Cattle Market Pulse

North Dakota Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

North Dakota · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, January 18, 2021

11,953 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest North Dakota Weekly Cattle Auction Summary report →

light 7-weight M&L 1 steers $143.57/cwt +4.09 vs last sale · ≈ $1,042/hd at 726 lb · 1,175 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1 steers $149.04/cwt +3.45 vs last sale · ≈ $1,013/hd at 680 lb · 990 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $156.83/cwt +3.11 vs last sale · ≈ $977/hd at 623 lb · 979 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 11,953 13,695 12,417
Feeder cattle 11,953 13,695 12,417

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers 3.00 to 6.00 higher, instances to 8.00 higher on 450-500 lbs heifers. Good to very good demand for all weights of feeder cattle this week as the CME Live Cattle contracts made good gains. Very large auction receipts again and buyers were ready to buy these cattle and chase the market higher when they saw the quality and kind that they liked. The absence of snow has allowed cattle to stay very clean and really look eye appealing as their haircoats are long and open. The mild weather has cattle growing quickly and able to put on extra flesh condition. Buyers are very critical of too much flesh as costs of gain have risen dramatically with the corn market at 5.00 plus.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
366–398 380 33 192.50–214.00 $200.07 $760 -2.93
419–428 424 19 198.00–203.00 $200.08 $848 +7.43
450–499 477 113 167.00–195.50 $182.68 $871 -0.35
506–549 530 191 160.00–184.50 $175.56 $930 +6.54
551–590 576 624 158.00–175.00 $166.64 $960 +3.19
602–649 622 921 145.00–165.50 $157.67 $981 +3.95
609–649 639 58 138.00–149.50 $143.54 $917 -10.18
655 655 14 134.00 $134.00 $878 -10.87
651–699 680 976 139.00–157.25 $149.26 $1,015 +4.39
701–749 726 1,175 134.00–151.75 $143.57 $1,042 +4.09
751–798 768 596 129.50–144.50 $137.71 $1,058 +1.37
785 785 10 127.00 $127.00 $997 -9.34
812 812 39 125.00 $125.00 $1,015 -3.34
801–848 825 867 126.50–135.75 $132.42 $1,092 +4.08
853–877 872 287 124.50–135.00 $129.15 $1,126 +3.14
903–934 916 122 123.00–128.50 $127.34 $1,166 +2.75
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
375 375 4 191.00 $191.00 $716 —
426–444 437 11 176.00–185.00 $179.19 $783 +29.19
464–495 470 32 162.00–175.00 $170.71 $802 +1.71
518 518 11 167.50 $167.50 $868 +26.50
569–589 580 26 146.00–154.50 $149.33 $866 +6.04
615–643 631 42 132.00–152.50 $145.95 $921 +14.96
669 669 5 138.00 $138.00 $923 +7.45
705 705 6 135.00 $135.00 $952 +28.00
758 758 11 127.50 $127.50 $966 +6.97
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1008 1008 9 121.50 $121.50 $1,225 +2.79
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
753 753 9 117.00 $117.00 $881 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
308 308 7 181.00 $181.00 $557 —
373–380 375 19 164.00–176.00 $172.80 $648 +2.57
406–449 431 81 144.00–169.00 $157.72 $680 -4.69
450–494 479 139 151.00–161.50 $155.35 $744 +11.80
488 488 8 142.50 $142.50 $695 -1.05
500–549 530 351 137.50–153.00 $148.83 $789 +0.43
543 543 6 138.00 $138.00 $749 -10.40
553–598 579 573 132.00–150.50 $145.70 $844 +4.59
579 579 5 127.00 $127.00 $735 -14.11
600–647 622 535 130.50–147.50 $140.39 $873 +5.97
623–633 627 15 124.50–125.00 $124.70 $782 -17.37
646 646 24 143.50 $143.50 $927 +1.43
650–699 674 724 125.00–137.25 $132.51 $893 +4.97
692 692 23 136.00 $136.00 $941 +8.46
706–749 733 377 120.00–135.75 $126.08 $924 -18.39
751 751 9 117.00 $117.00 $879 -23.67
766 766 16 129.00 $129.00 $988 -11.67
756–790 775 144 118.50–128.00 $122.28 $948 +1.19
833–848 842 21 112.00–118.00 $115.45 $972 -3.85
890 890 69 121.00 $121.00 $1,077 +6.38
919 919 11 114.00 $114.00 $1,048 +4.00
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
371 371 10 145.00 $145.00 $538 —
404–442 427 26 149.00–155.50 $151.35 $646 —
463–488 471 20 145.00–152.00 $149.82 $706 —
522 522 5 134.00 $134.00 $699 +5.15
571–577 576 34 132.50 $132.50 $763 +4.51
626 626 8 120.00 $120.00 $751 -5.38
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1018 1018 61 116.50 $116.50 $1,186 —
1150–1183 1174 18 113.00–114.50 $113.41 $1,331 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
734 734 7 104.00 $104.00 $763 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
752 752 25 123.00 $123.00 $925 —
808 808 9 114.00 $114.00 $921 —
860 860 22 120.00 $120.00 $1,032 +18.00

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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.