Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, May 27, 2024

1,992 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 steers $321.02/cwt ≈ $2,016/hd at 628 lb · 180 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $275.40/cwt ≈ $1,854/hd at 673 lb · 127 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $294.11/cwt ≈ $1,700/hd at 578 lb · 85 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,992	3,593	3,879
Feeder cattle	1,046	530	546
Slaughter cattle	676	1,255	1,427
Replacement cattle	270	1,808	1,906

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Too few sales were seen the previous week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were notice on lambs under 550 lbs and steady to firm undertones were noticed on all feeders over 550 lbs. Cattle were mostly offered in small to moderate size packages. Demand was good to very good for light offerings. Quality this week was mostly average, with a limited offering of attractive cattle seen. Cattle suitable to develop on grass continue to sell with the best demand. CME positions traded slightly lower this week following a slight post holiday demand slump. The August feeder cattle contract closed at 256.40 down 3.825 from last Friday. Market activity this week was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packers showed mostly very good demand for slaughter cows for immediate harvest. Slaughter cows sold mostly 3.00-10.00 higher on all slaughter cows on offer and prices improved as the week progressed. Packers showed very good demand for feeding cows as they try to buy up offerings to help manage supplies going forward into high demand periods. Demand from private feeders remains very good and packers and private feeders both showed very good demand for all feeding quality cows on offer. Feeding cows all sold 2.00-10.00 higher and demand also improved as the week progressed. Quality this week was mostly average to very attractive with many high quality reputation cows seen. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to above average. Most cows have been out on grass and were very empty at sale time. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 5.00 to 10.00 higher. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady. Demand was good to very good for high quality offerings which buyers are looking to rebreed. Young two year old heifers which have not calved yet sold with a 8.00-12.00 discount to ones which lost calves.

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
378	378	14	385.00	$385.00	$1,455	—
425–448	445	25	365.00–375.00	$373.85	$1,664	—
480–485	481	10	340.00–355.00	$343.02	$1,650	-11.98
521–545	538	69	344.00–360.00	$351.66	$1,892	+7.08
553–598	577	11	323.00–342.50	$335.21	$1,934	+3.21
600–646	628	180	307.00–326.00	$321.02	$2,016	—
654–686	671	11	284.00–309.00	$295.07	$1,980	+8.39
709–740	733	69	285.50–288.00	$286.93	$2,103	—
768–773	771	4	261.00	$261.00	$2,012	+4.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
405–445	430	6	330.00–350.00	$342.31	$1,472	—
460–495	483	6	295.00–330.00	$308.71	$1,491	-25.29
528	528	2	325.00	$325.00	$1,716	+22.08
555–570	561	5	315.00–317.00	$316.59	$1,776	+18.04
615–645	628	9	288.00–303.00	$291.72	$1,832	—
668–680	674	6	265.00–280.00	$272.43	$1,836	+12.43
725–740	733	2	266.00–273.00	$269.46	$1,975	—
793	793	2	227.00	$227.00	$1,800	-24.00
829–844	836	11	228.00–230.00	$229.08	$1,915	—
885	885	4	220.00	$220.00	$1,947	—
900	900	1	215.00	$215.00	$1,935	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
415	415	1	305.00	$305.00	$1,266	—
650	650	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,560	—
735–745	737	6	215.00–245.00	$239.94	$1,768	—
895	895	1	207.50	$207.50	$1,857	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400–431	429	13	285.00–300.00	$286.08	$1,227	—
450–476	459	18	300.00–327.00	$311.27	$1,429	—
522–547	533	57	295.00–309.00	$300.54	$1,602	—
551–591	578	85	285.00–298.00	$294.11	$1,700	—
600–648	631	33	268.00–290.00	$280.93	$1,773	+1.93
651–675	662	75	273.00–284.00	$280.18	$1,855	—
689	689	52	268.50	$268.50	$1,850	—
703	703	14	270.00	$270.00	$1,898	+22.50
705–743	730	7	250.00–263.00	$252.35	$1,842	+4.85
752–790	772	17	233.00–250.50	$242.76	$1,874	—
805	805	1	230.00	$230.00	$1,852	-11.00
907–929	920	15	202.00–213.00	$206.34	$1,898	—
970	970	2	185.00	$185.00	$1,794	—
1055	1055	1	177.50	$177.50	$1,873	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
393–395	394	3	295.00	$295.00	$1,162	—
425	425	1	255.00	$255.00	$1,084	—
438	438	2	270.00	$270.00	$1,183	—
500–522	513	7	250.00–287.50	$272.31	$1,397	-22.26
550–599	581	57	250.00–270.00	$262.43	$1,525	-10.59
635	635	2	264.00	$264.00	$1,676	+4.03
650	650	2	263.00	$263.00	$1,710	—
715–730	723	7	237.50–244.00	$243.06	$1,757	+5.06
750–785	759	9	221.00–229.00	$227.42	$1,726	-11.58
800	800	1	224.00	$224.00	$1,792	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
350	350	1	275.00	$275.00	$962	—
519–520	519	6	215.00–225.00	$216.67	$1,125	—
565	565	1	205.00	$205.00	$1,158	-43.00
605	605	1	255.00	$255.00	$1,543	+27.50
685–690	688	2	222.00–222.50	$222.25	$1,529	—
700–718	712	3	210.00–222.00	$218.07	$1,553	—
785	785	3	205.00	$205.00	$1,609	-16.00
853	853	2	177.00	$177.00	$1,510	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
525	525	—	—	1	317.50	$317.50	$1,667	—
658	658	—	—	2	256.00	$256.00	$1,684	—
705	705	—	—	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,692	-15.00
805	805	—	—	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,771	-12.02
895	895	—	—	3	215.00	$215.00	$1,924	—
928	928	—	—	2	215.00	$215.00	$1,995	—
1110–1118	1114	—	—	9	196.00–201.00	$198.21	$2,208	—
1205	1205	—	—	2	185.00	$185.00	$2,229	—
1245–1250	1248	(<2 yrs)	N/A	2	170.00–185.00	$177.52	$2,215	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
988	988	2	204.00	$204.00	$2,016	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
580	580	1	245.00	$245.00	$1,421	-27.53
725	725	1	227.50	$227.50	$1,649	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1150–1613	1341	80-85%	112	129.00–154.50	$138.70	$1,860	—
1194–1520	1356	80-85%	80	139.00–158.50	$141.98	$1,925	+4.91
1200–1430	1361	80-85%	7	119.00–132.00	$127.41	$1,734	-9.66
1148–1715	1365	80-85%	80	134.00–149.00	$137.51	$1,877	+11.14

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
970–980	975	85-90%	2	105.00–113.00	$109.02	$1,063	-24.98
985	985	85-90%	1	124.00	$124.00	$1,221	-10.00
1039	1039	85-90%	6	108.00	$108.00	$1,122	—
1090–1210	1128	85-90%	7	116.00–121.00	$119.06	$1,343	+34.06
1008–1380	1138	85-90%	10	112.00–125.00	$120.60	$1,372	+4.55
1005–1280	1192	85-90%	31	121.00–140.00	$130.80	$1,559	+1.91
1105–1270	1201	85-90%	4	134.00–142.00	$137.36	$1,650	+0.78
1120–1293	1204	85-90%	25	133.00–148.00	$137.74	$1,658	+1.16
1150–1300	1222	85-90%	7	124.00–132.00	$128.27	$1,567	-1.59

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1330–1655	1403	75-80%	6	148.00–163.00	$159.42	$2,237	—
1349–1635	1478	75-80%	10	160.00–162.50	$160.69	$2,375	—
1415–1658	1505	75-80%	42	139.00–159.50	$150.38	$2,263	+18.38
1505–1595	1545	75-80%	4	143.00–148.00	$144.98	$2,240	+5.83
1395–1760	1575	75-80%	8	135.00–158.50	$148.32	$2,336	+2.75
1620–1740	1680	75-80%	2	129.00–131.00	$130.04	$2,185	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1365–1720	1543	2	149.00–152.00	$150.33	$2,320	—
1470–2255	1755	7	136.00–147.00	$141.72	$2,487	-12.55
1420–2140	1890	14	147.00–171.00	$165.10	$3,120	—
1661–2255	1890	21	161.00–182.00	$168.22	$3,179	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
775–1137	985	(<2 yrs)	Open	103	156.50–218.50	$193.34	$1,904
800–1275	1025	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	79	137.00–193.00	$171.62	$1,759

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
755–1160	970	(<2 yrs)	Open	19	157.00–185.00	$177.27	$1,720
815–1366	1136	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	21	130.00–180.00	$143.81	$1,634

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
706–840	745	(<2 yrs)	Open	6	181.00–199.00	$194.63	$1,450

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
720 thin fleshed	720	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	187.50	$187.50	$1,350

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
995–1360	1110	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	1,800.00–1,900.00	$1,846.97
1125–1255	1190	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,850.00–2,150.00	$1,991.81
995–1328	1223	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	5	1,900.00–2,400.00	$2,298.51
1379	1379	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	1,900.00	$1,900.00
1240–1525	1387	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	6	2,000.00–2,400.00	$2,207.33

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1172	1172	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	1,800.00	$1,800.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1075	1075	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,800.00	$1,800.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
878	878	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	2	2,450.00	$2,450.00	—
1280	1280	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	2,550.00	$2,550.00	—
1320	1320	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	7	2,500.00	$2,500.00	-635.94

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1220	1220	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	4	2,550.00	$2,550.00	—
1305	1305	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	2,050.00	$2,050.00	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1008	1008	(<2 yrs)	Open	20	3,100.00	$3,100.00	—

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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.