Cattle Market Pulse

Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, September 22, 2022

340 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 $154.19/cwt -13.83 vs last sale · ≈ $656/hd at 426 lb · 19 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $129.55/cwt -7.20 vs last sale · ≈ $684/hd at 528 lb · 15 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $135.75/cwt -14.01 vs last sale · ≈ $703/hd at 518 lb · 13 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 340 343 440
Feeder cattle 297 292 377
Slaughter cattle 41 49 63
Replacement cattle 2 2 0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, slaughter cattle were 2.00 to 4.00 lower. Feeder cattle were 5.00 to 10.00 lower. Demand was moderate; market activity and buyer interest were moderate. Offerings of cattle were moderate. Cattle quality was plain to average. Prices were slightly lower due to some buyers not active.

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
260 260 1 168.00 $168.00 $437 —
308–348 335 3 160.00–168.00 $163.12 $546 -6.43
350–396 377 8 147.00–166.00 $160.40 $605 -12.08
402–444 425 17 146.00–165.00 $155.27 $660 -14.25
422–438 430 2 145.00 $145.00 $624 -24.52
470–478 472 4 147.00–160.00 $156.71 $740 -14.78
538–548 545 3 136.00–157.00 $143.59 $783 -20.81
624 624 1 126.00 $126.00 $786 -32.00
624 624 1 118.00 $118.00 $736 -40.00
642 642 10 150.00 $150.00 $963 +18.00
665 665 2 140.00 $140.00 $931 —
826–832 829 2 132.00–136.00 $134.01 $1,111 —
1072 1072 1 110.00 $110.00 $1,179 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
248 248 1 131.00 $131.00 $325 +1.00
348 348 1 130.00 $130.00 $452 -7.20
354–390 369 3 120.00–132.00 $127.11 $469 -15.77
402–448 411 5 130.00–140.00 $132.18 $543 -7.28
466–496 477 3 121.00–140.00 $130.82 $624 -9.18
692–698 695 2 102.00–116.00 $109.03 $758 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
326–330 328 2 109.00–115.00 $111.98 $367 —
372 372 2 104.00 $104.00 $387 +4.00
446 446 1 102.50 $102.50 $457 -9.28
662 662 1 90.00 $90.00 $596 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
240 240 1 138.00 $138.00 $331 —
294–298 296 4 138.00–140.00 $139.00 $411 -1.00
330 330 1 138.00 $138.00 $455 +2.33
368–381 377 5 135.00–148.00 $145.26 $548 +1.39
410–444 428 6 130.00–146.00 $140.58 $602 +0.89
450–496 465 12 130.00–139.00 $136.28 $634 -8.10
496 496 1 124.00 $124.00 $615 -6.00
518 518 1 118.00 $118.00 $611 -23.35
502–546 529 14 122.00–137.00 $130.38 $690 +7.41
576 576 1 110.00 $110.00 $634 -26.15
574–598 587 11 120.00–133.00 $128.22 $753 -7.93
600–644 623 4 110.00–123.00 $115.59 $720 -17.29
662–688 669 7 100.00–119.00 $112.09 $750 -14.75
748 748 1 96.00 $96.00 $718 -12.52
793 793 2 94.00 $94.00 $745 —
922 922 1 96.00 $96.00 $885 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
262 262 1 120.00 $120.00 $314 —
338 338 1 125.00 $125.00 $422 +5.00
368–394 381 4 114.00–128.00 $122.46 $467 +16.46
428 428 1 122.00 $122.00 $522 -1.11
464–496 481 5 91.00–116.00 $106.50 $512 -13.38
542 542 5 101.00 $101.00 $547 -15.31
550–562 556 2 97.00–100.00 $98.48 $548 —
586 586 1 82.00 $82.00 $481 -28.00
606–644 625 3 92.00–93.00 $92.34 $577 -18.66
712–732 722 2 90.00 $90.00 $650 —
798 798 1 85.00 $85.00 $678 +1.00
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
258 258 1 112.00 $112.00 $289 —
324–336 332 7 90.00–103.00 $100.32 $333 +26.32
396 396 3 99.00 $99.00 $392 —
458–478 468 2 80.00–90.00 $84.89 $397 -10.11
540 540 1 82.00 $82.00 $443 —
564 564 1 89.00 $89.00 $502 —
632 632 1 70.00 $70.00 $442 —
746 746 1 70.00 $70.00 $522 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
464–492 478 11 135.00–148.00 $141.10 $674 +7.10
510–542 517 12 125.00–149.00 $136.73 $707 -15.01
524 524 1 124.00 $124.00 $650 -27.74
550 550 1 122.00 $122.00 $671 -20.70
568–598 579 11 121.00–145.00 $132.06 $765 -10.64
608–646 627 10 110.00–114.00 $111.50 $699 -18.05
636 636 1 101.00 $101.00 $642 -28.55
664–696 683 3 112.00–123.00 $116.24 $794 -4.53
700–737 727 5 104.00–115.00 $112.08 $815 +0.08
758 758 1 110.00 $110.00 $834 —
804 804 1 106.00 $106.00 $852 —
878 878 1 103.00 $103.00 $904 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
528–536 532 2 112.00–114.00 $112.99 $601 +3.51
550–598 570 5 107.00–112.00 $109.97 $627 -12.55
606–628 618 4 89.00–100.00 $94.01 $581 —
704 704 1 91.00 $91.00 $641 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
542 542 1 80.00 $80.00 $434 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
732–1132 918 85-90% 8 40.00–54.00 $50.00 $459 —
742–1186 991 85-90% 11 57.00–74.00 $65.76 $652 -1.56
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
942–1308 1080 80-85% 10 75.00–85.00 $79.76 $861 —
996–1384 1187 80-85% 3 88.00–90.00 $88.95 $1,056 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1334–1578 1419 75-80% 3 74.00–80.00 $76.22 $1,082 -3.78

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1050–1662 1297 4 88.00–104.00 $94.38 $1,224 —

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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
926–1060 993 Aged (>8 yrs)Open 2 725.00–825.00 $771.63 —

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Dairy Heifers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
368 368 1 85.00 $85.00 $313 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
414 414 1 95.00 $95.00 $393 —

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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.