Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report, Billings, MT

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, December 10, 2021

1,278 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 steers $161.56/cwt -0.71 vs last sale · ≈ $1,070/hd at 662 lb · 107 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $148.88/cwt +8.39 vs last sale · ≈ $930/hd at 625 lb · 89 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $170.42/cwt -5.40 vs last sale · ≈ $973/hd at 571 lb · 77 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,278	3,127	2,293
Feeder cattle	1,028	3,082	1,960
Slaughter cattle	250	33	333
Replacement cattle	—	12	—

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steers traded 3.00-5.00 lower, while heifers traded 6.00-8.00 higher. Slaughter cows and bulls had no test. Demand was good with quality mostly long weaned (30 plus days) vaccinated feeders.

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
340	340	1	207.50	$207.50	$706	-8.50
370–385	378	4	195.00–205.00	$199.90	$756	-31.15
407–435	415	15	190.00–214.00	$207.19	$860	-14.96
457–460	458	23	182.50–188.00	$187.21	$857	-24.87
500–548	528	13	170.00–180.00	$173.92	$918	-13.21
550–597	571	77	163.00–177.50	$170.42	$973	-5.38
630–640	634	77	160.00–163.00	$161.09	$1,021	-3.57
653 unweaned	653	35	160.50	$160.50	$1,048	-6.50
653–681	667	72	158.00–165.50	$162.08	$1,081	-1.26
715–743	728	43	149.00–161.00	$157.28	$1,145	-3.43
753	753	6	149.50	$149.50	$1,126	—
850	850	6	150.00	$150.00	$1,275	—
1048	1048	2	128.00	$128.00	$1,341	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
502–533	518	6	160.00–165.00	$162.57	$842	-10.28
572–583	575	7	142.50–156.00	$152.09	$875	-8.81
620–634	631	5	150.00–160.00	$158.04	$997	+5.28
653	653	5	148.00	$148.00	$966	—
764–770	767	9	140.00–154.50	$148.08	$1,136	—
835	835	1	131.00	$131.00	$1,094	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
443	443	2	190.00	$190.00	$842	—
487	487	3	180.00	$180.00	$877	—
665	665	4	155.00	$155.00	$1,031	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
313	313	4	147.50	$147.50	$462	—
635	635	1	137.50	$137.50	$873	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
445	445	3	165.00	$165.00	$734	-10.45
491	491	4	164.00	$164.00	$805	+2.18
512 unweaned	512	9	153.00	$153.00	$783	+0.36
504–529	514	31	150.00–160.00	$153.59	$789	+1.46
567–592	577	34	152.00–164.50	$158.83	$916	+8.66
604 unweaned	604	33	151.50	$151.50	$915	+13.06
615–649	637	56	143.00–154.00	$147.34	$939	+5.82
659–678	670	10	153.00	$153.00	$1,025	+9.68
718–737	726	7	145.00–145.50	$145.22	$1,054	+5.72
805–845	810	20	124.00–147.00	$139.44	$1,129	—
868	868	2	137.00	$137.00	$1,189	—
887	887	27	102.00	$102.00	$905	—
915	915	17	145.00	$145.00	$1,327	—
1055	1055	1	122.00	$122.00	$1,287	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
321	321	12	140.00	$140.00	$449	-25.00
440	440	2	159.00	$159.00	$700	+3.00
515–525	522	12	130.00–136.00	$134.03	$700	-12.97
601–634	620	75	135.00–145.00	$143.23	$888	—
659	659	7	140.00	$140.00	$923	—
710–715	712	3	130.00–133.00	$131.00	$933	—
760	760	1	134.00	$134.00	$1,018	-3.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
353	353	2	141.00	$141.00	$498	—
423–443	432	7	135.00–137.50	$136.40	$589	—
483	483	3	154.00	$154.00	$744	—
591	591	4	139.00	$139.00	$821	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
529	529	4	121.00	$121.00	$640	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
441	441	5	177.50	$177.50	$783	—
470	470	1	170.00	$170.00	$799	—
555	555	2	151.00	$151.00	$838	—
616	616	5	139.00	$139.00	$856	—
715–728	721	13	130.00–136.00	$133.63	$963	—
750–759	756	7	127.50–130.00	$129.29	$977	—
900	900	1	101.00	$101.00	$909	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
490	490	2	150.00	$150.00	$735	—
515	515	1	150.00	$150.00	$772	—
570	570	1	137.50	$137.50	$784	—
693	693	4	141.00	$141.00	$977	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
975–1193	1109	85-90%	26	34.00–38.50	$36.51	$405	—
990–1530	1200	85-90%	100	38.00–47.00	$43.80	$526	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
851–1135	916	80-85%	37	65.00–98.00	$82.29	$754	—
905–1411	1240	80-85%	35	56.00–64.00	$59.35	$736	—
1290–1600	1375	80-85%	26	51.00–55.00	$53.42	$735	-5.58

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1400–1645	1523	75-80%	2	66.00–77.50	$71.29	$1,086	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1285	1285	2	63.00	$63.00	$810	—
1382–1862	1675	9	72.00–78.00	$73.70	$1,234	—
2138	2138	2	84.00	$84.00	$1,796	—

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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.