Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, September 2, 2024

1,760 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $222.44/cwt -1.13 vs last sale · ≈ $1,953/hd at 878 lb · 275 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $249.15/cwt -0.82 vs last sale · ≈ $1,933/hd at 776 lb · 70 head

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 steers $240.93/cwt +7.43 vs last sale · ≈ $2,067/hd at 858 lb · 57 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,760	7,474	1,611
Feeder cattle	1,303	1,529	1,134
Slaughter cattle	353	463	462
Replacement cattle	104	108	15

Market comments — USDA reporter

Only one sale was held this week due to summer schedules and the Labor day holiday. Please check Billings Livestock Commission's Thursday sale for this weeks market commentary.

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
258 unweaned	258	6	370.00	$370.00	$955	—
300 unweaned	300	1	390.00	$390.00	$1,170	—
368 unweaned	368	2	330.00	$330.00	$1,214	—
421–435 unweaned	432	17	324.00–327.50	$324.80	$1,403	—
455 unweaned	455	6	329.00	$329.00	$1,497	—
500 unweaned	500	2	292.00	$292.00	$1,460	+22.00
739	739	5	265.00	$265.00	$1,958	—
750–793	776	70	247.00–256.00	$249.15	$1,933	-0.82
813–820	814	6	243.00–250.00	$248.82	$2,025	+4.13
853–889	858	57	232.00–243.50	$240.93	$2,067	+7.43
901–939	915	39	227.00–229.00	$228.19	$2,088	—
953–985	974	41	218.00–223.50	$221.76	$2,160	-2.62
1027	1027	11	210.00	$210.00	$2,157	-10.57

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
363–378 unweaned	371	10	309.00–320.00	$314.77	$1,168	—
400 unweaned	400	1	317.50	$317.50	$1,270	+47.50
467–498 unweaned	490	22	275.00–282.00	$280.18	$1,373	—
518–543 unweaned	526	9	260.00–283.00	$276.01	$1,452	+24.01
589 unweaned	589	11	257.50	$257.50	$1,517	—
645	645	3	254.00	$254.00	$1,638	+2.00
659 unweaned	659	5	249.00	$249.00	$1,641	—
729	729	5	251.50	$251.50	$1,833	+6.02
793	793	4	241.00	$241.00	$1,911	+0.65
803–841	831	8	231.00–237.00	$234.47	$1,948	-3.43
858	858	2	228.00	$228.00	$1,956	-5.17
925–949	935	10	223.00–223.50	$223.20	$2,087	—
993	993	2	214.00	$214.00	$2,125	-7.50

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
695	695	18	274.50	$274.50	$1,908	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
553	553	2	274.00	$274.00	$1,515	-13.00
652–695	673	16	246.00–257.00	$250.49	$1,686	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
925	925	6	225.00	$225.00	$2,081	±0.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
660 unweaned	660	4	210.00	$210.00	$1,386	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
633 unweaned	633	3	233.00	$233.00	$1,475	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
510 unweaned	510	2	245.00	$245.00	$1,250	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
255 unweaned	255	5	350.00	$350.00	$892	—
338 unweaned	338	3	305.00	$305.00	$1,031	-20.00
353–398 unweaned	377	8	300.00–310.00	$304.57	$1,148	+22.07
439–441 unweaned	440	30	286.00–290.00	$288.27	$1,268	+19.31
473 unweaned	473	3	255.00	$255.00	$1,206	—
580–594	591	32	260.00–262.00	$260.50	$1,540	—
664–698	679	9	250.00–253.50	$251.90	$1,710	+3.13
753–780	759	15	234.00–245.00	$242.77	$1,843	+10.02
820–838	836	45	224.50–229.50	$228.37	$1,909	+0.91
841	841	8	218.00	$218.00	$1,833	-9.46
858–891	878	275	218.00–223.00	$222.44	$1,953	-1.13
908–928	915	14	217.00–219.50	$218.71	$2,001	-0.80
918–932	930	21	211.00–212.00	$211.86	$1,970	-7.65
952–975	970	15	205.00–215.00	$209.17	$2,029	-3.50
1006–1029	1021	34	196.00–208.50	$200.73	$2,049	+3.46

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
522	522	11	255.00	$255.00	$1,331	—
626–630	626	17	251.00–253.00	$251.24	$1,573	-8.00
780	780	43	222.50	$222.50	$1,736	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
426–443 unweaned	431	7	263.00–265.00	$264.41	$1,140	—
484	484	6	255.00	$255.00	$1,234	—
485 unweaned	485	2	245.00	$245.00	$1,188	—
545	545	5	246.50	$246.50	$1,343	—
841–844	843	21	216.00–221.00	$217.66	$1,835	-5.34
877	877	5	217.00	$217.00	$1,903	+3.00
915	915	2	212.00	$212.00	$1,940	—
995	995	3	195.00	$195.00	$1,940	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
584	584	7	255.00	$255.00	$1,489	+10.57
676	676	15	231.00	$231.00	$1,562	-9.50

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1075–1079	1078	8	187.50–201.50	$192.74	$2,078	-4.63
1125	1125	2	194.00	$194.00	$2,182	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
635 unweaned	635	2	240.00	$240.00	$1,524	—
1140	1140	3	160.00	$160.00	$1,824	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
477 unweaned	477	3	250.00	$250.00	$1,192	—
537 unweaned	537	12	240.00	$240.00	$1,289	—
873	873	8	223.00	$223.00	$1,947	—
913	913	3	215.00	$215.00	$1,963	—
1090	1090	1	212.50	$212.50	$2,316	—
1200	1200	1	187.00	$187.00	$2,244	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1085	1085	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,953	—
1120	1120	1	187.50	$187.50	$2,100	—
1190	1190	1	185.00	$185.00	$2,202	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
810	810	1	205.00	$205.00	$1,660	—
910	910	1	212.50	$212.50	$1,934	—
965	965	1	210.00	$210.00	$2,026	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
945	945	85-90%	2	97.00	$97.00	$917	-18.00
945–990	965	85-90%	3	107.00–111.00	$108.97	$1,052	—
1000–1245	1118	85-90%	9	95.00–103.00	$100.28	$1,121	—
1078–1370	1206	85-90%	38	110.00–123.00	$117.23	$1,414	-15.00
1138–1263	1206	85-90%	14	126.00–135.50	$131.80	$1,590	-0.43
1010–1450	1209	85-90%	37	105.00–116.00	$112.29	$1,358	-19.94
1175–1335	1278	85-90%	3	120.00–131.00	$125.56	$1,605	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1290–1665	1405	80-85%	8	140.50–142.00	$141.13	$1,983	+2.91
1223–1610	1408	80-85%	40	126.00–139.00	$132.94	$1,872	-5.28
1265–1575	1420	80-85%	27	120.00–125.00	$124.20	$1,764	+9.37
1250–1615	1424	80-85%	19	111.00–122.00	$117.43	$1,672	+2.60
1385–1645	1485	80-85%	3	99.00–105.00	$102.18	$1,517	—
1420–1680	1535	80-85%	7	125.00–133.00	$126.97	$1,949	-19.59

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1420	1420	75-80%	2	140.00	$140.00	$1,988	—
1543–1610	1589	75-80%	10	133.00–138.50	$135.68	$2,156	—
1523–1930	1629	75-80%	16	130.00–133.50	$132.23	$2,154	+3.07
1500–1900	1641	75-80%	10	134.00–138.00	$136.14	$2,234	+6.98
1660–1820	1725	75-80%	3	126.00–132.50	$129.84	$2,240	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1295–1723	1534	5	132.00–154.00	$148.94	$2,285	-9.62
1305–1810	1567	9	151.00–161.00	$158.30	$2,481	—
1523–2008	1685	28	127.50–152.00	$142.63	$2,403	—
1700–2235	1925	26	152.00–162.00	$155.79	$2,999	—
2100–2160	2130	2	165.00–170.00	$167.54	$3,569	—
2545	2545	1	152.00	$152.00	$3,868	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
874–1365	1001	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	18	140.00–179.50	$167.27	$1,674
910–1129	1066	(<2 yrs)	Open	19	155.00–173.00	$165.19	$1,761

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1050–1260	1155	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	133.00–136.00	$134.36	$1,552

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1066–1203	1098	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	45	2,350.00–2,375.00	$2,361.87

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Dairy Cows

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1020	1020	85-90%	1	115.00	$115.00	$1,173	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
563	563	3	167.50	$167.50	$943	—
678	678	14	167.00	$167.00	$1,132	—

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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.