Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, October 22, 2020

571 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 steers $121.29/cwt -10.65 vs last sale · ≈ $511/hd at 421 lb · 27 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $106.16/cwt -12.96 vs last sale · ≈ $397/hd at 374 lb · 18 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1-2 steers $123.61/cwt -13.99 vs last sale · ≈ $468/hd at 379 lb · 18 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	571	726	664
Feeder cattle	476	622	529
Slaughter cattle	95	103	135
Replacement cattle	—	1	—

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, boning type slaughter cows were 6.00 to 7.00 lower, while breaking type slaughter cows and slaughter bulls were 11.00 to 12.00 lower. Feeder steers and bulls were mostly 11.00 to 13.00 lower, while heifers were mostly 8.00 to 10.00 lower. Demand was light; market activity and buyer interest were slow. Offerings of cattle were mostly moderate. Cattle quality was plain to average. Two dairy steers, small 3, weighing 50 lbs. brought 20.00 per head; four dairy steers, large 3, weighing 60 lbs. brought 35.00 per head; and two dairy steers, large 3, weighing 65 lbs. brought 50.00 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
222–238	228	3	120.00–123.00	$120.98	$276	-5.95
256–296	281	5	125.00–136.00	$129.68	$364	+0.04
300–348	319	7	117.00–128.00	$123.40	$394	-6.42
356–392	379	18	116.00–132.00	$123.61	$468	-13.99
404–448	421	27	114.00–126.00	$121.29	$511	-11.31
506–526	517	3	116.00–118.00	$116.99	$605	-11.42
556–561	559	12	114.00–118.00	$116.67	$652	-12.10
607–638	619	5	111.00–117.00	$115.18	$713	-9.39
654–686	670	15	103.00–117.00	$114.03	$764	+14.03
744	744	1	93.00	$93.00	$692	—
760–790	775	2	97.00–110.00	$103.63	$803	-7.37
830	830	1	105.00	$105.00	$872	+8.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
190	190	1	118.00	$118.00	$224	—
242	242	1	107.00	$107.00	$259	—
258–276	268	3	105.00–117.00	$111.94	$300	-0.56
316–348	333	4	102.00–115.00	$108.66	$362	-0.36
358–396	380	13	94.00–116.00	$105.63	$401	-11.51
400–426	415	4	100.00–110.00	$104.41	$433	-9.91
418 thin fleshed	418	1	84.00	$84.00	$351	—
526	526	2	100.00	$100.00	$526	—
552	552	1	110.00	$110.00	$607	-5.00
732 thin fleshed	732	1	78.00	$78.00	$571	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
374	374	1	70.00	$70.00	$262	-22.91
352–394	379	3	80.00–92.00	$86.90	$329	-6.01
422	422	1	83.00	$83.00	$350	-14.27

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
242	242	1	116.00	$116.00	$281	-2.00
274–286	280	6	105.00–126.00	$114.65	$321	-1.00
302–340	320	7	103.00–117.00	$109.95	$352	-9.14
350–392	373	17	100.00–119.00	$106.64	$398	-14.14
382	382	1	98.00	$98.00	$374	-22.78
400–446	425	14	100.00–111.00	$105.92	$450	-8.86
450–482	460	9	94.00–107.00	$102.54	$472	-8.11
514	514	1	86.00	$86.00	$442	-23.78
508–546	523	11	88.00–102.00	$94.98	$497	-14.80
562–598	577	8	89.00–108.00	$95.31	$550	+0.31
600–642	618	11	81.00–101.00	$92.05	$569	-4.88
660–680	667	6	81.00–95.00	$87.31	$582	-9.09
672	672	1	77.00	$77.00	$517	-19.40
726	726	1	85.00	$85.00	$617	-7.00
738	738	1	73.00	$73.00	$539	-19.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
160	160	1	107.00	$107.00	$171	+4.00
206–228	217	3	106.00–109.00	$107.63	$234	+3.63
320–338	329	4	94.00–100.00	$98.46	$324	-7.18
364–392	374	4	90.00–96.00	$93.51	$350	-9.53
412–448	426	6	80.00–94.00	$87.31	$372	-14.68
468–488	479	10	80.00–96.00	$86.40	$414	-15.96
500–544	520	11	78.00–88.00	$82.47	$429	-5.23
558 thin fleshed	558	1	69.00	$69.00	$385	—
550–594	571	6	79.00–84.00	$81.79	$467	—
630	630	1	79.00	$79.00	$498	—
692	692	1	77.00	$77.00	$533	+7.00

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
386–394	390	2	80.00–90.00	$84.95	$331	-2.05
400–440	426	3	78.00–86.00	$82.62	$352	—
428 thin fleshed	428	1	63.00	$63.00	$270	—

Small 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
444	444	1	56.00	$56.00	$249	+2.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
452–488	468	14	111.00–120.00	$115.99	$543	-12.82
498	498	1	108.00	$108.00	$538	-20.81
502–546	524	13	107.00–118.00	$112.95	$592	-11.43
546	546	1	100.00	$100.00	$546	-24.38
554–599	584	14	105.00–117.00	$111.22	$650	+0.22
612–640	625	4	98.00–105.00	$101.22	$633	-12.01
652–698	674	9	90.00–105.00	$96.58	$651	-7.85
700–744	714	5	89.00–96.00	$91.58	$654	-6.44
750–794	768	7	80.00–96.00	$87.98	$676	-7.36
800–842	820	6	81.00–93.00	$87.67	$719	-0.33
850–890	869	6	85.00–93.00	$88.83	$772	+3.83
906–944	925	2	75.00–93.00	$83.82	$775	—
950–968	959	3	82.00–85.00	$83.67	$802	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
462 thin fleshed	462	1	70.00	$70.00	$323	—
454–498	476	10	90.00–108.00	$99.27	$473	-11.26
500–538	518	8	80.00–100.00	$91.32	$473	-11.39
558–582	568	5	80.00–104.00	$93.89	$533	-11.41
606	606	1	80.00	$80.00	$485	—
652–672	662	2	80.00–89.00	$84.43	$559	+4.43
708	708	1	84.00	$84.00	$595	+5.48
856	856	1	74.00	$74.00	$633	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
470	470	1	88.00	$88.00	$414	—
514	514	1	82.00	$82.00	$421	—
586	586	1	64.00	$64.00	$375	—
702	702	1	70.00	$70.00	$491	+14.00
868	868	1	61.00	$61.00	$529	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
770–1386	1018	85-90%	22	25.00–37.00	$31.81	$324	-16.60
730–1438	1091	85-90%	26	38.00–52.00	$43.52	$475	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1010–1278	1139	80-85%	15	46.00–56.00	$50.18	$572	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1292–1590	1447	75-80%	7	44.00–56.00	$48.12	$696	—
1556	1556	75-80%	1	40.00	$40.00	$622	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1012	1012	1	56.00	$56.00	$567	—
1028–1719	1334	10	61.00–72.00	$67.45	$900	—

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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.