Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, February 26, 2021

5,176 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $164.30/cwt +9.95 vs last sale · ≈ $874/hd at 532 lb · 599 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $182.33/cwt +16.87 vs last sale · ≈ $1,027/hd at 563 lb · 402 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $167.42/cwt +13.49 vs last sale · ≈ $1,068/hd at 638 lb · 327 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 5,176 2,265 5,000
Feeder cattle 4,965 2,130 4,885
Slaughter cattle 97 91 52
Replacement cattle 114 44 63

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last Friday sale(1-29-21): Steers under 450 lbs sold sharply higher with most sales 15.00-18.00 higher, 450-799 lbs sold mostly 4.00-7.00 higher, steers over 800 lbs not well compared. Heifers all sold 4.00-8.00 higher. This is the last Friday feeder special for the season and buyers took full advantage of todays heavy offering. Demand was mostly good to very good for cattle suitable to run on grass and mostly moderate to good for backgrounded feedlot ready cattle. Buyers were able to buy cattle in load lots or piece together loads of uniform cattle this sale. Cattle developed for grass were in mostly very light to light flesh. Buyers offered strong premiums for very lightly fleshed, home raised, reputation cattle. Despite sharply lower CME contract prices buyers showed very good demand as this was the last big feeder special of the season and many buyers anticipate seasonally light receipts going forward. Market activity was active to very active this sale with 18 order buyers and several farmer feeders in the stands actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows and bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed with this past Wednesdays sale.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
370–387 384 12 212.00–215.00 $212.48 $816 +17.99
431–441 434 55 205.00–218.00 $214.00 $929 +17.35
455–499 483 134 191.00–207.50 $198.21 $957 +6.56
501–548 527 114 182.50–195.00 $187.72 $989 +5.43
560 thin fleshed 560 226 187.50 $187.50 $1,050 —
552–587 567 176 167.00–181.00 $175.69 $996 +7.39
602–639 619 80 158.00–166.00 $160.91 $996 +6.98
608–647 thin fleshed 644 247 169.50–170.00 $169.53 $1,092 —
667–693 679 95 151.00–156.00 $153.45 $1,042 +3.41
700–744 717 228 147.00–155.00 $151.04 $1,083 +7.54
712–744 733 14 132.00 $132.00 $968 -11.50
755–784 773 32 127.00–132.00 $130.15 $1,006 -4.44
788–795 789 132 141.00–142.00 $141.10 $1,113 +6.51
810–826 825 14 137.00–142.00 $141.65 $1,169 —
857–888 882 136 126.50–135.00 $133.27 $1,175 —
930 930 17 120.00 $120.00 $1,116 —
903–945 937 69 123.00–125.00 $124.64 $1,168 —
950 950 6 124.00 $124.00 $1,178 —
996 996 9 121.00 $121.00 $1,205 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
586 586 45 158.00 $158.00 $926 —
647 647 28 152.00 $152.00 $983 +4.00
684 684 77 153.50 $153.50 $1,050 —
1016–1028 1020 6 117.00–118.00 $117.34 $1,197 —
1085 1085 1 118.00 $118.00 $1,280 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
400–443 416 25 185.00–200.00 $191.37 $796 +14.23
482–496 490 23 176.00–189.00 $186.38 $913 +13.73
509–548 529 12 175.00–178.00 $176.56 $934 —
555–588 582 23 150.00–165.00 $158.82 $924 —
611–645 631 21 146.00–155.00 $149.62 $944 +4.62
661–689 672 21 141.00–148.00 $144.71 $972 —
703 703 3 138.00 $138.00 $970 +4.50
746 746 6 128.00 $128.00 $955 -5.50
815 815 3 127.00 $127.00 $1,035 —
940 940 6 116.00 $116.00 $1,090 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
520 520 4 171.00 $171.00 $889 —
615 615 11 154.00 $154.00 $947 —
707 707 13 133.00 $133.00 $940 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
462 462 10 160.00 $160.00 $739 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
364–395 378 27 173.00–178.00 $175.31 $663 +4.98
401–446 439 93 169.00–181.00 $172.32 $756 +7.20
455–490 474 113 166.00–173.00 $169.81 $805 +8.92
512–513 thin fleshed 512 116 169.50–170.00 $169.81 $869 —
509–548 537 483 157.00–166.00 $162.98 $875 +8.63
552–592 573 282 150.50–159.00 $155.30 $890 +6.22
592 592 11 148.00 $148.00 $876 -1.08
602–627 thin fleshed 615 72 153.00–156.00 $154.40 $950 —
600–648 625 148 140.00–149.50 $145.09 $907 +4.86
674–697 685 190 138.00–143.50 $141.63 $970 +15.63
700–743 715 263 133.00–143.50 $139.79 $999 +9.29
767–789 777 45 128.50–133.50 $131.90 $1,025 —
808–843 818 69 122.50–130.50 $129.22 $1,057 +6.99
867–877 871 20 119.00–122.50 $121.27 $1,056 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
419–440 428 17 154.00–165.00 $160.61 $687 +7.32
453–484 476 38 149.25–164.00 $158.87 $756 +2.87
524–547 537 65 144.50–155.50 $150.84 $810 +5.45
570–596 589 28 147.00–148.00 $147.35 $868 +13.16
615–649 621 22 134.50–137.00 $136.26 $846 +8.26
655–687 682 12 124.50–136.50 $132.89 $906 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
363 363 6 167.00 $167.00 $606 —
411 411 9 157.50 $157.50 $647 +3.50
497 497 18 161.00 $161.00 $800 —
619 619 7 138.50 $138.50 $857 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
477 477 23 140.00 $140.00 $668 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
402 402 10 132.50 $132.50 $533 —
592 592 12 129.50 $129.50 $767 +12.50

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
462 462 5 197.50 $197.50 $912 +17.26
502–544 534 42 166.00–173.00 $167.57 $895 —
930 930 2 121.00 $121.00 $1,125 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
482 482 6 157.50 $157.50 $759 —
577 577 2 148.00 $148.00 $854 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1350 1350 80-85% 1 59.00 $59.00 $796 +9.02
1257–1560 1375 80-85% 41 57.50–64.00 $60.07 $826 +10.09
1390–1588 1522 80-85% 3 56.00–56.50 $56.15 $855 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
925 925 85-90% 2 45.00 $45.00 $416 -1.16
1095 1095 85-90% 1 47.00 $47.00 $515 —
1035–1275 1152 85-90% 18 46.50–57.00 $52.39 $604 -3.52
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1522–1883 1675 75-80% 11 55.50–59.50 $57.99 $971 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1107 1107 5 85.50 $85.50 $946 —
1108 1108 4 79.00 $79.00 $875 —
2135 2135 1 80.00 $80.00 $1,708 -7.50
2240 2240 1 90.00 $90.00 $2,016 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
822 thin fleshed 822 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 73.00 $73.00 $600
725–1113 1003 (<2 yrs)Open 39 87.00–112.50 $100.63 $1,009
830–1207 1057 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 52 58.00–87.00 $70.20 $742

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1168 thin fleshed 1168 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 9 735.00 $735.00
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1283 1283 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 9 53.50 $53.50 $686

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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.