Cattle Market Pulse

Ozarks Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle Market Report

West Plains, Missouri · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, January 5, 2021

6,807 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Ozarks Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle report →

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $143.28/cwt ≈ $900/hd at 628 lb · 322 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $133.16/cwt +2.16 vs last sale · ≈ $700/hd at 525 lb · 259 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $156.51/cwt +5.51 vs last sale · ≈ $880/hd at 562 lb · 238 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 6,807 1,002 3,776
Feeder cattle 6,807 1,002 3,776

Market comments — USDA reporter

***CLOSE*** Compared to the last good test of the market, three weeks ago, feeder steers traded steady to 4.00 higher while feeder heifers traded unevenly steady from 2.00 lower to 2.00 higher. Demand was good on a heavy supply. The new year at ORS started with a special pre-vac feeder sale in combination with the regular weekly sale making receipts larger than normal. Even with the large offering and late hours, demand stayed good throughout the sale. Cattle futures gained some of the ground lost on Monday but optimism was held in check by big gains on grain futures.

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
310–321 319 5 182.50–200.00 $185.90 $593 —
368–396 389 16 176.00–189.00 $184.54 $718 +9.32
404–447 425 64 172.50–180.00 $175.22 $745 +5.37
450–498 477 193 165.00–183.00 $175.55 $837 +14.04
504 fancy 504 9 183.00 $183.00 $922 —
501–538 514 113 160.00–178.00 $165.82 $852 +5.33
557 unweaned 557 21 146.50 $146.50 $816 —
553–586 563 217 152.00–165.50 $157.48 $887 +6.48
600–647 626 286 139.00–150.50 $144.38 $904 —
647 unweaned 647 36 134.50 $134.50 $870 —
651–698 670 190 136.00–146.00 $140.06 $938 +7.06
700–742 713 199 133.50–144.00 $136.52 $973 —
779–798 790 73 132.00–137.00 $133.57 $1,055 —
822–838 831 65 133.00–138.00 $136.68 $1,136 —
850 850 40 134.00 $134.00 $1,139 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
315–342 327 7 162.50–170.00 $166.63 $545 -5.39
364–398 376 18 161.00–175.00 $169.46 $637 +8.54
402–444 422 78 157.50–170.00 $164.63 $695 +4.68
458–499 479 89 146.00–164.00 $158.14 $757 +7.54
513–549 536 179 140.00–158.00 $152.21 $816 +2.90
550–595 577 154 136.00–151.00 $144.18 $832 +4.17
602–648 625 161 128.00–142.00 $136.49 $853 +3.88
655–698 686 215 126.00–135.00 $130.66 $896 +5.52
700–745 726 125 125.50–133.00 $129.42 $940 +7.80
757–797 782 68 119.00–130.00 $127.39 $996 —
801–849 837 153 121.00–131.00 $125.18 $1,048 —
854–889 876 45 122.00–127.00 $125.55 $1,100 +0.08
900–925 917 127 123.00–126.50 $125.94 $1,155 —
987–991 988 11 118.00 $118.00 $1,166 +0.69
1067 1067 29 109.50 $109.50 $1,168 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
376 376 5 177.00 $177.00 $666 —
488 488 11 159.00 $159.00 $776 —
535–545 544 33 152.50–164.00 $162.97 $887 —
630 630 20 143.50 $143.50 $904 —
680–694 686 22 134.50–135.00 $134.73 $924 —
803 803 16 130.00 $130.00 $1,044 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
595 595 11 155.00 $155.00 $922 —
606–644 625 42 138.00–143.00 $140.72 $880 —
660–678 674 15 135.00–138.00 $135.59 $914 —
753 753 26 137.50 $137.50 $1,035 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
456–490 471 7 146.00–150.00 $148.21 $698 —
510–536 517 26 144.00–147.00 $144.84 $749 -2.16
594–598 595 12 135.00–140.00 $136.26 $811 —
653–671 664 8 130.00–131.00 $130.37 $866 —
744 744 8 128.50 $128.50 $956 —
832–833 833 6 123.00–127.00 $125.00 $1,041 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
387 387 6 152.50 $152.50 $590 +6.01
402 402 6 140.00–144.00 $142.00 $571 +1.43
502 502 8 135.00 $135.00 $678 +4.51
551–597 568 14 122.00–134.00 $129.80 $737 —
640 640 5 128.00 $128.00 $819 +4.69
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
320 320 9 120.00 $120.00 $384 —
469 469 6 130.00 $130.00 $610 —
556 556 9 120.00 $120.00 $667 —
724 724 6 102.00 $102.00 $738 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
586–598 590 13 139.00–140.00 $139.69 $824 —
634 634 8 128.00 $128.00 $812 —
Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
576 576 9 128.00 $128.00 $737 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350–389 375 44 147.00–152.00 $150.21 $563 +3.59
406–442 426 80 142.00–152.50 $145.37 $619 +5.37
451–496 473 152 135.00–141.00 $137.17 $649 -0.80
505–545 525 236 130.00–140.00 $133.73 $702 +2.73
519–536 unweaned 529 23 127.00–128.00 $127.35 $674 —
551–592 572 192 126.00–139.00 $130.46 $746 -1.07
600–642 631 155 125.00–133.00 $129.29 $816 +2.29
650–695 674 155 124.00–130.00 $126.39 $852 —
703–725 711 116 125.00–134.00 $128.56 $914 —
766–780 771 47 124.00–126.00 $125.21 $965 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
330–348 342 12 137.50–147.50 $141.78 $485 +6.42
382–395 391 25 128.00–143.00 $138.13 $540 +5.27
400–446 424 50 131.00–138.00 $134.36 $570 +6.13
455–499 479 106 125.00–135.00 $129.69 $621 +0.84
504–547 528 80 120.00–128.00 $125.61 $663 -1.81
551–599 583 161 114.00–127.00 $121.21 $707 +4.27
602–649 630 132 110.00–125.00 $122.63 $773 +9.70
662–698 683 28 111.00–120.00 $115.43 $788 —
702–736 727 72 113.00–123.00 $121.11 $880 —
762–798 780 30 117.00–119.00 $117.73 $918 —
816–845 833 44 113.00–121.00 $117.45 $978 —
850–887 878 43 115.00–120.00 $117.06 $1,028 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
391–398 395 11 125.00–131.00 $128.30 $507 +10.75
405–428 423 13 120.00–125.00 $123.89 $524 +15.85
476 476 11 120.00 $120.00 $571 —
578–580 580 18 110.00 $110.00 $638 -0.29
651–696 670 65 100.00–112.00 $106.01 $710 +1.80
823 823 10 108.00 $108.00 $889 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
427–442 435 13 139.00–142.50 $140.91 $613 +3.91
515–544 526 54 133.00–139.00 $137.11 $721 —
594 594 6 125.00 $125.00 $742 —
609–613 612 26 123.00–129.00 $127.39 $780 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
564–596 579 21 126.00–133.00 $129.43 $749 —
660 660 11 127.00 $127.00 $838 —
822 822 28 125.00 $125.00 $1,028 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
353 353 5 125.00 $125.00 $441 —
498 498 5 120.00 $120.00 $598 —
570–593 582 9 120.00–123.00 $120.98 $704 —
630–634 633 10 114.00–122.50 $116.54 $738 —
713 713 5 117.00 $117.00 $834 —
806 806 18 118.50 $118.50 $955 +18.50
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
367–383 374 9 130.00–138.00 $134.36 $503 —
421–422 422 16 132.00–136.00 $135.00 $570 +15.00
458–487 469 8 125.00–128.00 $126.83 $595 —
622 622 11 115.00 $115.00 $715 —
Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
485 485 5 110.00 $110.00 $534 —
809 809 5 103.00 $103.00 $833 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
553 553 9 108.00 $108.00 $597 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
513–547 526 14 124.00–125.00 $124.58 $655 -0.62
662–680 671 16 110.00–120.00 $111.87 $751 -2.72
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
486–492 489 17 143.00–145.00 $144.18 $705 —

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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.