light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers$294.00/cwt+13.07 vs last sale · ≈ $1,832/hd at 623 lb · 83 head
light 9-weight M&L 1-2 heifers$214.85/cwt≈ $2,000/hd at 931 lb · 60 head
heavy 8-weight M&L 1-2 heifers$213.40/cwt≈ $1,908/hd at 894 lb · 44 head
Receipts
Head
This sale
Last sale
Last year
Total receipts
5,643
1,992
6,175
Feeder cattle
521
1,046
714
Slaughter cattle
1,912
676
1,649
Replacement cattle
962
270
858
Market comments — USDA reporter
Compared to last week: Too few sales were seen this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to firm undertones were notice on steers. Heifers under 550 lbs sold with higher undertones, while heifers over 550 lbs sold with steady undertones. Cattle were mostly offered in small size packages or as singles. Demand was good to very good for light offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average. Demand for light weight cattle under 500 lbs saw some improvement this week. Cattle suitable to develop on grass continue to sell with the best demand, however very few offerings were seen. CME positions traded slightly lower this week. The August feeder cattle contract closed at 254.80 down 1.60 from last Friday, the September closed at 255.85 on Friday. Market activity this week was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on good demand for moderate offerings. Packers showed mostly good demand for slaughter cows, however packers mostly purchased mostly lame or blemished cows to send to immediate harvest this week as they opted to feed most offerings. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 10.00 lower on breaking cows. Boning cows sold 4.00-10.00 lower, lean cows sold steady to 3.00 lower. Slaughter cow prices have been greatly impacted by packers searching for offerings. Additional packer were absent from the market this week allowing price to fall to near steady with the previous week. 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. Packers also purchased average quality thin and light boning cows to hold for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. Demand from private feeders remains very good as well and both private and packer feeders showed very good demand for all feeding quality cows on offer. Feeding cows all sold steady to 10.00 lower. Again, fewer packers in the market allowed for cow prices to fall back to levels seen two weeks ago. 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 steady to 5.00 lower, again fewer packer buyers were in the market. 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. Quality was slightly plainer this week as fewer very high quality offerings were seen. Overall, quality was average to attractive.
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.
Compared to last week: Too few sales were seen this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to firm undertones were notice on steers. Heifers under 550 lbs sold with higher undertones, while heifers over 550 lbs sold with steady undertones. Cattle were mostly offered in small size packages or as singles. Demand was good to very good for light offerings. Quality this week was mostly plain to average. Demand for light weight cattle under 500 lbs saw some improvement this week. Cattle suitable to develop on grass continue to sell with the best demand, however very few offerings were seen. CME positions traded slightly lower this week. The August feeder cattle contract closed at 254.80 down 1.60 from last Friday, the September closed at 255.85 on Friday. Market activity this week was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on good demand for moderate offerings. Packers showed mostly good demand for slaughter cows, however packers mostly purchased mostly lame or blemished cows to send to immediate harvest this week as they opted to feed most offerings. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 10.00 lower on breaking cows. Boning cows sold 4.00-10.00 lower, lean cows sold steady to 3.00 lower. Slaughter cow prices have been greatly impacted by packers searching for offerings. Additional packer were absent from the market this week allowing price to fall to near steady with the previous week. 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. Packers also purchased average quality thin and light boning cows to hold for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. Demand from private feeders remains very good as well and both private and packer feeders showed very good demand for all feeding quality cows on offer. Feeding cows all sold steady to 10.00 lower. Again, fewer packers in the market allowed for cow prices to fall back to levels seen two weeks ago. 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 steady to 5.00 lower, again fewer packer buyers were in the market. 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. Quality was slightly plainer this week as fewer very high quality offerings were seen. Overall, quality was average to attractive.