Cattle Market Pulse

Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, March 18, 2024

5,332 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 $288.91/cwt +15.67 vs last sale · ≈ $1,801/hd at 623 lb · 555 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $269.06/cwt +9.27 vs last sale · ≈ $1,811/hd at 673 lb · 400 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $295.65/cwt -2.99 vs last sale · ≈ $1,697/hd at 574 lb · 222 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 5,332 4,542 2,904
Feeder cattle 4,464 1,135 1,964
Slaughter cattle 701 849 546
Replacement cattle 167 358 394

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Too few feeder steers sold this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed on offerings under 550 lbs and steady to higher undertones were noticed on offerings over 550 lbs. Heifers offered a better comparison than steers this week, heifers under 450 lbs sold with steady undertones, heifers 450-550 lbs sold steady to 10.00 higher, heifers over 550 lbs sold 10.00-12.00 higher. Several ranchers were in town this week searching for replacement quality heifers. This helped improve heifer demand as both replacement buyers and grass buyers competed over offerings. Demand this week was mostly good for light to moderate offerings. Quality was mostly average to attractive. Most sales featured feeder specials this week. The bulk of the feeder cattle offering were offered in moderate sized packages with several partial load lots seen. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings. This class continues to push higher as limited offerings and high demand continue to be seen. CME positions struggled much of the week. The March closed at 249.95 on Friday, while the April contract closed at 251.50, May closed at 253.775. Market activity was mostly active this week, a large buyer pool of both ranchers and order buyers were seen. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light to moderate offerings. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Packers showed very good demand for slaughter cows this week as they were forced to push offerings sharply higher in order to procure them. Slaughter cows sold 10.00-12.00 higher on breaking cows. Boning cows sold 10.00-15.00 higher. Lean cows sold steady to 5.00 higher. Feeding cows suitable to feed to premium white sold mostly sharply higher. Slaughter bulls sold 10.00-15.00 higher. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold steady to 5.00 higher. Demand remains good for high quality offerings.

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
295 295 1 395.00 $395.00 $1,165 —
305–325 313 4 385.00–400.00 $394.88 $1,236 —
360–389 386 11 380.00–385.00 $380.42 $1,468 +1.42
405–449 424 92 353.00–375.00 $364.66 $1,546 -6.58
450–494 474 71 339.00–367.50 $356.60 $1,690 +3.37
500–532 520 126 330.00–357.50 $344.96 $1,794 +0.66
552–583 571 131 323.50–347.00 $335.62 $1,916 +11.65
600–642 625 97 301.00–321.00 $313.76 $1,961 +4.29
653–698 672 35 285.00–307.00 $289.83 $1,948 -3.41
700–742 725 78 270.00–281.00 $276.11 $2,002 -6.62
752–767 760 40 250.00–268.00 $264.07 $2,007 +5.07
808–809 808 13 239.00–244.00 $241.31 $1,950 +0.13
903–945 917 3 222.50–236.00 $231.36 $2,122 +12.36
980 980 2 213.00 $213.00 $2,087 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335–345 340 2 352.50–375.00 $363.92 $1,237 -8.58
393 393 2 340.00 $340.00 $1,336 -21.13
400–430 418 4 330.00–350.00 $337.31 $1,410 -1.74
470–488 484 11 313.00–340.00 $333.11 $1,612 +2.60
521–537 530 21 327.50–336.00 $330.92 $1,754 +6.51
550–574 562 38 324.00–327.00 $326.23 $1,833 +8.69
613–638 624 27 288.50–307.00 $292.43 $1,825 —
650–693 680 52 265.00–282.00 $273.60 $1,860 -5.88
731–742 736 19 249.00–251.00 $249.95 $1,840 -9.61
781–795 784 5 242.00–248.00 $246.78 $1,935 -2.63
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310–340 325 2 320.00–340.00 $330.46 $1,074 —
415 415 4 310.00–325.00 $321.25 $1,333 —
453–478 462 8 315.00–320.00 $318.06 $1,469 —
510–545 524 5 305.00–315.00 $311.79 $1,634 —
553–598 566 11 278.00–310.00 $302.92 $1,715 —
600–646 622 12 265.00–280.00 $276.76 $1,721 +18.30
676–695 679 17 222.00–235.00 $224.41 $1,524 -20.59
733 733 3 230.00 $230.00 $1,686 -14.00
785–789 789 38 213.00–223.00 $213.26 $1,683 —
800 800 1 194.00 $194.00 $1,552 —
890–895 893 2 207.50–219.00 $213.27 $1,905 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
748 748 24 278.00 $278.00 $2,079 —
910 910 2 222.00 $222.00 $2,020 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350–390 379 17 315.00–328.00 $325.22 $1,233 -21.17
405–441 424 58 315.00–355.00 $340.22 $1,443 -0.83
450–486 470 81 310.00–340.50 $325.12 $1,528 +8.65
500–545 522 194 288.00–330.00 $316.13 $1,650 +7.12
568 fancy 568 3 320.00 $320.00 $1,818 —
551–593 574 219 280.00–303.00 $295.32 $1,695 -3.32
605–649 620 355 270.00–294.00 $287.29 $1,781 +14.05
615–648 629 200 288.50–294.50 $291.79 $1,835 +18.55
650–699 673 400 255.00–285.00 $269.06 $1,811 +9.27
701–740 725 115 241.00–264.00 $251.63 $1,824 —
729 729 8 250.00 $250.00 $1,822 —
750–770 763 59 236.00–248.00 $243.43 $1,857 —
808–845 822 42 222.00–231.00 $228.89 $1,881 —
860–883 868 6 221.00–222.00 $221.34 $1,921 —
905 905 1 210.00 $210.00 $1,900 —
983 983 2 207.00 $207.00 $2,035 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
365–378 372 13 312.50–325.00 $320.78 $1,193 -14.04
400–445 425 49 292.50–336.00 $322.35 $1,370 +12.51
464–498 486 35 294.00–306.00 $302.25 $1,469 +3.89
515–548 535 53 267.50–309.00 $293.35 $1,569 -2.98
538 538 4 292.00 $292.00 $1,571 -4.33
553–585 572 136 251.00–286.00 $280.36 $1,604 +4.79
600–644 628 128 246.00–279.50 $272.71 $1,713 +3.59
650–699 681 50 235.00–271.00 $251.20 $1,711 +1.54
701–744 736 73 231.00–238.00 $237.17 $1,746 +0.17
755–793 777 8 215.00–229.00 $223.42 $1,736 —
809–840 815 10 190.00–200.00 $192.06 $1,565 —
913 913 8 196.00 $196.00 $1,789 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
285–290 289 6 325.00–330.00 $329.18 $951 —
337 337 3 310.00 $310.00 $1,045 —
385–395 388 4 290.00–300.00 $292.55 $1,135 +10.55
400 400 1 285.00 $285.00 $1,140 -12.00
469–485 473 9 272.50 $272.50 $1,289 —
515–545 536 36 240.00–290.00 $281.64 $1,510 +8.64
575–580 577 3 245.00–262.50 $251.65 $1,452 —
605–645 626 9 223.00–240.00 $231.83 $1,451 —
665–685 672 3 205.00–227.50 $219.85 $1,477 —
711–715 711 10 196.00–210.00 $197.41 $1,404 —
750–791 781 8 185.00–214.00 $199.03 $1,554 —
900 900 2 190.00 $190.00 $1,710 —
965 965 1 183.00 $183.00 $1,766 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
560–590 574 11 230.00–232.50 $231.33 $1,328 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
411 411 6 360.00 $360.00 $1,480 +5.00
450 450 1 320.00 $320.00 $1,440 —
525 525 1 315.00 $315.00 $1,654 -7.93
600–623 612 4 287.00–290.00 $288.53 $1,766 +17.90
892 892 6 221.00 $221.00 $1,971 +7.00
923–942 934 5 213.00–221.00 $217.84 $2,035 -5.16
960–997 992 7 201.00–217.00 $214.79 $2,131 +4.79
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
490 490 1 252.50 $252.50 $1,237 —
525 525 1 265.00 $265.00 $1,391 —
625 625 1 220.00 $220.00 $1,375 —
720 720 1 215.00 $215.00 $1,548 —
815 815 1 216.00 $216.00 $1,760 —
900 900 1 209.00 $209.00 $1,881 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1005–1363 1085 80-85% 108 116.00–134.00 $128.82 $1,398 —
887–1415 1091 80-85% 10 125.50–132.00 $128.26 $1,399 —
930–1500 1122 80-85% 104 128.50–138.00 $130.89 $1,469 —
1165–1440 1265 80-85% 6 110.00–118.00 $113.42 $1,435 —
1012–1400 1268 80-85% 77 121.00–141.00 $126.50 $1,604 —
1020–1569 1365 80-85% 71 120.00–133.00 $125.19 $1,709 +5.31
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
865–1165 1020 85-90% 24 90.00–100.00 $93.10 $950 —
1045 1045 85-90% 1 109.00 $109.00 $1,139 —
985–1325 1124 85-90% 16 101.00–119.00 $112.68 $1,267 +12.96
1110–1230 1178 85-90% 77 115.00–128.00 $124.82 $1,470 +3.78
1040–1293 1224 85-90% 7 119.00–125.50 $123.97 $1,517 +14.47
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1328–1523 1391 75-80% 19 121.50–155.00 $129.13 $1,796 —
1429 1429 75-80% 27 131.00 $131.00 $1,872 —
1325–1785 1478 75-80% 46 123.00–135.00 $128.33 $1,897 +3.33
1360–1910 1597 75-80% 12 128.50–133.00 $130.51 $2,084 —
1480–1840 1660 75-80% 2 123.00–125.00 $124.11 $2,060 +4.63

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1230–2075 1596 10 112.00–136.00 $124.59 $1,988 —
1295–2510 1860 14 140.00–154.00 $147.22 $2,738 —
1590–2260 1861 9 133.00–146.00 $141.51 $2,634 —
1955 1955 1 161.00 $161.00 $3,148 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
630–1050 893 (<2 yrs)Open 31 143.00–226.00 $191.53 $1,710
845–1215 1036 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 70 136.00–197.00 $160.70 $1,665

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1052–1283 1098 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 14 1,400.00–1,750.00 $1,664.67
1148 1148 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 2 2,400.00 $2,400.00
1060–1465 1233 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 9 1,700.00–2,100.00 $1,988.38

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1050 1050 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 1,800.00 $1,800.00
1132 fancy 1132 (<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 11 2,750.00 $2,750.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1386–1550 1413 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 6 2,375.00–2,500.00 $2,397.85 —
— — Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)Open 1 2,300.00 $2,300.00 —

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Dairy Cows

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1413–1452 1443 80-85% 9 110.00 $110.00 $1,587 —

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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.