Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, January 22, 2021

2,794 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction report →

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $165.88/cwt +10.67 vs last sale · ≈ $949/hd at 572 lb · 337 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $151.00/cwt +2.35 vs last sale · ≈ $787/hd at 521 lb · 189 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $144.26/cwt +3.13 vs last sale · ≈ $832/hd at 577 lb · 180 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,794	4,178	2,295
Feeder cattle	2,701	4,126	2,230
Slaughter cattle	74	45	45
Replacement cattle	19	7	20

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were not well compared. Steers under 450 lbs were too lightly tested either this week or last to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed; Steers 450-699 lbs sold mostly 4.00-8.00 higher; Steers over 700 lbs sold steady. Heifers under 400 lbs sold 5.00-10.00 higher, heifers over 400 lbs sold mostly 2.00-5.00 higher, except 700-749 lbs heifers which sold fully steady. Demand was mostly good today with very good demand seen at times. Quality was average to attractive. Most set of calves on offer were weaned 60-90 days. Flesh was mostly light, with only a few offerings pushing more than moderate flesh. The cattle on feed report was released today and it showed cattle and calves on feed at 12 million head slightly higher than last January. Placements and marketing's were both 1% higher than January 2019. CME positions traded up the limit on the March contract and all other contracts traded well into triple digit territory. Demand improved throughout the day and was noticeably higher after the lunch hour. Market activity was mostly active today with 15 order buyers and several farmer feeders in the stands actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows and bulls were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend, however sharply higher undertones were noticed. Packers showed very good demand for all cows and bulls on offer as they pushed for fill both feeding and slaughter loads for the week. Weigh up conditions were average to below average.

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
310–326	324	7	190.00–192.50	$190.34	$617	+7.28
358–391	382	78	190.00–211.00	$202.29	$773	+9.73
400–447	426	14	185.00–200.00	$193.84	$826	+5.46
465–470 thin fleshed	469	25	198.00–199.00	$198.48	$931	—
450–498	476	149	183.00–192.00	$186.65	$888	+4.09
501–538	518	125	173.00–185.00	$180.36	$934	+5.10
551–599	572	337	157.50–173.00	$165.88	$949	+9.07
601–641	627	104	151.50–163.00	$155.90	$977	+8.34
650–694	664	140	141.00–154.50	$148.97	$989	+9.03
706 fancy	706	19	149.00	$149.00	$1,052	—
715–748	731	16	135.00–139.50	$137.49	$1,005	-0.86
793	793	3	129.50	$129.50	$1,027	+0.41

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
382–395	389	22	180.00–187.50	$185.14	$720	+2.99
495–497	497	29	176.00–180.00	$176.41	$877	+2.80
543	543	25	171.50	$171.50	$931	+14.12
597	597	13	155.50	$155.50	$928	+18.20
618–625	622	5	135.00–147.00	$142.23	$885	—
765	765	2	129.00	$129.00	$987	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505	505	14	133.00	$133.00	$672	—
580	580	4	143.00	$143.00	$829	—
708	708	2	124.00	$124.00	$878	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
422	422	7	180.00	$180.00	$760	—
519	519	4	163.00	$163.00	$846	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
363–396	377	100	162.00–172.00	$169.74	$640	+9.49
406–438	423	37	158.00–165.00	$162.36	$687	+2.96
452–489	471	160	154.00–165.00	$156.94	$739	+1.77
503–543	521	189	145.00–156.25	$151.00	$787	+2.45
563–591	577	180	139.00–149.50	$144.26	$832	+3.13
600–649	628	133	134.00–144.00	$138.85	$872	+5.16
661–695	679	121	127.75–134.00	$131.15	$891	+1.22
701–749	722	53	123.50–130.50	$126.45	$913	-2.45
759	759	4	124.50	$124.50	$945	—
905–933	913	10	112.00–113.00	$112.69	$1,029	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
317–322	319	16	155.00–159.00	$156.77	$500	+5.77
357–393	377	10	157.50–161.00	$159.59	$602	+6.13
422	422	5	151.00	$151.00	$637	-1.82
468–497	484	22	140.00–153.00	$147.77	$715	+4.46
511–549	538	27	143.00–144.50	$143.64	$773	+8.14
587–595	591	6	129.00–136.00	$132.52	$783	+3.30
607–636	624	7	120.00–132.00	$126.99	$792	-0.34
655–657	657	14	120.00–125.00	$124.29	$817	+1.79

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
352–378	372	21	160.00	$160.00	$595	—
546	546	52	139.00	$139.00	$759	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
395	395	1	175.00	$175.00	$691	—
465–467	466	10	177.50–183.50	$179.31	$836	+24.31
824	824	10	117.00	$117.00	$964	-2.00
905	905	3	113.00	$113.00	$1,023	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
530	530	2	141.00	$141.00	$747	-3.50

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1352	1352	80-85%	10	53.50	$53.50	$723	—
1395	1395	80-85%	1	61.50	$61.50	$858	+8.58
1340–1443	1396	80-85%	10	55.00–60.00	$57.22	$799	+4.30
1358–1635	1448	80-85%	4	45.50–51.00	$47.99	$695	—
1465	1465	80-85%	2	54.00–54.50	$54.25	$795	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
830–1210	1020	85-90%	2	51.00–52.50	$51.61	$526	—
1150–1280	1225	85-90%	13	44.00–52.50	$48.89	$599	+1.89
1120–1280	1229	85-90%	5	52.00–55.00	$54.10	$665	+1.02
1275–1330	1307	85-90%	3	56.00–56.50	$56.33	$736	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1765–1945	1839	4	71.00–76.00	$72.80	$1,339	—
1740–2035	1899	4	84.50–89.00	$86.97	$1,652	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1063–1155	1094	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	57.00–63.00	$60.89	$666

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1374	1374	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	1,200.00	$1,200.00
1415–1455	1437	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	9	825.00–900.00	$857.82

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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.