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Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, November 5, 2020

468 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $110.88/cwt +2.63 vs last sale · ≈ $465/hd at 419 lb · 21 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $127.90/cwt -0.74 vs last sale · ≈ $604/hd at 473 lb · 17 head
light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $86.26/cwt -2.73 vs last sale · ≈ $537/hd at 623 lb · 17 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 468 477 624
Feeder cattle 367 421 516
Slaughter cattle 95 53 107
Replacement cattle 6 3 1

Market comments — USDA reporter

Current sheep receipts 1. Compared to last week, breaking type slaughter cows were steady to 1.00 lower, while boning type were 4.00 to 5.00 higher and slaughter bulls were 6.00 to 7.00 higher. Feeder steers were mostly 5.00 to 8.00 higher; heifers were mostly 2.00 to 4.00 higher; five- and six-weight feeder bulls were sharply higher, while four-weights were mostly steady to 1.00 lower. Demand, market activity, and buyer interest were moderate. Offerings of cattle were moderate. Cattle quality was plain to average with higher than normal thin fleshed cattle noted.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
160 160 1 125.00 $125.00 $200 +3.00
252–294 278 4 118.00–132.00 $126.17 $351 -3.44
304–340 320 10 129.00–147.00 $136.76 $438 +12.15
350–390 369 8 123.00–142.00 $130.83 $483 +4.17
404–446 429 7 124.00–139.00 $130.20 $559 +0.92
450–490 464 6 123.00–140.00 $133.55 $620 +3.09
502–536 523 3 120.00–125.00 $121.71 $637 +5.22
550–570 559 3 118.00–120.00 $118.99 $665 +7.46
602–640 618 3 112.00–115.00 $114.03 $705 +5.03
659–672 664 5 107.00–115.00 $111.02 $737 +6.02
738–746 742 2 110.00–112.00 $111.01 $824 —
794 794 1 115.00 $115.00 $913 —
820 820 1 114.00 $114.00 $935 —
958 958 1 95.00 $95.00 $910 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
206–246 226 2 115.00 $115.00 $260 —
228 thin fleshed 228 1 106.00 $106.00 $242 —
318–322 thin fleshed 320 2 97.00–100.00 $98.51 $315 —
306–348 333 6 115.00–120.00 $116.89 $389 +3.93
352–396 376 13 100.00–120.00 $110.85 $417 -1.86
382 thin fleshed 382 1 100.00 $100.00 $382 —
412–446 429 2 110.00–117.00 $113.36 $486 +7.75
450–478 471 4 110.00–114.00 $111.21 $524 -3.79
514–526 520 2 89.00–90.00 $89.49 $465 —
646 646 1 85.00 $85.00 $549 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
334 334 1 100.00 $100.00 $334 —
350–386 364 5 90.00–100.00 $94.15 $343 +4.00
426–444 435 2 84.00–90.00 $86.94 $378 -0.76

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
168 168 1 121.00 $121.00 $203 —
238–248 243 2 114.00–115.00 $114.49 $278 -0.50
268–290 282 4 115.00–130.00 $122.36 $345 +5.65
300–338 323 7 110.00–130.00 $114.36 $369 -1.26
356–386 374 5 116.00–121.00 $118.38 $443 +4.09
402–442 419 21 100.00–123.00 $110.88 $465 +2.63
478–496 486 4 100.00–109.00 $104.49 $508 -0.17
500–512 507 4 94.00–105.00 $100.75 $511 +3.09
514–538 523 3 90.00–93.00 $90.98 $476 -6.68
552–596 568 5 100.00–110.00 $103.29 $587 +8.74
578 578 1 90.00 $90.00 $520 -4.55
620 620 1 83.00 $83.00 $515 -5.99
614–640 623 16 82.00–95.00 $86.46 $539 -2.53
656–694 688 11 91.00–100.00 $94.61 $651 +3.27
700–746 722 6 84.00–95.00 $88.17 $637 -3.83
750–788 770 5 83.00–91.50 $87.45 $673 +17.45
834–835 835 3 80.00–87.00 $84.67 $707 +10.94
854 854 1 87.00 $87.00 $743 +9.95
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
196 196 1 106.00 $106.00 $208 —
210–228 215 4 103.00–110.00 $106.67 $229 +0.20
276 thin fleshed 276 1 95.00 $95.00 $262 —
260–298 279 2 110.00 $110.00 $307 +9.03
302–308 305 2 97.00–100.00 $98.49 $300 —
366–396 381 4 90.00–105.00 $96.76 $369 +0.92
410–414 412 2 90.00–94.00 $92.01 $379 -0.19
436 thin fleshed 436 1 84.00 $84.00 $366 —
452–498 473 5 84.00–94.00 $88.63 $419 +1.71
506–546 528 6 80.00–92.00 $84.47 $446 +1.77
552–598 579 4 87.00–90.00 $88.23 $511 +9.92
648 648 1 74.00 $74.00 $480 -5.55
654–698 677 3 72.00–83.00 $78.22 $530 —
710 710 1 77.00 $77.00 $547 +7.00
776 776 1 75.00 $75.00 $582 +21.00
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
172 172 1 94.00 $94.00 $162 —
206 206 1 101.00 $101.00 $208 -3.00
426 426 1 89.00 $89.00 $379 +4.00
550 550 1 70.00 $70.00 $385 —
716 716 1 64.00 $64.00 $458 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
458–497 471 16 121.00–136.00 $129.02 $608 -0.65
498 498 1 110.00 $110.00 $548 +5.00
508–546 528 6 109.00–125.00 $115.09 $608 +6.18
550–598 577 16 103.00–120.00 $111.32 $642 +9.04
614–644 627 5 104.00–110.00 $107.60 $675 +18.84
646 646 1 92.00 $92.00 $594 +3.24
658–690 678 4 95.00–105.00 $97.68 $662 +13.04
706–744 721 3 90.00–100.00 $95.90 $691 +13.29
792 792 1 93.00 $93.00 $737 +14.50
914 914 1 83.00 $83.00 $759 +9.00
954 954 1 70.00 $70.00 $668 -5.00
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
450–498 474 6 90.00–110.00 $99.11 $470 +0.58
494 thin fleshed 494 1 74.00 $74.00 $366 —
506 506 1 94.00 $94.00 $476 +2.97
550–586 568 2 96.00–104.00 $100.13 $569 +11.72
690 690 1 88.00 $88.00 $607 +11.01
732 732 1 78.00 $78.00 $571 +4.32
820 820 1 70.00 $70.00 $574 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1016–1208 1136 80-85% 5 68.00–75.00 $70.79 $804 —
920–1482 1160 80-85% 37 52.00–66.00 $59.39 $689 +4.84
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
848–860 854 85-90% 2 57.00–60.00 $58.51 $500 —
748–1294 969 85-90% 14 43.00–57.00 $48.72 $472 +2.03
870–1096 1002 85-90% 4 30.00–42.00 $37.18 $373 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1162–1522 1377 75-80% 6 50.00–65.00 $55.28 $761 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1010–1616 1347 5 50.00–60.00 $56.19 $757 -14.39
1160–2006 1560 5 73.00–80.00 $76.91 $1,200 —
1632–1954 1793 2 90.00–91.00 $90.46 $1,622 —

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
800–844 822 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 2 900.00 $900.00 —
800–924 877 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 3 875.00–1,025.00 $962.16 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
924 924 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 675.00 $675.00 —

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Dairy Heifers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
558 558 1 54.00 $54.00 $301 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
532 532 1 58.00 $58.00 $309 —
662 662 1 50.00 $50.00 $331 —

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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.