Cattle Market Pulse

Ozarks Regional Stockyards Slaughter / Replacement Cattle Market Report

West Plains, Missouri · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 1, 2026

607 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Ozarks Regional Stockyards Slaughter / Replacement Cattle report →

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 607 656 728
Slaughter cattle 149 141 253
Replacement cattle 458 515 475

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, slaughter cows and bulls sold 3.00-5.00 higher. Demand was good on a moderate supply of bred heifers and cows and a light supply of slaughter animals and pairs. Today's auction saw some of the highest prices of the year for slaughter animals with the top slaughter bull selling for 235.00/cwt. and the top slaughter cow breaking the two-dollar mark, selling for 202.50/cwt. Demand for stocker and feeder cows is taking cattle destined to slaughter back to the farm for some added gains. Spring grass coming on and rain in the forecast helped the replacement market as well with the top pairs selling for 5400.00/pair and the top bred cows selling for 4200.00/head. There was a large offering of bred heifers with one farm selling a group of 81 head of 1030-1076 lb. heifers in the first/second stage for 3800.00-3900.00/head.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1392–1865 1502 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 8 5,100.00–6,300.00 $5,727.69 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1315–1540 1428 Young (2-4 yrs)N/A 2 3,900.00–4,000.00 $3,953.94 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1245–1335 1290 75-80% 2 155.00–167.00 $160.79 $2,074 —
1295–1680 1480 75-80% 17 185.00–201.00 $187.94 $2,782 +25.94
1335–2030 1524 75-80% 22 168.00–183.00 $177.31 $2,702 -9.34
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
700 700 85-90% 2 112.50–120.00 $116.25 $814 —
700–1055 867 85-90% 12 129.00–146.00 $138.38 $1,200 —
870–1035 949 85-90% 7 170.00–177.50 $173.82 $1,650 —
805–1190 1006 85-90% 18 147.50–169.00 $159.22 $1,602 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1015–1310 1171 80-85% 8 183.00–202.50 $191.49 $2,242 +19.07
1030–1350 1207 80-85% 17 167.00–182.00 $175.97 $2,124 +18.96
1230–1505 1304 80-85% 5 150.00–167.00 $161.56 $2,107 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1280–1755 1459 7 174.00–185.00 $181.98 $2,655 +0.15
1335–2100 1663 19 196.00–215.00 $205.43 $3,416 +5.07
1490–2095 1763 13 216.00–235.00 $225.10 $3,969 +3.76

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Stock Cows

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
745–875 821 (<2 yrs)Open 9 275.00–311.00 $300.50 $2,467
805–1145 1013 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 36 182.00–260.00 $205.62 $2,083
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
815–1145 964 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 23 117.50–180.00 $158.81 $1,531
Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
850 850 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 13 2,700.00 $2,700.00
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1155–1270 1192 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 9 183.00–207.50 $194.97 $2,324
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1160–1270 1220 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 5 166.00–177.50 $172.95 $2,110

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1155–1390 1274 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 55 2,800.00–3,700.00 $3,111.70
1211–1332 1302 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 6 2,650.00–3,500.00 $2,889.04
Medium 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
865–990 948 Aged (>8 yrs)All Stages (1-9 mo) 3 1,200.00–1,600.00 $1,356.41
880–1174 1052 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)All Stages (1-9 mo) 55 2,050.00–2,700.00 $2,455.66
Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1160–1430 1258 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)All Stages (1-9 mo) 19 2,300.00–2,700.00 $2,559.39
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1195–1425 1378 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 17 3,700.00–4,200.00 $3,780.25
Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1010–1135 1081 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 10 2,800.00–3,750.00 $3,289.74
1140–1145 1142 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 3 2,800.00–3,500.00 $3,265.99
Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1478–1565 1517 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 5 2,900.00–3,300.00 $3,134.96

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1030–1076 1051 Young (2-4 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 81 3,800.00–3,900.00 $3,838.65
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1023–1055 1045 Young (2-4 yrs)All Stages (1-9 mo) 22 3,100.00–3,350.00 $3,214.41
Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
805–900 875 (<2 yrs)All Stages (1-9 mo) 14 2,200.00–3,000.00 $2,825.35
975 975 Young (2-4 yrs)All Stages (1-9 mo) 4 3,600.00 $3,600.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1250–1345 1282 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 3 5,000.00–5,400.00 $5,266.67 —
Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1105 1105 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 1 4,700.00 $4,700.00 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1290 1290 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 3,200.00 $3,200.00 —
Small 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
700 700 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 1 2,000.00 $2,000.00 —

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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.