Powell Livestock Market Report

Smithfield, North Carolina · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Thursday, January 30, 2025

616 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $310.64/cwt +8.14 vs last sale · ≈ $1,298/hd at 418 lb · 38 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $283.94/cwt ≈ $1,336/hd at 470 lb · 32 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 bulls $357.59/cwt +65.09 vs last sale · ≈ $1,681/hd at 470 lb · 25 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	616	23	476
Feeder cattle	542	17	386
Slaughter cattle	70	5	90
Replacement cattle	4	1	0

Market comments — USDA reporter

Due to inclement weather last week not enough receipts to compare to this week. 9 head of baby calves; 160.00-375.00

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
332	332	3	387.50	$387.50	$1,286	+40.00
400–442	426	5	370.00–382.50	$378.24	$1,611	—
458–472	465	2	357.50–367.50	$362.42	$1,685	—
504–543	526	4	323.00–332.50	$326.38	$1,717	—
550–558	553	6	280.00–320.00	$298.44	$1,650	—
614–620	617	2	260.00–275.00	$267.54	$1,651	—
674–696	679	7	255.00–260.00	$256.44	$1,741	—
720	720	1	260.00	$260.00	$1,872	—
788	788	1	237.50	$237.50	$1,872	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	1	320.00	$320.00	$1,072	—
380	380	1	300.00	$300.00	$1,140	—
610–632	621	2	260.00	$260.00	$1,615	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
160–170	167	3	275.00–276.00	$275.68	$460	—
222–238	229	3	272.50–307.50	$291.63	$668	—
264–292	278	5	300.00–320.00	$307.10	$854	—
302–346	322	18	275.00–350.00	$318.25	$1,025	+18.22
357 value added	357	2	357.50	$357.50	$1,276	—
356–392	373	9	265.00–322.50	$296.43	$1,106	—
388	388	1	245.00	$245.00	$951	—
405–409 value added	406	13	325.00–345.00	$341.90	$1,388	—
406–448	424	25	247.50–340.00	$294.38	$1,248	-8.12
450–498	468	25	250.00–300.00	$273.14	$1,278	—
479 value added	479	7	322.50	$322.50	$1,545	—
501–515 value added	509	7	270.00	$270.00	$1,374	—
500–548	523	18	237.50–280.00	$253.27	$1,325	—
566	566	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,245	—
567–596	577	8	240.00–257.50	$252.75	$1,458	—
614–644	637	10	245.00–255.00	$248.57	$1,583	—
652–674	661	5	227.50–255.00	$239.90	$1,586	—
664–695 value added	683	5	239.00	$239.00	$1,632	—
744	744	2	212.50	$212.50	$1,581	+30.00
792	792	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,742	—
818	818	1	195.00	$195.00	$1,595	—
823 value added	823	2	227.50	$227.50	$1,872	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
214–222	218	2	240.00–242.50	$241.23	$526	—
264–278	272	3	250.00–265.00	$257.37	$700	—
334	334	1	255.00	$255.00	$852	—
408–442	425	2	222.50–237.50	$229.70	$976	—
490	490	1	210.00	$210.00	$1,029	—
502–549	531	6	215.00–235.00	$225.48	$1,197	—
580	580	1	225.00	$225.00	$1,305	—
620	620	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,364	—
662	662	1	232.50	$232.50	$1,539	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
338	338	1	247.50	$247.50	$837	—
460	460	1	200.00	$200.00	$920	—
582	582	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,048	—

Small 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
302–304	303	2	180.00–200.00	$190.03	$576	—
540	540	1	128.00	$128.00	$691	—

Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
550	550	1	160.00	$160.00	$880	—

Small 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
354	354	1	200.00	$200.00	$708	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
162–190	176	2	270.00–272.50	$271.35	$478	—
276	276	1	340.00	$340.00	$938	—
332	332	1	340.00	$340.00	$1,129	—
338–344	340	5	350.00–373.50	$363.66	$1,236	—
360	360	1	347.50	$347.50	$1,251	—
356–396	376	17	350.00–390.00	$369.41	$1,389	—
404–446	425	19	330.00–385.00	$358.07	$1,522	—
436–440	438	2	295.00–327.50	$311.32	$1,364	—
464 value added	464	6	385.00	$385.00	$1,786	—
450–496	472	19	300.00–370.00	$348.94	$1,647	+56.44
502–546	514	15	260.00–327.50	$293.31	$1,508	—
530 value added	530	5	297.50	$297.50	$1,577	—
556–590	570	21	250.00–292.50	$278.69	$1,589	—
604	604	1	222.50	$222.50	$1,344	—
624	624	1	235.00	$235.00	$1,466	—
608–646	628	13	247.50–292.50	$261.05	$1,639	—
652–692	682	8	227.50–260.00	$245.15	$1,672	—
700–734	720	3	215.00–231.00	$222.00	$1,598	+4.50
754–764	758	3	205.00–227.50	$215.80	$1,636	—
912–946	926	3	160.00–196.00	$174.48	$1,616	—
976	976	1	150.00	$150.00	$1,464	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
200–244	217	3	265.00–280.00	$270.61	$587	—
306–336	321	6	300.00–340.00	$315.62	$1,013	+23.12
350–398	373	11	280.00–340.00	$313.76	$1,170	—
420–440	433	3	280.00–322.50	$301.15	$1,304	-18.85
474–496	486	4	250.00–312.50	$276.73	$1,345	—
528	528	3	232.50–245.00	$240.83	$1,272	—
540	540	1	210.00	$210.00	$1,134	—
550–580	566	4	225.00–240.00	$233.78	$1,323	—
604–626	615	2	212.50–225.00	$218.64	$1,345	—
712–738	725	2	150.00–185.00	$167.19	$1,212	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
204–236	220	2	237.50–260.00	$249.57	$549	—
302–348	321	3	235.00–270.00	$253.90	$815	—
368–390	381	3	252.50–267.50	$261.83	$998	—
410	410	1	240.00	$240.00	$984	—
470–490	479	4	192.50–260.00	$214.29	$1,026	—
556–584	575	3	200.00–217.50	$208.18	$1,197	—

Small 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
256	256	1	225.00	$225.00	$576	—
304–346	327	3	215.00–260.00	$238.22	$779	—
410	410	1	200.00	$200.00	$820	—

Medium and Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
456	456	1	152.50	$152.50	$695	—
586	586	1	180.00	$180.00	$1,055	—
658	658	1	150.00	$150.00	$987	—

Small 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
340	340	2	150.00	$150.00	$510	—
482	482	1	152.50	$152.50	$735	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
780–834	807	85-90%	2	70.00–72.50	$71.21	$575	—
790–1004	899	85-90%	3	85.00–90.00	$88.53	$796	—
812–1448	1017	85-90%	12	95.00–125.00	$113.77	$1,157	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1030–1068	1049	80-85%	2	151.00–162.50	$156.65	$1,643	—
956–1414	1131	80-85%	13	122.50–146.00	$131.24	$1,484	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1184–1826	1446	75-80%	9	135.00–142.50	$139.73	$2,020	—
1778	1778	75-80%	1	120.00	$120.00	$2,134	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
918–1892	1407	4	120.00–137.50	$127.11	$1,788	—
1360–2146	1691	11	145.00–163.00	$154.86	$2,619	—
1916	1916	1	171.00	$171.00	$3,276	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
932	932	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	157.50	$157.50	$1,468
1106	1106	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	169.00	$169.00	$1,869

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
680–774	727	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	2	1,500.00–1,600.00	$1,546.77	—

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Dairy Heifers

Small 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
536	536	4	140.00	$140.00	$750	—
980	980	1	92.50	$92.50	$906	—

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
654	654	3	127.50	$127.50	$834	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
173	173	2	185.00	$185.00	$320	—
226	226	1	200.00	$200.00	$452	—
304	304	1	200.00	$200.00	$608	—

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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.