Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, April 22, 2024

4,949 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $365.00/cwt +5.12 vs last sale · ≈ $1,672/hd at 458 lb · 123 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $276.83/cwt +0.16 vs last sale · ≈ $1,744/hd at 630 lb · 116 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $245.51/cwt +9.71 vs last sale · ≈ $1,939/hd at 790 lb · 84 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	4,949	6,557	8,153
Feeder cattle	1,548	4,748	6,608
Slaughter cattle	495	980	712
Replacement cattle	613	829	833

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Too few sales were seen this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed on steers under 550 lbs, while steady undertones were noticed on steers over 550 lbs. All heifers sold with steady undertones. Cattle this week were mostly offered in small to moderate size packages; a couple of load lots were seen again this week and these cattle sold on very good demand. Cattle suitable to develop on grass continue to sell with the best demand. Most cattle on offer were lightly fleshed and met the weight requirements buyers were looking for in grass cattle. Demand was mostly good to very good for light to moderate offerings. Many ranchers are starting to brand and turn out pairs and yearlings for summer grazing. CME positions improved throughout the week following last weeks cattle on feed report. The April feeder contract settled Friday at 245.53, up 4.205 from last Friday. The May feeder cattle contract closed at 248.70, up 6.70 from last Friday. August closed at 260.55 up 7.05 from last Friday. Market activity this week was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on moderate to good demand for light offerings. Packers showed mostly moderate demand for slaughter cows for immediate harvest which was significantly lighter demand than last week. Packers continue to show good demand for cows suitable to feed. Feeding cow demand was mostly good with private feeders and packers both competing over high quality offerings. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady on breaking cows; boning and lean cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 lower. Feeding cows all sold fully steady. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 4.00-5.00 lower. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold steady to 5.00 higher. Demand remains good to very good for high quality offerings which buyers are looking to rebreed.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
394	394	18	391.00	$391.00	$1,541	+13.50
415–446	437	11	360.00–372.50	$364.17	$1,591	+2.12
454–494	458	120	341.00–370.00	$366.37	$1,678	+6.49
460	460	3	310.00	$310.00	$1,426	-49.88
515–549	534	45	330.00–340.00	$334.66	$1,787	-4.54
550	550	3	310.00	$310.00	$1,705	-21.73
585	585	6	330.00–331.00	$330.33	$1,932	-1.40
606–637	632	24	305.50–312.00	$306.60	$1,938	-0.13
660–690	677	7	276.00–281.00	$278.09	$1,883	-5.34
708–741	729	8	265.00–273.00	$270.08	$1,969	+2.71
755–775	770	4	259.00–262.00	$259.74	$2,000	+4.92
833	833	5	244.50	$244.50	$2,037	-1.94
855–878	874	6	224.50–227.00	$224.91	$1,966	-14.35
919	919	7	219.50	$219.50	$2,017	-7.21
1070	1070	3	207.00	$207.00	$2,215	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
321	321	4	360.00	$360.00	$1,156	-6.25
415–446	432	13	320.00–350.00	$335.21	$1,448	-8.92
508–535	518	11	311.00–326.00	$318.54	$1,650	-1.46
553–576	569	11	300.00–328.00	$313.30	$1,783	+7.48
608	608	2	275.00	$275.00	$1,672	—
677–695	682	4	270.00–271.00	$270.75	$1,847	+2.82
763	763	3	259.50	$259.50	$1,980	+5.07

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1015	1015	8	207.00	$207.00	$2,101	—
1068	1068	3	202.50	$202.50	$2,163	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
418	418	3	338.00	$338.00	$1,413	—
638	638	6	281.00	$281.00	$1,793	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
378	378	5	320.00	$320.00	$1,210	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
440	440	3	320.00	$320.00	$1,408	+11.00
451–491	466	74	312.00–322.00	$319.39	$1,488	+10.73
506–519	511	27	309.50	$309.50	$1,582	+12.87
543	543	3	280.00	$280.00	$1,520	-16.63
557–574	570	62	282.00–298.00	$286.34	$1,632	+2.98
600–617	612	55	273.00–284.00	$277.76	$1,700	+1.09
646	646	61	276.00	$276.00	$1,783	-0.67
654–695	667	39	252.00–266.00	$260.35	$1,737	-10.44
728–744	734	23	245.00–251.00	$248.71	$1,826	-1.61
779–789	787	35	235.00–241.00	$239.23	$1,883	+3.43
792	792	49	250.00	$250.00	$1,980	+14.20
800–838	824	10	212.00–235.00	$221.49	$1,825	-1.89
859	859	4	209.00	$209.00	$1,795	-11.50

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310–349	341	28	325.00–342.50	$335.16	$1,143	+23.53
375–397	392	23	311.00–327.50	$313.69	$1,230	—
403–449	420	11	302.50–314.00	$308.13	$1,294	+21.73
468–493	480	32	287.00–306.00	$300.27	$1,441	+7.17
507–545	532	79	280.00–295.00	$287.86	$1,531	+15.32
560–580	569	26	257.50–276.00	$271.00	$1,542	+10.49
595	595	7	245.00	$245.00	$1,458	-15.51
620–643	640	23	257.00–264.00	$261.84	$1,676	+5.66
652–688	666	5	229.00–232.00	$230.24	$1,533	-19.55

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
385	385	20	310.00	$310.00	$1,194	—
527	527	15	279.00	$279.00	$1,470	—
588	588	4	256.00	$256.00	$1,505	—
635–638	637	8	240.00–252.50	$243.11	$1,549	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
408–448	435	14	280.00–300.00	$292.38	$1,272	+61.71
485–495	490	2	280.00	$280.00	$1,372	+48.95
524–536	531	9	240.00–265.00	$250.97	$1,333	+0.64
568	568	2	255.00	$255.00	$1,448	+20.69
800	800	5	205.00	$205.00	$1,640	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
418	418	5	282.50	$282.50	$1,181	—
476	476	7	247.50	$247.50	$1,178	—
631	631	4	215.00	$215.00	$1,357	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
963	963	2	172.50	$172.50	$1,661	—
1007–1020	1013	11	161.00–170.00	$165.12	$1,673	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
355	355	2	370.00	$370.00	$1,314	+27.50
603–607	605	5	275.00–280.00	$276.99	$1,676	-17.20
668	668	2	252.00	$252.00	$1,683	-3.00
720	720	4	252.00	$252.00	$1,814	+13.01
760	760	8	241.00	$241.00	$1,832	+22.75
829	829	4	217.00	$217.00	$1,799	+5.00
955	955	3	216.00	$216.00	$2,063	—
1053–1056	1055	7	210.00–212.50	$211.43	$2,231	+8.43

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
554–595	563	9	269.00–280.00	$277.42	$1,562	—
623	623	3	245.00	$245.00	$1,526	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1145–1500	1378	80-85%	5	139.00–142.00	$140.87	$1,941	+12.39
1195–1655	1378	80-85%	97	120.00–137.00	$129.00	$1,778	+0.52
1320–1550	1389	80-85%	12	117.00–136.00	$124.18	$1,725	+8.95
1308–1680	1402	80-85%	20	107.00–127.00	$120.39	$1,688	—
1440–1595	1471	80-85%	5	135.00–136.00	$135.22	$1,989	-5.10
1285–1683	1494	80-85%	28	101.00–125.00	$113.04	$1,689	-27.28

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
840–965	903	85-90%	3	79.00–83.00	$81.27	$734	-27.72
930–990	968	85-90%	4	100.00–103.00	$101.51	$983	—
993	993	85-90%	2	112.00	$112.00	$1,112	—
1000–1220	1090	85-90%	12	112.50–121.00	$116.24	$1,267	-19.76
1095–1170	1127	85-90%	5	80.00–91.00	$86.44	$974	-9.08
1000–1303	1175	85-90%	20	101.00–119.00	$108.08	$1,270	-15.03
1050–1255	1197	85-90%	12	125.00–131.00	$127.60	$1,527	+12.11
1068–1290	1223	85-90%	62	117.00–132.00	$121.98	$1,492	-13.96
1155–1290	1242	85-90%	5	114.00–129.00	$119.89	$1,489	-16.05

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1445–1765	1525	75-80%	11	134.00–140.00	$135.77	$2,070	+0.34
1545–1710	1631	75-80%	5	140.00–143.00	$140.59	$2,293	—
1480–1845	1677	75-80%	6	135.00–139.00	$136.73	$2,293	—
1675–1898	1774	75-80%	6	117.00–124.00	$121.51	$2,156	—
1790	1790	75-80%	1	119.00	$119.00	$2,130	—

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1140–1390	1315	8	112.00–130.00	$120.45	$1,584	—
1175–1565	1326	4	130.00–142.50	$133.67	$1,772	—
1365	1365	1	126.00	$126.00	$1,720	—
1385	1385	2	134.00	$134.00	$1,856	—
1265–1855	1537	9	116.00–130.00	$124.27	$1,910	—
1520–2390	1789	27	133.00–145.00	$139.49	$2,495	—
1575–2360	1974	15	147.00–157.00	$150.67	$2,974	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
825–1260	980	(<2 yrs)	Open	209	160.00–207.00	$185.64	$1,819
845–1350	1037	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	213	126.00–202.00	$167.64	$1,738
995–1360	1113	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	5	122.00–141.00	$133.60	$1,487
1370–1469	1453	(<2 yrs)	Open	6	144.50–146.00	$144.74	$2,103

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
765–1244	930	(<2 yrs)	Open	23	163.50–199.00	$177.76	$1,653
865–1130	981	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	7	119.00–172.50	$140.94	$1,383

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1340–1360	1345	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	2,450.00	$2,450.00
1248–1595	1386	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	11	2,500.00–2,950.00	$2,733.93

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
140	140	1	172.50	$172.50	$242	—
145	145	1	101.00	$101.00	$146	—
150–180	158	4	89.00–94.00	$90.76	$143	—
185	185	2	105.00	$105.00	$194	—
210–225	221	4	107.00–108.00	$107.24	$237	—
200–248	222	32	93.00–103.00	$98.79	$219	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
74	74	10	220.00	$220.00	$163	—
95	95	1	225.00	$225.00	$214	—
135	135	1	185.00	$185.00	$250	—
165–195	180	3	103.00–172.50	$145.11	$261	—
160–195	181	4	185.00–195.00	$188.55	$341	—
200–240	208	5	172.50–187.50	$180.67	$376	—
255	255	1	190.00	$190.00	$484	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
116–143	120	45	52.00–57.00	$55.44	$67	—
126–140	135	80	30.00–46.00	$36.15	$49	—
141	141	27	89.00	$89.00	$125	—
110–149	144	154	69.00–82.00	$72.82	$105	—
141–146	144	100	57.00–65.00	$62.15	$89	—
145	145	2	87.50	$87.50	$127	—
150–156	152	84	66.00–72.00	$67.29	$102	—
150–164	155	207	75.00–86.00	$84.96	$132	—
155–185	171	44	88.00–94.00	$90.55	$155	—
165–199	183	239	88.00–102.00	$95.75	$175	—
184–195	186	27	105.00–117.00	$112.12	$209	—
204–210	206	21	95.00–99.00	$97.00	$200	—
205–213	210	20	100.00–107.00	$102.37	$215	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
28	28	5	180.00	$180.00	$50	—
51	51	20	250.00	$250.00	$128	—
68	68	62	235.00–255.00	$251.69	$171	—
100	100	1	230.00	$230.00	$230	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
105	105	1	110.00	$110.00	$116	—
140	140	1	105.00	$105.00	$147	—
150	150	1	87.50	$87.50	$131	—
150	150	1	125.00	$125.00	$188	—
190	190	1	110.00	$110.00	$209	—
225	225	1	92.50	$92.50	$208	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
73	73	4	77.50	$77.50	$57	—
88	88	7	94.00	$94.00	$83	—
120–134	133	10	93.00–120.00	$117.56	$156	—
146	146	4	101.00	$101.00	$147	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
34	34	4	200.00	$200.00	$68	—
37	37	5	130.00	$130.00	$48	—
37–39	38	16	295.00–325.00	$312.25	$119	—
38	38	6	340.00	$340.00	$129	—
40	40	1	225.00	$225.00	$90	—
40–45	44	11	250.00–302.50	$258.04	$114	—
45	45	1	280.00	$280.00	$126	—
47	47	6	265.00	$265.00	$125	—
47–49	48	19	320.00–325.00	$321.36	$154	—
48	48	2	320.00	$320.00	$154	—
50–55	51	29	317.50–342.50	$330.00	$168	—
52	52	3	250.00	$250.00	$130	—
50–58	54	10	295.00–320.00	$310.27	$168	—
58	58	11	265.00	$265.00	$154	—
60	60	16	327.50	$327.50	$196	—
60	60	1	255.00	$255.00	$153	—
63–64	63	45	242.50–275.00	$245.43	$155	—
60–67	64	52	285.00–310.00	$301.11	$193	—
60–68	66	29	315.00–327.50	$321.95	$212	—
70–78	73	15	265.00–285.00	$279.58	$204	—
70–75	74	17	295.00–325.00	$306.93	$227	—
70–76	75	6	225.00–245.00	$228.11	$171	—
85	85	3	235.00	$235.00	$200	—
85–87	87	43	290.00	$290.00	$252	—
90–95	92	9	287.50–305.00	$296.51	$273	—
93–95	94	4	270.00–285.00	$281.19	$264	—
95	95	1	260.00	$260.00	$247	—
105	105	1	280.00	$280.00	$294	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
54	54	—	—	8	175.00	$175.00	$94	—
60	60	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	190.00	$190.00	$114	—
65–68	67	—	—	3	165.00	$165.00	$111	—
65–69	68	—	—	7	115.00–125.00	$117.74	$80	—
68	68	—	—	2	215.00	$215.00	$146	—
75	75	—	—	1	125.00	$125.00	$94	—
85	85	—	—	1	125.00	$125.00	$106	—
80–95	88	Middle Aged (4-6 yrs)	Open	2	140.00–170.00	$153.71	$135	—
95	95	—	—	1	112.50	$112.50	$107	—
95–96	96	—	—	6	180.00–195.00	$190.03	$182	—
100–145	114	—	—	42	135.00–175.00	$154.15	$176	—
115	115	—	—	1	110.00	$110.00	$126	—
100–148	124	—	—	21	150.00–205.00	$172.61	$214	—
125	125	Middle Aged (4-6 yrs)	Open	2	140.00	$140.00	$175	—
125	125	—	—	1	55.00	$55.00	$69	—
130	130	Young (2-4 yrs)	Exposed	1	175.00	$175.00	$228	—
125–149	133	Young (2-4 yrs)	Exposed	14	142.50–160.00	$150.35	$200	—
150–165	155	—	—	3	145.00–155.00	$148.55	$230	—

Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
49	49	4	250.00	$250.00	$122	—
55	55	3	257.50	$257.50	$142	—
60–68	61	48	255.00–265.00	$262.35	$160	—
70	70	2	247.50	$247.50	$173	—
72–75	73	50	250.00–260.00	$255.70	$187	—
77	77	6	237.50	$237.50	$183	—
77	77	28	270.00	$270.00	$208	—
78	78	6	229.00	$229.00	$179	—
86	86	6	227.50	$227.50	$196	—
92	92	12	215.00	$215.00	$198	—
95	95	7	230.00	$230.00	$218	—
106–109	108	46	232.50–242.50	$235.92	$255	—
110	110	3	242.50	$242.50	$267	—
120	120	3	222.50	$222.50	$267	—
127	127	6	187.50	$187.50	$238	—
148	148	3	175.00	$175.00	$259	—

Receipts

Market comments — USDA reporter

Feeder Steers

Feeder Heifers

Feeder Bulls

Slaughter Cows

Slaughter Bulls

Stock Cows

Bred Cows

Bred Heifers

Bucks

Bucks Billies

Cow-Calf Pairs

Ewes

Hair Breeds

Hair Bucks

Hair Ewes

Kids

Nannies Does

Wethers

Wooled & Shorn

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