Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, March 4, 2021

350 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 $156.60/cwt +8.78 vs last sale · ≈ $670/hd at 428 lb · 21 head

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $118.34/cwt +2.60 vs last sale · ≈ $498/hd at 421 lb · 16 head

light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $108.89/cwt -2.51 vs last sale · ≈ $573/hd at 526 lb · 12 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	350	328	469
Feeder cattle	281	298	391
Slaughter cattle	67	29	74
Replacement cattle	2	1	4

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, boning type slaughter cows were steady to 1.00 lower, while breaking type slaughter cows were 3.00 to 4.00 higher and slaughter bulls were 7.00 to 8.00 higher. Feeder cattle were unevenly steady. Demand was moderate; market activity and buyer interest were moderate. Offerings of cattle were fairly light. Cattle quality was average. Baby calves, 2 head, Medium & Large 1-2 steers weighing 80lbs. were 170.00 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
210–234	222	2	131.00–132.00	$131.47	$292	+8.47
250–292	267	4	128.00–140.00	$135.85	$363	+1.81
308–342	330	6	138.00–158.00	$146.76	$484	+0.01
354–394	373	9	143.00–161.00	$154.04	$575	+21.75
406–448	428	21	146.00–162.00	$156.60	$670	+20.09
456–476	466	6	148.00–158.00	$155.47	$724	+2.73
504–542	528	5	140.00–150.00	$144.93	$765	-1.24
604–626	615	2	122.00–125.00	$123.53	$760	-6.97
630	630	2	116.00	$116.00	$731	-14.50
652–683	664	3	119.00–126.00	$121.65	$808	-6.85
714	714	1	118.00	$118.00	$843	+10.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
250–266	257	3	116.00–120.00	$117.66	$302	-7.61
328	328	2	124.00–128.00	$126.00	$413	+1.65
388	388	1	116.00	$116.00	$450	-8.27
578	578	1	110.00	$110.00	$636	—
624	624	2	90.00–102.00	$96.00	$599	—
780	780	1	96.00	$96.00	$749	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
228	228	1	100.00	$100.00	$228	-6.95
344	344	1	91.00	$91.00	$313	-14.00
372	372	1	105.00	$105.00	$391	-0.52
406	406	1	105.00	$105.00	$426	-4.00

Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
354	354	1	80.00	$80.00	$283	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
236	236	1	118.00	$118.00	$278	—
250–296	272	7	115.00–127.00	$122.17	$332	+12.17
336–344	339	6	119.00–130.00	$124.81	$423	+6.82
350–398	370	9	120.00–132.00	$124.65	$461	+13.65
400–448	420	15	114.00–128.00	$118.96	$500	+3.22
438	438	1	109.00	$109.00	$477	-6.74
452–480	469	11	111.00–124.00	$114.80	$538	+0.79
500–542	526	12	104.00–116.00	$108.89	$573	-2.51
554–596	580	5	100.00–108.00	$104.17	$604	-4.60
604–636	619	4	99.00–105.00	$100.96	$625	-0.32
684	684	1	100.00	$100.00	$684	+13.00
758	758	1	84.00	$84.00	$637	-2.00
800	800	1	88.00	$88.00	$704	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
254	254	1	110.00	$110.00	$279	—
314–330	322	2	108.00–110.00	$109.02	$351	+1.51
406–444	426	5	90.00–109.00	$103.62	$441	+23.62
458–460	459	2	87.00–105.00	$95.98	$441	-3.55
502–544	531	4	89.00–100.00	$95.69	$508	+13.69
560–574	569	3	80.00–90.00	$86.72	$493	—
602–626	614	2	71.00–79.00	$75.08	$461	-1.92
678–684	681	2	79.00	$79.00	$538	-3.00
814	814	1	73.00	$73.00	$594	—

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
220–246	233	2	99.00–103.00	$100.89	$235	+18.89
260–268	264	2	92.00–100.00	$96.06	$254	+8.06
310–342	326	2	90.00–98.00	$94.20	$307	+9.23
652	652	1	65.00	$65.00	$424	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
451–498	480	7	138.00–151.00	$146.94	$705	+3.21
486	486	1	124.00	$124.00	$603	-19.73
510–546	529	7	134.00–143.00	$139.26	$737	-3.68
558–580	569	5	130.00–141.00	$137.02	$780	+4.24
624–648	633	3	106.00–116.00	$109.95	$696	-11.58
660–690	675	3	106.00–114.00	$109.65	$740	—
714–748	729	3	90.00–98.00	$92.73	$676	-16.27
808–824	816	2	91.00–92.00	$91.50	$747	—
896	896	1	87.00	$87.00	$780	+2.00
900	900	1	89.00	$89.00	$801	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
530	530	1	80.00	$80.00	$424	-35.01
536	536	1	101.00	$101.00	$541	-14.01
562	562	1	113.00	$113.00	$635	+11.02
590	590	1	80.00	$80.00	$472	-21.98
608–642	620	4	85.00–90.00	$88.26	$547	-11.74
678	678	1	75.00	$75.00	$508	-5.00
688	688	1	92.00	$92.00	$633	+12.00
746	746	1	72.00	$72.00	$537	—
778	778	1	70.00	$70.00	$545	±0.00

Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
456–476	466	2	74.00–87.00	$80.64	$376	—
582	582	1	72.00	$72.00	$419	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
930–1430	1156	80-85%	16	60.00–69.00	$66.03	$763	-0.95
1274–1472	1373	80-85%	2	73.00–74.00	$73.46	$1,009	—
1474	1474	80-85%	1	58.00	$58.00	$855	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
776–1374	979	85-90%	13	51.00–60.00	$57.08	$559	—
878–1208	1020	85-90%	4	31.00–48.00	$37.91	$387	-18.88

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1228–1502	1381	75-80%	7	60.00–65.00	$62.36	$861	—
1388–1782	1558	75-80%	4	56.00–58.00	$57.01	$888	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1038–1512	1283	3	65.00–68.00	$66.15	$849	—
1354–1868	1611	2	100.00–106.00	$102.52	$1,652	—
1334–2336	1815	8	80.00–91.00	$82.40	$1,496	—

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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
932	932	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	1	675.00	$675.00	-250.00
1140	1140	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	1	950.00	$950.00	—

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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.