · 10 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	3,383	629	928
Feeder cattle	169	334	299
Slaughter cattle	277	229	567
Replacement cattle	48	66	62

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Only one sale was held this week as auctions continue with summer sale schedules. This weeks only sale was held at Public auction Yards, please check that sale report for current market commentary.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
591	591	4	271.00	$271.00	$1,602	-8.00
638	638	16	267.00	$267.00	$1,703	—
745	745	1	242.50	$242.50	$1,807	-0.50
895	895	7	225.00	$225.00	$2,014	—
931	931	4	213.00	$213.00	$1,983	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
332 unweaned	332	3	280.00	$280.00	$930	—
353 unweaned	353	3	275.00	$275.00	$971	—
468	468	2	295.00	$295.00	$1,381	—
955	955	4	212.00	$212.00	$2,025	+9.00

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
495	495	4	205.00	$205.00	$1,015	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
538	538	3	250.00	$250.00	$1,345	—

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Feeder Heifers

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1000–1022	1017	4	192.00–194.00	$192.49	$1,958	-1.51
1050 fancy	1050	10	196.00	$196.00	$2,058	—
1170	1170	1	178.00	$178.00	$2,083	+8.00

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
570	570	10	250.00	$250.00	$1,425	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400 unweaned	400	4	290.00	$290.00	$1,160	—
895	895	1	209.00	$209.00	$1,871	+1.33
976	976	4	200.00	$200.00	$1,952	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
348 unweaned	348	2	275.00	$275.00	$957	—
450	450	3	277.50–282.00	$280.50	$1,262	—
690	690	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,587	—
725	725	2	223.00	$223.00	$1,617	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
630	630	2	235.00	$235.00	$1,480	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
809	809	9	214.00	$214.00	$1,731	-1.73
860–861	861	11	197.50–207.00	$206.14	$1,775	+4.14

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1055–1065	1060	2	169.00–179.00	$174.02	$1,845	+14.02
1135	1135	1	165.00	$165.00	$1,873	+7.50
1170	1170	1	159.00	$159.00	$1,860	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1005	1005	1	174.00	$174.00	$1,749	+19.00

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1200–1565	1304	80-85%	38	114.00–121.00	$117.88	$1,537	—
1168–1508	1365	80-85%	13	109.00–113.00	$110.49	$1,508	-3.58
1310–1558	1429	80-85%	19	103.50–113.50	$106.74	$1,525	—
1365–1580	1473	80-85%	2	115.00–118.00	$116.61	$1,718	—
1395–1775	1583	80-85%	5	88.00–102.50	$97.02	$1,536	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
845	845	85-90%	1	99.00	$99.00	$837	—
775–925	852	85-90%	3	85.00–96.00	$89.04	$759	—
1080	1080	85-90%	1	83.00	$83.00	$896	—
935–1295	1165	85-90%	11	88.00–101.00	$95.67	$1,115	—
1060–1360	1199	85-90%	30	103.00–109.00	$106.32	$1,275	—
1190–1212	1203	85-90%	5	110.00–115.00	$113.52	$1,366	+9.29

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1478–1648	1561	75-80%	16	116.50–117.50	$117.16	$1,829	—
1575	1575	75-80%	1	114.50	$114.50	$1,803	—
1577–1600	1583	75-80%	4	117.00–118.00	$117.25	$1,856	—
1675	1675	75-80%	2	112.00	$112.00	$1,876	-0.54
1705	1705	75-80%	1	107.00	$107.00	$1,824	—
1760–1960	1880	75-80%	3	99.00–106.50	$102.94	$1,935	—
2065	2065	75-80%	1	110.00	$110.00	$2,272	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
950	950	1	80.00	$80.00	$760	—
1195–1285	1214	8	117.00–121.00	$119.48	$1,450	+15.05
1265–1280	1273	2	108.00–118.00	$113.03	$1,439	—
1385–2415	1715	18	105.00–114.00	$110.62	$1,897	—
1415–2305	1773	53	114.00–125.00	$119.82	$2,124	—
1890–2240	2052	13	123.00–130.00	$125.88	$2,583	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
995–1215	1067	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	140.00–156.00	$149.42	$1,594
1040–1240	1190	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	16	117.00–128.00	$125.81	$1,497

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
920	920	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	155.00	$155.00	$1,426

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Bucks

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
145	145	1	71.00	$71.00	$103	—
190	190	1	65.00	$65.00	$124	—
198	198	2	72.00	$72.00	$143	—
205	205	1	66.00	$66.00	$135	—
208–245	214	17	71.00–79.00	$72.21	$155	—
215–235	228	3	80.00–84.00	$82.74	$189	—
250	250	2	79.00	$79.00	$198	—
260	260	1	68.00	$68.00	$177	—
300	300	1	62.00	$62.00	$186	—

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Bucks Billies

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
48	48	2	135.00	$135.00	$65	—
78	78	6	182.50	$182.50	$142	—
85	85	2	195.00–200.00	$197.50	$168	—
90	90	4	160.00	$160.00	$144	—
95	95	3	185.00–207.50	$195.83	$186	—
100–130	116	9	190.00–210.00	$198.15	$230	—
100–145	123	2	202.50–222.00	$210.46	$259	—
150–155	153	2	197.50–203.00	$200.20	$306	—
155	155	1	180.00	$180.00	$279	—
205–230	218	2	200.00–207.50	$203.53	$444	—

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Large 3 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1605	1605	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	2,300.00	$2,300.00	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
933	933	2	108.50	$108.50	$1,012	—

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Ewes

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
105–123	116	5	32.00–41.00	$37.74	$44	—
131	131	11	6.00	$6.00	$8	—
119–143	134	21	49.00–59.00	$53.76	$72	—
142	142	54	44.00	$44.00	$62	—
147	147	6	63.00	$63.00	$93	—
152–165	155	4	41.00–42.50	$41.40	$64	—
153–172	165	26	53.00–60.00	$57.87	$95	—
155–196	173	19	66.00–68.00	$67.49	$117	—
155–175	173	13	60.50–61.00	$60.53	$105	—
160–185	180	17	56.00–61.00	$58.67	$106	—
183–199	197	14	47.00–54.00	$52.21	$103	—
205–219	209	16	52.00–60.00	$54.10	$113	—
217–230	222	5	66.00–72.00	$68.48	$152	—
250	250	1	58.00	$58.00	$145	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
118	118	Lambs (<1 yr)	Open	2	165.00	$165.00	$195	—
135	135	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	78.00	$78.00	$105	—
153	153	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	6	71.00	$71.00	$109	—

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Hair Breeds

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
72	72	5	171.00	$171.00	$123	—
88	88	8	170.00	$170.00	$150	—
95	95	13	177.50	$177.50	$169	—

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Hair Bucks

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
120	120	1	60.00	$60.00	$72	—
145	145	2	85.00	$85.00	$123	—

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Hair Ewes

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
101	101	8	75.00	$75.00	$76	—
120	120	24	81.00	$81.00	$97	—
124–135	132	26	53.00–56.00	$55.13	$73	—
120–146	134	9	51.00–63.00	$58.24	$78	—
163	163	3	54.00	$54.00	$88	—

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Hair Lambs

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
54	54	5	175.00	$175.00	$94	—
64	64	29	156.00	$156.00	$100	—
72	72	10	166.00	$166.00	$120	—

Small 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
56	56	5	80.00	$80.00	$45	—
74	74	9	90.00	$90.00	$67	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1233	1233	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	2,150.00	$2,150.00	—

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Kids

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
23–27	25	20	40.00–45.00	$42.45	$11	—
30	30	1	80.00	$80.00	$24	—
30	30	13	117.50	$117.50	$35	—
30–36	34	9	182.50–195.00	$189.07	$64	—
38	38	2	80.00	$80.00	$30	—
42–43	42	15	180.00–212.50	$184.42	$77	—
43	43	6	115.00–130.00	$125.00	$54	—
45	45	2	80.00	$80.00	$36	—
43–48	46	16	230.00–237.50	$235.16	$108	—
48	48	2	225.00	$225.00	$108	—
50	50	3	235.00–237.50	$236.67	$118	—
50	50	1	223.00	$223.00	$112	—
52	52	20	155.00	$155.00	$81	—
50–56	53	92	200.00–232.00	$228.78	$121	—
53	53	3	155.00	$155.00	$82	—
55	55	1	210.00	$210.00	$116	—
56–59	58	16	150.00–175.00	$164.38	$95	—
58	58	2	175.00	$175.00	$102	—
61	61	5	130.00	$130.00	$79	—
64–69	65	23	200.00–232.50	$225.01	$146	—
60–68	66	27	224.00–237.50	$227.43	$150	—
65–67	66	10	130.00–155.00	$147.66	$97	—
70–75	71	25	220.00–235.00	$229.33	$163	—
73–75	73	7	205.00	$205.00	$150	—
75	75	1	210.00	$210.00	$158	—
75	75	1	235.00	$235.00	$176	—
83	83	5	232.00	$232.00	$193	—
90–98	95	3	200.00	$200.00	$190	—

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Lambs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
56	56	21	202.00	$202.00	$113	—
60–69	64	136	200.00–216.00	$207.66	$133	—
69	69	15	198.00	$198.00	$137	—
70–79	76	399	200.00–215.00	$209.76	$159	—
81	81	5	177.50	$177.50	$144	—
80–87	86	234	205.00–217.00	$212.87	$183	—
90–99	95	356	204.00–218.50	$211.73	$201	—
101–109	104	83	195.00–218.00	$213.96	$223	—
110	110	45	190.00–207.00	$206.62	$227	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
40–49	47	24	160.00–183.00	$171.57	$81	—
53–58	56	25	155.00–176.00	$169.78	$95	—
60–65	63	22	160.00–175.00	$167.70	$106	—
70–73	72	4	165.00–177.50	$168.03	$121	—
76	76	5	165.00	$165.00	$125	—
85	85	4	165.00	$165.00	$140	—
93	93	59	100.00	$100.00	$93	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
75	75	5	175.00	$175.00	$131	—

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Nannies Does

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
48	48	8	110.00	$110.00	$53	—
55	55	2	132.50	$132.50	$73	—
60	60	1	127.50	$127.50	$76	—
62	62	7	60.00	$60.00	$37	—
70–72	72	14	135.00–145.00	$144.30	$104	—
75	75	1	82.50	$82.50	$62	—
75–77	77	6	95.00–105.00	$103.37	$80	—
80–85	83	9	127.50–132.50	$128.85	$107	—
90–91	91	6	122.50	$122.50	$111	—
92	92	3	100.00	$100.00	$92	—
100–142	107	34	104.00–142.50	$119.54	$128	—
125–148	139	9	112.50–130.00	$122.15	$170	—
160	160	2	130.00	$130.00	$208	—

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Sheep

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
108	108	2	59.00	$59.00	$64	—
132 thin fleshed	132	25	35.00	$35.00	$46	—
131–139	135	8	56.00–57.00	$56.49	$76	—
146–148	147	12	55.00–59.00	$57.99	$85	—
150–157	154	95	53.00–59.00	$53.74	$83	—
160–163	160	21	52.00–62.00	$59.10	$95	—
172–177	176	18	53.00–58.00	$53.81	$95	—

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Wethers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
79	79	10	218.00	$218.00	$172	—
80–85	83	2	195.00–212.50	$203.48	$169	—
103	103	2	167.50	$167.50	$173	—
100–135	126	10	192.50–200.00	$197.47	$249	—
193	193	2	190.00	$190.00	$367	—

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Wooled & Shorn

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
79	79	11	215.00	$215.00	$170	—
88	88	11	215.50	$215.50	$190	—
94–98	96	28	205.00–216.00	$213.32	$205	—
103–110	106	22	210.00–215.00	$212.25	$225	—
103–134	124	36	146.00–189.00	$163.31	$203	—
150	150	1	170.00	$170.00	$255	—

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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.