Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, October 15, 2020

726 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Powell Livestock Market report →

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 steers $124.57/cwt +1.24 vs last sale · ≈ $780/hd at 626 lb · 50 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $109.48/cwt -3.82 vs last sale · ≈ $569/hd at 519 lb · 43 head

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 steers $131.94/cwt -2.57 vs last sale · ≈ $561/hd at 425 lb · 41 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	726	667	718
Feeder cattle	622	601	608
Slaughter cattle	103	65	110
Replacement cattle	1	1	0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, slaughter cattle were 1.00 to 3.00 lower. Feeder steers were unevenly steady; heifers were mostly 3.00 to 7.00 lower; while feeder bulls were mostly steady to 2.00 higher. Demand, market activity, and buyer interest were moderate. Offerings of cattle were mostly moderate. Cattle quality was average. One dairy steer, Large 3, weighing 65 lbs. brought 55.00 per head.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
124	124	1	115.00	$115.00	$143	-34.00
226–246	235	3	124.00–129.00	$126.93	$298	-29.37
256–292	276	9	124.00–141.00	$129.64	$358	-9.60
304–346	322	14	124.00–138.00	$129.82	$418	-3.94
354–398	370	17	125.00–151.00	$137.60	$509	+0.57
402–448	425	39	124.00–142.00	$132.60	$564	+15.60
420–448	434	2	119.00	$119.00	$516	-16.43
456–476	466	2	137.00–142.00	$139.45	$650	+0.76
500–524	514	7	125.00–135.00	$128.41	$660	-1.25
550–565	559	5	127.00–133.00	$128.77	$720	+5.42
610–628	626	50	117.00–127.00	$124.57	$780	+1.24
688	688	1	100.00	$100.00	$688	-20.51
757	757	8	111.00	$111.00	$840	+6.00
842	842	1	97.00	$97.00	$817	—
878	878	1	112.00	$112.00	$983	-12.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
298	298	2	107.00–118.00	$112.50	$335	—
324–340	332	2	108.00–110.00	$109.02	$362	-9.54
362–392	371	9	110.00–120.00	$117.14	$435	+0.01
402–444	425	5	110.00–118.00	$114.32	$486	-5.76
554	554	1	115.00	$115.00	$637	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
292	292	1	85.00	$85.00	$248	—
346–348	347	2	92.00–100.00	$96.01	$333	-9.07
370–394	382	2	90.00–96.00	$92.91	$355	—
406–428	419	3	90.00–102.00	$97.27	$408	+7.27

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
136	136	1	111.00	$111.00	$151	—
188	188	1	118.00	$118.00	$222	-4.00
200–236	218	2	118.00	$118.00	$257	-0.45
264–296	280	5	110.00–122.00	$115.65	$324	-3.19
300–340	325	14	110.00–129.00	$119.09	$387	-3.10
366–372	369	3	104.00–106.00	$105.33	$389	-19.92
350–398	372	25	109.00–130.00	$120.78	$449	-4.47
404–446	425	24	106.00–127.00	$114.78	$488	-6.77
450–496	476	17	100.00–118.00	$110.65	$527	-3.57
500–548	519	42	98.00–117.00	$109.78	$570	-3.52
534	534	1	97.00	$97.00	$518	-16.30
550–598	574	15	98.00–111.00	$104.03	$597	-5.96
576–580	577	3	94.00–96.00	$95.00	$548	-14.99
614	614	1	86.00	$86.00	$528	-12.51
602–642	622	19	90.00–102.00	$96.93	$603	-1.58
652–698	680	13	87.00–101.00	$96.40	$656	+11.40
706	706	1	70.00	$70.00	$494	-17.16
712	712	1	92.00	$92.00	$655	+4.84
822	822	1	70.00	$70.00	$575	-18.67
836	836	2	86.00	$86.00	$719	-2.67
870	870	1	76.00	$76.00	$661	-11.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
192	192	1	103.00	$103.00	$198	-8.00
210	210	1	104.00	$104.00	$218	-9.48
266	266	1	109.00	$109.00	$290	-0.01
316–340	328	3	105.00–107.00	$105.64	$346	+0.13
352–394	378	7	93.00–109.00	$103.04	$389	-2.57
412–422	417	3	99.00–105.00	$101.99	$425	+5.81
454–472	465	3	100.00–104.00	$102.36	$476	+5.48
500–544	514	5	83.00–96.00	$87.70	$451	-1.24
650–680	665	2	80.00–81.00	$80.51	$535	+0.51
668	668	1	70.00	$70.00	$468	-10.00
746	746	1	72.00	$72.00	$537	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
274–292	283	2	90.00–103.00	$96.29	$273	—
340	340	1	87.00	$87.00	$296	-3.00
388	388	1	87.00	$87.00	$338	—
450–494	472	3	70.00–80.00	$76.16	$359	-6.84
506	506	1	78.00	$78.00	$395	—
572	572	1	70.00	$70.00	$400	—

Small 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
448	448	1	54.00	$54.00	$242	-9.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
450–498	474	34	119.00–138.00	$128.81	$611	+1.51
500–546	520	25	116.00–136.00	$124.38	$647	+0.06
550–596	569	24	115.00–129.00	$120.38	$685	+7.38
574	574	1	111.00	$111.00	$637	-2.00
620	620	1	100.00	$100.00	$620	-20.25
600–646	622	18	105.00–119.00	$113.23	$704	-7.02
654–698	683	6	95.00–115.00	$104.43	$713	+1.36
704–724	710	4	90.00–101.00	$98.02	$696	-0.62
752–764	756	3	90.00–100.00	$95.34	$721	+1.06
828	828	1	88.00	$88.00	$729	-7.52
854	854	1	85.00	$85.00	$726	-10.99

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
452–494	476	10	102.00–115.00	$110.53	$526	+4.53
516–544	530	2	92.00–114.00	$102.71	$544	-6.91
554–594	573	7	97.00–113.00	$105.30	$603	+10.47
642	642	1	80.00	$80.00	$514	-11.73
680	680	1	80.00	$80.00	$544	—
702–724	713	2	77.00–80.00	$78.52	$560	-5.48

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
758	758	1	65.00	$65.00	$493	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
714	714	1	56.00	$56.00	$400	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
840–1404	1187	80-85%	34	51.00–61.00	$56.43	$670	-2.03
988–1406	1197	80-85%	2	64.00–66.00	$64.83	$776	+6.37

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
806–1070	901	85-90%	6	30.00–34.00	$31.43	$283	—
1006	1006	85-90%	1	55.00	$55.00	$553	—
834–1230	1018	85-90%	27	44.00–52.00	$48.41	$493	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1352–1670	1516	75-80%	10	58.00–64.00	$59.72	$905	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1044–1128	1094	3	54.00–60.00	$56.03	$613	-0.32
1056–2230	1475	10	70.00–89.00	$78.77	$1,162	—
1822	1822	1	91.00	$91.00	$1,658	+9.80

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
728	728	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	600.00	$600.00	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
302	302	1	82.00	$82.00	$248	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
270	270	2	68.00	$68.00	$184	—
736	736	1	91.00	$91.00	$670	—

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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.