Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, December 17, 2020

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

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	181	436	190
Feeder cattle	158	352	153
Slaughter cattle	23	81	37
Replacement cattle	—	3	—

Market comments — USDA reporter

There were too few head to establish an adequate market comparison. Demand was light; market activity and buyer interest were slow. Offerings of cattle were light due to inclement weather throughout the trade week. Cattle quality was 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
236	236	1	123.00	$123.00	$290	+1.00
288	288	1	129.00	$129.00	$372	+0.98
316–344	325	6	117.00–129.00	$124.21	$404	-9.97
350–392	374	8	117.00–127.00	$121.71	$455	-15.33
408–440	425	7	117.00–124.00	$119.94	$510	-10.42
478	478	1	123.00	$123.00	$588	-10.97
532–540	536	2	115.00–122.00	$118.47	$635	-6.53
824 thin fleshed	824	1	84.00	$84.00	$692	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
214	214	1	110.00	$110.00	$235	—
292	292	1	103.00	$103.00	$301	-12.42
358–384	371	2	106.00–115.00	$110.34	$409	-3.29
440	440	1	110.00	$110.00	$484	+0.02
470	470	1	108.00	$108.00	$508	-7.31

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
348	348	1	81.00	$81.00	$282	-17.43
370	370	1	79.00	$79.00	$292	-16.48
390 thin fleshed	390	1	64.00	$64.00	$250	—
410–438	424	2	85.00–88.00	$86.55	$367	-7.45

Medium 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
448	448	1	90.00	$90.00	$403	—
528	528	1	89.00	$89.00	$470	—

↑ Back to top

Feeder Heifers

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
270–290	280	2	101.00–104.00	$102.55	$287	-5.10
320–348	338	3	90.00–101.00	$96.56	$326	-8.63
352–392	366	3	90.00–100.00	$95.14	$348	-6.85
426 thin fleshed	426	1	71.00	$71.00	$302	—
462–490	476	2	90.00	$90.00	$428	-2.03
476 thin fleshed	476	1	74.00	$74.00	$352	—
530–544	535	3	78.00–84.00	$80.66	$432	-8.01
570	570	1	81.00	$81.00	$462	-4.00
608–612	610	2	65.00–69.00	$67.01	$409	-15.99
642–646	645	4	72.00–85.00	$77.24	$498	—
666–690	675	3	71.00–84.00	$75.30	$508	-2.08
692	692	1	65.00	$65.00	$450	-12.38
754	754	1	59.00	$59.00	$445	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
280	280	1	110.00	$110.00	$308	-13.18
300–330	315	2	106.00–110.00	$107.90	$340	-12.46
354–394	373	5	105.00–117.00	$110.16	$411	-9.87
402–446	425	5	100.00–112.00	$107.87	$458	-14.66
452–490	475	4	101.00–110.00	$105.75	$502	-14.49
514	514	1	100.00	$100.00	$514	-6.59
628	628	1	78.00	$78.00	$490	-15.00
700	700	1	77.00	$77.00	$539	-1.00
826	826	1	59.00	$59.00	$487	—
846	846	1	70.00	$70.00	$592	—
1030 fancy	1030	1	96.00	$96.00	$989	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
370–374	372	2	75.00–81.00	$78.02	$290	—
446–448 thin fleshed	447	2	52.00–60.00	$55.99	$250	—

Medium 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
240	240	1	92.50	$92.50	$222	—

↑ Back to top

Feeder Bulls

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
464 thin fleshed	464	1	86.00	$86.00	$399	-1.00
462–490	472	3	92.00–105.00	$99.37	$469	-10.27
500–534	512	6	88.00–93.00	$90.52	$463	-6.45
562–574	568	2	84.00–91.00	$87.54	$497	-17.46
602–636	613	6	80.00–90.00	$85.62	$525	-0.43
694	694	1	92.00	$92.00	$638	+7.55
722–726	724	2	88.00–90.00	$89.00	$644	+9.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
452–490	464	6	113.00–120.00	$117.18	$544	+2.18
502–512	507	5	105.00–119.00	$111.42	$565	-3.70
562	562	1	105.00	$105.00	$590	-9.15
648	648	1	111.00	$111.00	$719	-0.37
722–730	726	2	97.00–101.00	$99.01	$719	+1.43
764	764	1	91.00	$91.00	$695	-3.55
832–848	840	2	81.00–85.00	$82.98	$697	-4.37

Medium 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
744	744	1	78.00	$78.00	$580	—
898	898	1	70.00	$70.00	$629	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
464	464	1	70.00	$70.00	$325	-12.00
666	666	1	67.00	$67.00	$446	—

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
784–1142	941	85-90%	3	33.00–50.00	$42.10	$396	+1.93
794–1374	1043	85-90%	6	46.00–57.00	$51.24	$534	-0.51

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
972–1568	1253	80-85%	6	51.00–66.00	$57.67	$723	-8.33

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1322	1322	75-80%	1	39.00	$39.00	$516	—
1368	1368	75-80%	1	60.00	$60.00	$821	—

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1072–1404	1271	3	79.00–90.00	$83.50	$1,061	—

↑ Back to top

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.