Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, August 10, 2026

1,034 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $307.50/cwt -8.50 vs last sale · ≈ $3,022/hd at 983 lb · 47 head

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $314.82/cwt -13.18 vs last sale · ≈ $2,745/hd at 872 lb · 38 head

heavy 5-weight M 2 heifers $332.50/cwt ≈ $1,965/hd at 591 lb · 25 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,034	6,247	850
Feeder cattle	313	292	395
Slaughter cattle	599	535	357
Replacement cattle	122	155	98

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder heifers were all too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mixed from plain to average. Cattle were offered in small groups with many singles noticed. Demand was mostly moderate to good. Too few cattle were seen this week for buyers to build loads. CME feeder cattle positions traded lower met by pressure from lower live cattle prices. Market activity was mostly moderate with a small buyer pool was noticed. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light to moderate offerings. Feeding cow demand remains very good. A large pool of buyers were in the market this week. Canadian buyers remain in the market as they continue to buy cows to send north to feed. Cow quality was mostly plain to average this week. Many cows were coming off summer breeding pastures and many blemished cows were seen. Slaughter cows sold generally steady on breaking cows, boning and lean cows sold steady to 3.00 higher as limited offerings continue to force packer buyers to fight over limited offerings. Demand for lean cows remains very good as packers continue to search for lean grinding materials as cows come off summer pastures in mostly breaking and boning flesh. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher. Feeding bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend. Bull quality was not the quality this week that buyers were looking for to feed. Fewer bulls were purchased to feed this week as a result. Feeding bull quality this week was mostly plain to average. Demand for young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed was mostly moderate. Young age cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.

▼ Feeder cattle: CME feeder cattle positions traded lower met by pressure from lower live cattle prices
→ Feeder heifers: Feeder heifers were all too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend
→ Feeder steers: Feeder steers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend
▲ Slaughter bulls: Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher
→ Slaughter cows: Slaughter cows sold generally steady on breaking cows

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
513 unweaned	513	2	422.50	$422.50	$2,167	—
745	745	5	380.00	$380.00	$2,831	—
974	974	8	327.00	$327.00	$3,185	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1058	1058	4	309.00	$309.00	$3,269	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
765	765	2	335.00	$335.00	$2,563	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
869–885	872	12	321.00–327.00	$322.02	$2,808	-5.98
872	872	26	311.50	$311.50	$2,716	-16.50
918–948	929	15	308.00–314.50	$312.07	$2,899	-4.23
967	967	3	284.00	$284.00	$2,746	-32.00
958–993	984	44	306.00–314.00	$309.10	$3,042	-6.90
1000–1040	1018	59	296.00–307.00	$301.62	$3,070	—
1173	1173	4	250.00	$250.00	$2,932	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
591	591	25	332.50	$332.50	$1,965	—
779	779	6	285.00	$285.00	$2,220	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1063	1063	3	282.00	$282.00	$2,998	+2.00
1125–1142	1136	8	260.00–263.00	$261.11	$2,966	—
1185	1185	2	263.00	$263.00	$3,117	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
689	689	11	330.00	$330.00	$2,274	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
896	896	4	295.00	$295.00	$2,643	—
1043	1043	2	286.00	$286.00	$2,983	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
675	675	2	347.50	$347.50	$2,346	—
768	768	2	300.00	$300.00	$2,304	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1143	1143	3	246.00	$246.00	$2,812	—

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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
810	810	—	—	3	305.00	$305.00	$2,470	-30.00
910–922	919	—	—	4	302.50–305.00	$303.12	$2,786	-19.38
1125	1125	(<2 yrs)	N/A	11	270.00	$270.00	$3,038	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1155	1155	1	240.00	$240.00	$2,772	-10.00
1278	1278	2	239.00	$239.00	$3,054	+2.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1170	1170	1	237.50	$237.50	$2,779	+2.50

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1205–1640	1336	80-85%	52	152.00–167.00	$161.33	$2,155	—
1225–1510	1383	80-85%	28	180.00–183.00	$180.71	$2,499	+19.30
1333–1540	1386	80-85%	6	140.00–155.00	$147.06	$2,038	-14.35
1305–1590	1408	80-85%	95	168.00–179.50	$170.61	$2,402	-2.33
1373–1605	1450	80-85%	11	157.00–169.50	$162.02	$2,349	+44.52
1540	1540	80-85%	1	173.00	$173.00	$2,664	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1434–1750	1463	75-80%	53	171.00–179.00	$177.97	$2,604	+17.63
1495–1697	1633	75-80%	8	161.00–164.00	$163.08	$2,663	-15.22
1515–1905	1641	75-80%	23	152.00–163.00	$158.91	$2,608	-19.39
1445–1810	1668	75-80%	19	165.00–170.50	$168.72	$2,814	+11.59

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
855	855	85-90%	1	162.50	$162.50	$1,389	—
960	960	85-90%	1	127.50	$127.50	$1,224	—
1025–1185	1057	85-90%	5	136.00–153.00	$149.19	$1,577	—
1053–1285	1106	85-90%	9	164.00–175.00	$169.74	$1,877	+4.74
990–1305	1185	85-90%	38	142.00–163.00	$156.52	$1,855	-5.19
1140–1285	1206	85-90%	5	166.00–169.00	$167.11	$2,015	+14.17
1115–1340	1237	85-90%	9	154.00–162.00	$156.45	$1,935	+3.51

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1814	1814	65-75%	9	173.00	$173.00	$3,138	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1130–1160	1142	3	175.00–187.50	$180.89	$2,066	—
1090–1585	1393	8	187.00–199.00	$192.92	$2,687	-4.58
1300–2095	1603	9	201.00–209.00	$204.08	$3,271	—
1315–2115	1752	20	185.00–201.00	$196.15	$3,437	-11.08
1550–2245	1854	46	201.00–216.00	$207.43	$3,846	-10.10
1785–2360	1971	15	215.00–230.50	$221.56	$4,367	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
2440–2465	2453	2	201.00–206.00	$203.51	$4,992	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1095–1310	1164	(<2 yrs)	Open	29	220.00–275.00	$239.39	$2,786
1090–1385	1262	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	15	193.00–245.00	$213.40	$2,693
1360–1365	1363	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	183.00–186.00	$184.50	$2,515
1435–1590	1507	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	209.00–211.00	$210.02	$3,165

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
998–1305	1108	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	182.00–205.00	$197.10	$2,184
1245	1245	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	197.00	$197.00	$2,453
1285–1600	1410	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	177.00–201.00	$186.15	$2,625

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1380	1380	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	181.00	$181.00	$2,498

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1475	1475	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	2,750.00	$2,750.00
1485	1485	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,900.00	$2,900.00
1525	1525	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	3,100.00	$3,100.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1509	1509	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	8	3,500.00	$3,500.00	—
1553	1553	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	4,000.00	$4,000.00	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1847	1847	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	3	4,250.00	$4,250.00	—

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Dairy Cows

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1658	1658	80-85%	2	163.50	$163.50	$2,711	—

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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.