Cattle Market Pulse

Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, May 20, 2021

630 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 $137.82/cwt -1.71 vs last sale · ≈ $582/hd at 422 lb · 25 head
heavy 3-weight M&L 1-2 steers $148.05/cwt +6.37 vs last sale · ≈ $552/hd at 373 lb · 21 head
heavy 3-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $124.01/cwt -5.37 vs last sale · ≈ $463/hd at 373 lb · 20 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 630 405 158
Feeder cattle 476 297 145
Slaughter cattle 153 92 13
Replacement cattle 1 16 0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, slaughter cattle were 1.00 to 3.00 lower and feeder cattle were mostly 2.00 to 7.00 lower. Demand, market activity, and buyer interest were moderate. Offerings of cattle were fairly heavy. Cattle quality was plain to average. One Feeder Steer, Medium 2, weighing 104 lbs. brought 85.00 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 $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
250–292 273 5 131.00–161.00 $147.67 $403 -3.01
300–349 328 16 141.00–158.00 $148.50 $487 -2.46
352–392 373 21 137.00–155.00 $148.05 $552 +6.37
400–446 422 25 129.00–148.00 $137.82 $582 +7.82
454–496 473 9 122.00–140.00 $135.95 $643 -2.00
502–510 506 2 134.00–137.00 $135.51 $686 —
568–584 577 5 124.00–138.00 $132.19 $763 —
650–688 669 2 108.00–120.00 $113.83 $762 —
722–738 730 2 108.00–110.00 $109.01 $796 —
760–764 763 4 111.00–112.00 $111.25 $849 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
272–280 276 2 118.00–124.00 $121.04 $334 —
304–348 323 6 110.00–126.00 $119.11 $385 -0.89
350–396 379 7 119.00–124.00 $120.42 $456 +3.14
404–448 425 13 110.00–126.00 $118.80 $505 -1.50
514–542 531 3 107.00–115.00 $110.69 $588 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
252–284 268 2 100.00–113.00 $106.11 $284 —
436–448 442 2 98.00–101.00 $99.48 $440 -7.02

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
234–248 241 2 120.00–125.00 $122.57 $295 -6.54
250–294 273 10 115.00–129.00 $122.51 $334 -11.76
300–344 323 17 115.00–133.00 $123.59 $399 -12.40
350–396 373 20 117.00–130.00 $124.01 $463 -5.37
402–446 426 14 118.00–126.00 $122.32 $521 -5.06
450–488 470 11 115.00–129.00 $121.05 $569 -3.70
486–496 491 2 90.00–107.00 $98.59 $484 -26.16
502–548 517 8 104.00–118.00 $111.89 $578 -8.07
552–596 574 7 98.00–112.00 $105.15 $604 -5.87
616–648 630 4 102.00–108.00 $105.72 $666 -2.94
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
258–290 273 3 94.00–110.00 $103.70 $283 -4.76
304–336 319 8 100.00–113.00 $106.43 $340 —
352–394 377 4 97.00–110.00 $102.65 $387 —
412–448 433 5 95.00–104.00 $99.34 $430 -7.01
452–498 472 7 94.00–110.00 $101.11 $477 +0.57
502–526 517 3 90.00 $90.00 $465 —
634–640 637 2 78.00–85.00 $81.48 $519 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350–356 353 2 90.00–100.00 $94.96 $335 —
404–440 421 5 80.00–94.00 $88.67 $373 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
450–498 471 19 129.00–139.00 $133.79 $630 +0.40
504–548 529 11 117.00–131.00 $122.90 $650 -5.60
552–588 572 8 117.00–125.00 $119.09 $681 -3.81
576–590 583 2 101.00–114.00 $107.42 $626 -15.48
606–648 628 8 100.00–112.00 $107.24 $673 -6.47
652–674 659 3 98.00–106.00 $100.98 $665 -10.50
722–742 730 3 90.00–100.00 $93.65 $684 -9.56
756–792 773 5 90.00–98.00 $94.41 $730 -8.59
912–944 928 2 84.00–87.00 $85.47 $793 —
966–968 967 2 71.00–72.00 $71.50 $691 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
464–498 473 7 100.00–116.00 $111.60 $528 -3.39
516–540 529 6 104.00–115.00 $111.01 $587 +6.36
554–592 574 8 100.00–113.00 $106.71 $613 +5.14
606–622 616 3 87.00–96.00 $90.96 $560 —
764–798 784 3 80.00–86.00 $83.29 $653 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
742–994 889 85-90% 8 35.00–43.00 $39.11 $348 —
714–1300 1012 85-90% 50 47.00–57.00 $52.75 $534 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
898–1368 1132 80-85% 36 58.00–67.00 $62.44 $707 -2.50
1032–1386 1206 80-85% 5 71.00–79.00 $75.63 $912 +3.94
1302 1302 80-85% 1 50.00 $50.00 $651 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1264–1988 1546 75-80% 8 54.00–64.00 $59.12 $914 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1022–1218 1112 6 56.00–66.00 $60.68 $675 —
1448–1630 1511 3 87.00–93.00 $89.24 $1,348 -1.94
1372–2184 1737 5 98.00–101.00 $99.77 $1,733 —

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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
1054 1054 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)Open 1 750.00 $750.00 -403.54

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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.