Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, November 19, 2020

540 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $108.47/cwt +0.17 vs last sale · ≈ $570/hd at 526 lb · 23 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $104.98/cwt -0.92 vs last sale · ≈ $501/hd at 477 lb · 19 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $97.73/cwt -11.28 vs last sale · ≈ $574/hd at 587 lb · 19 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	540	182	619
Feeder cattle	443	150	484
Slaughter cattle	87	32	129
Replacement cattle	5	—	3

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, slaughter cattle were 2.00 to 3.00 higher. Feeder steers and bulls had too few comparable head the previous week to establish an adequate market comparison, however a lower undertone was noted. Six-weight feeder heifers were 6.00 to 7.00 higher, while there were too few lighter weights the previous week to establish an adequate market comparison. Demand was light to moderate; market activity and buyer interest slow to moderate. Offerings of cattle were moderate. Cattle quality was plain to average.

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
202–246	221	3	123.00–124.00	$123.67	$273	-9.42
272–286	279	2	121.00–134.00	$127.66	$356	—
300–340	324	8	117.00–129.00	$121.36	$393	-10.48
350–388	367	7	117.00–125.00	$120.55	$442	-6.30
400–418	406	5	115.00–120.00	$116.82	$474	-4.88
450–496	468	9	114.00–119.00	$117.31	$549	—
518–542	531	4	108.00–128.00	$119.02	$632	—
574–586	580	2	111.00–125.00	$118.07	$685	+23.07
608–634	623	7	108.00–123.00	$117.12	$730	—
650–697	683	7	106.00–115.00	$108.48	$741	-10.52
738–740	740	5	112.00–115.00	$113.20	$838	-3.80
804–830	817	2	112.00–115.00	$113.52	$927	+8.52
880	880	1	111.00	$111.00	$977	+2.00
926	926	1	106.00	$106.00	$982	—
974	974	1	80.00	$80.00	$779	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
222	222	1	116.00	$116.00	$258	—
264	264	1	109.00	$109.00	$288	-6.48
330–348	338	4	97.00–112.00	$107.20	$362	-7.80
356–398	375	10	90.00–112.00	$106.62	$400	—
404–446	426	13	100.00–113.00	$106.91	$455	+0.19
462–470	466	2	105.00–113.00	$108.97	$508	—
518–538	528	2	90.00–100.00	$94.91	$501	+10.91

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
204–226	215	2	90.00–100.00	$95.26	$205	—
310 thin fleshed	310	1	75.00	$75.00	$232	—
346	346	1	91.00	$91.00	$315	—
412–444	428	2	81.00–83.00	$82.04	$351	-14.74
666	666	1	60.00	$60.00	$400	—

Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
414	414	1	83.00	$83.00	$344	—

Small 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
426 thin fleshed	426	1	61.00	$61.00	$260	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
226–238	232	2	115.00–135.00	$125.26	$291	—
262–290	273	4	107.00–137.50	$118.57	$324	-2.43
316–340	327	4	100.00–113.00	$105.27	$344	—
352–398	377	8	100.00–111.00	$105.42	$397	-8.69
400–438	418	9	94.00–114.00	$103.71	$434	-8.32
452–490	477	19	92.00–112.00	$104.98	$501	-0.92
502–546	520	15	91.00–105.00	$100.18	$521	-8.12
536 value added	536	8	124.00	$124.00	$665	—
558–598	587	19	89.00–102.00	$97.73	$574	-11.28
602–634	619	7	85.00–102.00	$96.19	$595	-9.44
654–692	675	5	81.00–95.00	$89.02	$601	-18.54
700	700	1	84.00	$84.00	$588	—
894	894	1	76.00	$76.00	$679	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
256–278	267	2	106.00–108.00	$107.04	$286	—
344	344	1	93.00	$93.00	$320	-14.95
352–398	382	9	89.00–96.00	$92.62	$354	—
400–448	425	6	83.00–95.00	$89.56	$381	-3.44
434–444 thin fleshed	439	2	80.00–83.00	$81.48	$358	-0.52
444	444	1	80.00	$80.00	$355	-13.00
450–496	466	14	84.00–93.00	$88.23	$411	—
470–488 thin fleshed	479	2	75.00–79.00	$77.04	$369	—
508 thin fleshed	508	1	74.00	$74.00	$376	—
504–536	516	3	80.00–85.00	$82.71	$427	+1.73
574–592	583	5	80.00–86.00	$83.19	$485	—
630 thin fleshed	630	1	75.00	$75.00	$472	—
650	650	1	80.00	$80.00	$520	-4.84

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310	310	1	84.00	$84.00	$260	—
366–394	380	2	73.00–83.00	$78.18	$297	—
406–428	419	3	70.00–75.00	$71.62	$300	-19.38
464–488	473	3	76.00–80.00	$78.36	$371	+8.36
504	504	1	78.00	$78.00	$393	—

Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
300–346	323	3	79.00–86.00	$81.16	$262	—
386	386	1	85.00	$85.00	$328	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
456–498	473	8	106.00–119.00	$112.37	$532	-5.36
502–548	525	17	103.00–116.00	$109.79	$576	-9.88
550–580	561	13	102.00–125.00	$110.89	$622	+16.89
584 thin fleshed	584	1	80.00	$80.00	$467	—
598	598	1	96.00	$96.00	$574	+2.00
602–646	622	15	93.00–122.00	$106.84	$665	+6.68
650–698	667	8	89.00–107.00	$100.01	$667	+6.09
700–726	714	4	86.00–95.00	$90.46	$646	-0.54
758	758	1	105.00	$105.00	$796	—
808–814	811	3	87.00–105.00	$93.98	$762	—
852–872	859	3	89.00–100.00	$92.72	$796	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
456–494	476	6	89.00–99.00	$92.66	$441	-12.95
484 thin fleshed	484	1	83.00	$83.00	$402	—
504–544	526	4	86.00–98.00	$90.62	$477	-6.52
534–544 thin fleshed	539	2	80.00–86.00	$82.97	$447	—
550 thin fleshed	550	1	79.00	$79.00	$434	+1.68
550–588	568	6	90.00–95.00	$92.48	$525	+6.48
600 thin fleshed	600	1	72.00	$72.00	$432	—
622	622	1	80.00	$80.00	$498	-1.00
650–666	655	3	79.00–82.00	$80.33	$526	-5.67
662 thin fleshed	662	1	70.00	$70.00	$463	-1.00
800	800	1	75.00	$75.00	$600	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
456	456	1	82.00	$82.00	$374	-2.00
556–560	558	2	70.00–73.00	$71.49	$399	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
820–1322	988	85-90%	13	30.00–40.00	$35.22	$348	—
810–1244	1015	85-90%	19	43.00–54.00	$49.48	$502	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
904–1550	1204	80-85%	16	55.00–64.00	$58.18	$700	—
1160–1502	1317	80-85%	4	65.00–71.50	$66.80	$880	—
1502	1502	80-85%	1	44.00	$44.00	$661	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1228–1852	1483	75-80%	7	52.00–66.00	$58.18	$863	—
1460–1586	1526	75-80%	4	34.00–45.00	$38.91	$594	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1290–1344	1313	3	50.00–61.00	$56.33	$740	—
1014–1872	1473	5	67.00–81.00	$75.09	$1,106	—
2214	2214	2	93.00	$93.00	$2,059	—

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Bucks Billies

N/N/A ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
120	120	1	195.00	$195.00	—

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
938	938	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	875.00	$875.00	—
860–1100	952	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	3	800.00–925.00	$879.52	—
954	954	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	700.00	$700.00	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
574	574	1	54.00	$54.00	$310	—

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Nannies Does

N/N/A ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
100	100	4	200.00–210.00	$202.50	—

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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.