Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, February 25, 2022

2,015 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $161.60/cwt +12.20 vs last sale · ≈ $1,176/hd at 728 lb · 259 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $172.74/cwt +12.81 vs last sale · ≈ $1,066/hd at 617 lb · 258 head
heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $157.51/cwt +6.43 vs last sale · ≈ $1,192/hd at 757 lb · 136 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,015 6,066 5,176
Feeder cattle 1,930 5,852 4,965
Slaughter cattle 67 142 97
Replacement cattle 18 72 114

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to the last Friday sale(1-14-22): Steer calves all sold 5.00-10.00 higher than the last Friday special. Heifers under 750 lbs sold 10.00-15.00 higher, heifers over 750 lbs sold mostly 5.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Quality today was mixed from plain to attractive. Demand was good to very good. Demand for cattle too big to go to grass was good as both private feeders and order buyers purchasing feeders for packers competed over offerings. Demand for grass cattle was good as well. A good crowd of order buyers was on hand for todays sale. Market activity was mostly active as a result. Weigh up cows sold on very good demand as packers pushed to own the majority of the cows on offer. Packers purchased most cows to send to immediate harvest. Feeding cow buyers showed good demand as well and were competitive with packers on high quality offerings. Slaughter and feeding cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however offerings sold steady to firm with Wednesdays sale. Bulls were scarcely tested thus no trend is available. Young age cows were scarcely tested as well. No trend is available.

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
400–420 419 17 228.00–232.00 $228.22 $956 +4.91
456–498 478 105 219.00–235.00 $232.95 $1,114 +13.49
508–545 530 22 207.00–221.00 $211.76 $1,122 +4.97
552–582 569 55 205.50–216.00 $209.69 $1,193 +9.76
600–646 616 50 180.00–196.00 $192.07 $1,183 +8.19
660–681 675 48 178.00–181.00 $178.61 $1,206 +10.29
714–744 735 70 172.00–172.50 $172.36 $1,267 +6.69
764–766 765 28 165.50–166.75 $166.44 $1,273 +4.67
830 830 4 161.00 $161.00 $1,336 +1.95
879–891 888 28 154.50–155.00 $154.62 $1,373 —
906 906 35 155.00 $155.00 $1,404 —
977 977 5 145.00 $145.00 $1,417 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
455–475 473 8 212.00–217.00 $212.60 $1,006 +9.13
569 569 5 202.00 $202.00 $1,149 +22.13
608 608 3 167.00 $167.00 $1,015 +3.49
656–692 670 85 158.50–175.00 $169.39 $1,135 +13.39
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
755 755 8 163.00 $163.00 $1,231 —
900 900 23 151.00 $151.00 $1,359 —
1104 1104 6 135.00 $135.00 $1,490 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
542 542 6 168.50 $168.50 $913 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
445 445 11 196.00 $196.00 $872 +7.93
480 480 9 194.00 $194.00 $931 +10.89
505–538 515 71 181.00–190.00 $188.33 $970 +13.09
553–599 582 34 175.00–187.00 $178.87 $1,041 +11.69
604 fancy 604 42 183.00 $183.00 $1,105 —
607–627 620 216 168.25–177.00 $170.74 $1,059 +10.81
651–681 666 108 164.00–170.00 $165.74 $1,104 +13.93
701–732 728 259 161.00–164.50 $161.60 $1,176 +12.20
753–789 757 136 154.00–159.00 $157.51 $1,192 +6.43
818–840 825 72 149.00–152.25 $151.15 $1,247 +3.15
860 860 16 145.00 $145.00 $1,247 —
902 902 25 145.50 $145.50 $1,312 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
423 423 2 189.00 $189.00 $799 +20.03
540–546 543 15 172.00–175.00 $173.61 $943 +18.97
552 552 9 168.00 $168.00 $927 +6.83
626 626 36 161.00 $161.00 $1,008 +14.47
664 664 7 155.00 $155.00 $1,029 —
700–736 719 22 138.00–152.50 $144.19 $1,037 +4.19
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
828–844 843 22 144.50–146.00 $144.63 $1,219 —
1235 1235 3 126.00 $126.00 $1,556 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
472 472 9 183.00 $183.00 $864 —
640 640 4 162.00 $162.00 $1,037 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
540 540 4 152.00 $152.00 $821 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
763–773 767 8 144.00–147.00 $145.13 $1,113 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
887–950 903 85-90% 8 58.00–58.50 $58.37 $527 —
895–910 903 85-90% 2 54.00–55.00 $54.50 $492 —
1023 1023 85-90% 17 74.00 $74.00 $757 —
1054 1054 85-90% 4 56.00 $56.00 $590 —
1255–1280 1272 85-90% 5 73.00–76.00 $74.80 $951 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1365–1570 1433 80-85% 6 76.50–81.00 $79.57 $1,140 —
1440 1440 80-85% 1 70.00 $70.00 $1,008 —
1363–1630 1480 80-85% 6 77.00–80.00 $78.45 $1,161 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1573 1573 65-75% 4 85.00 $85.00 $1,337 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1577 1577 75-80% 3 81.50 $81.50 $1,285 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1545 1545 1 76.00 $76.00 $1,174 —
YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
2505 2505 1 89.00 $89.00 $2,229 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
870–1260 932 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 9 76.00–104.00 $89.74 $836
940 940 (<2 yrs)Open 1 111.00 $111.00 $1,043
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
773 773 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 2 75.00 $75.00 $580

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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.