Cattle Market Pulse

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

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, October 28, 2022

2,123 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 steers $208.23/cwt -2.22 vs last sale · ≈ $1,091/hd at 524 lb · 228 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $196.36/cwt +2.07 vs last sale · ≈ $1,134/hd at 578 lb · 185 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $187.35/cwt +8.74 vs last sale · ≈ $1,086/hd at 580 lb · 171 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,123 2,439 3,479
Feeder cattle 1,946 2,098 1,990
Slaughter cattle 116 223 288
Replacement cattle 61 118 1,201

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer calves all traded unevenly steady. Yearling steers were scarcely traded. Heifer calves under 450 lbs sold mostly 5.00-8.00 higher in a narrow comparison, heifers over 450 lbs sold unevenly steady. Quality today was mixed from plain to attractive. Demand was mostly moderate to good for light to moderate offerings. Many buyers filled loads or finished loads from yesterdays sale and exited the market, this led to uneven prices. Calves with fall preconditioning shots continue to sell with the best demand. Many sets of calves this week only offered spring vaccinations. Market activity this week was mostly moderate to active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light offerings. The best demand seen was for cows suitable to feed which sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 lower on boning and lean cows. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, higher undertones were noticed as buyers pushed to fill loads for the week. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold steady in a narrow comparison.

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
324 unweaned 324 15 285.00 $285.00 $923 +23.54
350–394 unweaned 385 42 249.50–277.50 $264.43 $1,018 +9.04
405–445 unweaned 426 26 240.00–274.00 $254.42 $1,084 +14.20
451–499 unweaned 467 59 212.00–239.00 $229.44 $1,071 -1.48
500–549 unweaned 524 228 200.00–216.00 $208.23 $1,091 -2.22
563 563 6 193.50 $193.50 $1,089 —
551–598 unweaned 578 179 188.00–202.00 $196.46 $1,136 +2.17
600–648 unweaned 620 113 180.00–193.00 $188.40 $1,168 -0.31
653–685 unweaned 667 43 172.50–182.00 $177.41 $1,183 -2.43
711 unweaned 711 7 176.50 $176.50 $1,255 -0.31
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
313–348 unweaned 326 10 220.00–250.00 $244.03 $796 -0.97
395 unweaned 395 3 240.00 $240.00 $948 —
419 unweaned 419 10 222.00 $222.00 $930 +9.50
485–498 unweaned 496 7 205.50–210.00 $206.13 $1,022 +2.86
522–545 unweaned 535 9 186.00–190.00 $187.09 $1,001 +1.59
558–588 unweaned 578 24 176.00–187.50 $184.48 $1,066 —
600–636 unweaned 616 22 168.00–177.00 $171.06 $1,054 —
685–697 unweaned 694 4 167.00–171.00 $170.01 $1,180 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
346 unweaned 346 7 225.00 $225.00 $778 —
530 unweaned 530 16 191.50 $191.50 $1,015 —
630 unweaned 630 4 163.00 $163.00 $1,027 —
711 unweaned 711 6 171.00 $171.00 $1,216 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
645 unweaned 645 2 165.00 $165.00 $1,064 —
719–729 unweaned 726 12 164.00–171.00 $168.69 $1,225 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
370 unweaned 370 13 227.50 $227.50 $842 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
310–346 unweaned 344 37 219.00–244.00 $228.16 $785 +16.16
355–388 unweaned 367 13 207.50–229.00 $219.22 $805 +4.63
401–423 unweaned 413 33 200.00–222.00 $209.23 $864 +8.44
451–499 unweaned 473 44 185.00–197.00 $188.84 $893 -3.09
502–543 unweaned 512 137 179.00–184.50 $183.19 $938 +3.67
553–589 unweaned 567 77 169.00–186.00 $177.92 $1,009 -0.69
567 567 3 171.00 $171.00 $970 —
550–597 591 91 195.50–198.50 $195.87 $1,158 —
611–625 unweaned 614 28 159.00–175.00 $170.27 $1,045 -0.17
735 735 81 180.00 $180.00 $1,323 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
315–325 unweaned 322 3 211.00–217.50 $213.12 $686 +12.84
357–396 unweaned 385 21 208.00–213.00 $210.37 $810 —
413–415 unweaned 414 9 185.00–191.00 $187.67 $777 -0.38
464–495 unweaned 483 30 161.00–181.00 $171.02 $826 —
505–545 unweaned 515 14 171.00–176.00 $174.55 $899 +3.55
558–585 unweaned 568 17 151.00–168.00 $157.67 $896 —
613 unweaned 613 6 150.00 $150.00 $920 —
892 892 6 155.00 $155.00 $1,383 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
360 unweaned 360 8 170.00 $170.00 $612 —
435 unweaned 435 17 170.00 $170.00 $740 —
951 951 13 143.50 $143.50 $1,365 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
601–635 unweaned 620 9 152.00–156.00 $153.72 $953 —
683 683 10 168.00 $168.00 $1,147 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
388 unweaned 388 2 220.00 $220.00 $854 -22.50
633 unweaned 633 3 157.00 $157.00 $994 —
679 unweaned 679 8 160.50 $160.50 $1,090 +4.50
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
378 unweaned 378 2 225.00 $225.00 $850 —
811 811 5 123.00 $123.00 $998 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
955–998 984 85-90% 3 54.00 $54.00 $531 —
1060–1229 1170 85-90% 10 51.00–58.50 $54.01 $632 —
1102–1218 1179 85-90% 23 32.50–48.00 $40.56 $478 —
1123–1214 1187 85-90% 16 56.00–61.00 $57.16 $678 —
1170–1265 1206 85-90% 9 63.00–68.50 $66.63 $804 +6.97
1260–1280 1270 85-90% 4 60.50–65.50 $63.02 $800 -0.69
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1310–1495 1350 80-85% 9 58.50–70.00 $65.02 $878 —
1375–1512 1444 80-85% 6 81.50–84.00 $82.81 $1,196 +11.58
1365–1580 1448 80-85% 7 53.50–62.00 $56.36 $816 -14.87
1315–1569 1477 80-85% 13 74.00–80.50 $75.85 $1,120 —
1510 1510 80-85% 1 67.00 $67.00 $1,012 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1538 1538 2 84.00 $84.00 $1,292 —
1650 1650 1 91.00 $91.00 $1,502 —
1520–2120 1820 2 92.00–94.00 $93.16 $1,696 +3.02
1765–2005 1885 2 99.00–103.00 $100.87 $1,901 —
2190 2190 1 95.00 $95.00 $2,080 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
836–1290 901 (<2 yrs)Open 23 89.00–118.50 $110.76 $998
795–1325 1051 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 10 70.00–95.00 $82.92 $871
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
750–1030 859 (<2 yrs)Open 4 81.00–102.50 $95.66 $822
1020–1050 1035 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 2 61.00–62.00 $61.51 $637

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
830 830 (<2 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 16 158.50 $158.50 $1,316

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Dairy Heifers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
700 700 20 141.00 $141.00 $987 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
655 655 14 159.00 $159.00 $1,041 —
741 741 20 158.00 $158.00 $1,171 —
868 868 2 147.00 $147.00 $1,276 —

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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.