Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Friday, October 6, 2023

2,526 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 $291.56/cwt +37.41 vs last sale · ≈ $1,525/hd at 523 lb · 208 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $275.87/cwt +47.46 vs last sale · ≈ $1,319/hd at 478 lb · 182 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $254.94/cwt +38.40 vs last sale · ≈ $1,446/hd at 567 lb · 123 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,526 1,650 3,179
Feeder cattle 2,390 1,637 3,101
Slaughter cattle 96 13 58
Replacement cattle 40 — 20

Market comments — USDA reporter

This is the first Friday sale of the fall run so no comparisons are available. Demand was mostly moderate with moderate to good demand seen at times, especially on very attractive cattle. Quality this sale was mixed from plain to attractive. Yearlings over 750 lbs sold on lighter demand while lighter weight yearlings sold on moderate to good demand. Buyers showed stronger demand for lightweight yearlings as most of these offerings will finish against the April contract. Calves were mostly offered in moderate size packages this sale and buyers showed good demand on all package sizes as they pieced together offerings. Mostly good demand was seen for feeders under 400 lbs as buyers purchased this weight to develop into yearlings. Demand for heavy weight calves over 675 lbs was also mostly good as most of these offerings were purchased to try to finish against the April live contract. Most calves on offer were in light to moderate flesh, however some heavy weight calves were in moderate plus flesh as grass was very good, especially in higher elevations. Market activity was moderate to active this sale, however a limited number of order buyers were in the seats this sale. Weigh up cows and bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Demand was light to moderate today as buyers pushed to fill loads from sales held earlier in the week.

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
339 unweaned 339 6 352.50 $352.50 $1,195 —
355 unweaned 355 2 362.50 $362.50 $1,287 —
408–444 unweaned 429 98 313.00–337.50 $326.43 $1,400 —
453–499 unweaned 475 62 292.00–320.00 $302.86 $1,439 —
505–548 unweaned 523 208 280.00–298.00 $291.56 $1,525 —
565–597 unweaned 585 115 275.00–280.00 $277.44 $1,623 —
618–643 unweaned 637 56 268.50–272.00 $270.30 $1,722 —
705–730 718 2 260.00–262.50 $261.23 $1,876 +63.73
720 unweaned 720 14 261.00 $261.00 $1,879 —
761 761 12 230.00 $230.00 $1,750 +43.44
767 767 18 257.00 $257.00 $1,971 +70.44
814 unweaned 814 7 237.00 $237.00 $1,929 —
860 860 4 242.00 $242.00 $2,081 +62.00
914 914 9 232.00 $232.00 $2,120 +63.25
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
342 unweaned 342 12 335.00 $335.00 $1,146 —
409–442 unweaned 422 15 300.00–303.00 $301.26 $1,271 —
461 unweaned 461 27 288.00 $288.00 $1,328 —
530 unweaned 530 37 271.00–281.00 $280.19 $1,485 —
568–569 unweaned 568 13 265.00–266.00 $265.61 $1,509 —
601 unweaned 601 7 258.00 $258.00 $1,551 —
645 645 6 253.00 $253.00 $1,632 —
900–917 908 13 222.00–229.00 $225.66 $2,049 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
551 unweaned 551 7 272.00 $272.00 $1,499 —
632 unweaned 632 6 247.00 $247.00 $1,561 —
662 unweaned 662 6 239.00 $239.00 $1,582 —
Medium 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
562 562 17 220.00 $220.00 $1,236 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
338 unweaned 338 13 190.00 $190.00 $642 —
635 635 3 252.50 $252.50 $1,603 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
757 757 3 232.50 $232.50 $1,760 —

↑ Back to top

Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
270–278 unweaned 276 12 312.50–315.00 $313.11 $864 —
367–396 unweaned 391 80 293.00–312.50 $297.32 $1,163 —
415–442 unweaned 433 45 281.00–295.00 $288.81 $1,251 —
451–499 unweaned 478 182 270.00–281.00 $275.87 $1,319 —
501–539 unweaned 523 68 260.00–269.00 $265.18 $1,387 —
551–588 unweaned 567 123 251.00–259.50 $254.94 $1,446 —
609–623 unweaned 613 7 249.00–254.00 $252.55 $1,548 —
662–663 662 15 250.00–254.00 $252.40 $1,671 +56.71
665–679 unweaned 671 19 240.00–247.00 $243.30 $1,633 —
709–748 723 61 241.00–258.50 $252.18 $1,823 +72.02
795 795 95 237.00 $237.00 $1,884 +52.20
803–843 808 37 223.00–230.00 $224.97 $1,818 —
860–895 873 90 213.00–216.50 $214.04 $1,869 —
900–937 933 42 210.00–218.50 $212.83 $1,986 —
955–957 957 10 210.00–212.00 $211.80 $2,027 —
964 fancy 964 49 218.00–220.50 $218.77 $2,109 —
1040 1040 6 203.25 $203.25 $2,114 —
1098 1098 4 194.00 $194.00 $2,130 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
503–542 unweaned 536 37 250.00–254.00 $251.20 $1,346 —
640–644 644 13 244.00–248.00 $247.69 $1,595 +59.80
678 678 4 254.00 $254.00 $1,722 +77.00
703–720 709 3 244.00–245.00 $244.34 $1,732 +69.34
763–798 788 38 216.00–225.50 $220.91 $1,741 —
835 835 2 210.00 $210.00 $1,754 —
850 850 3 205.00 $205.00 $1,742 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
420–446 unweaned 441 43 265.00–268.00 $265.60 $1,171 —
647 647 5 244.00 $244.00 $1,579 —
723 723 11 225.00 $225.00 $1,627 —
785 785 10 220.00 $220.00 $1,727 —
Medium 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
463–498 491 24 201.00–210.00 $208.23 $1,022 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
671 671 12 210.00 $210.00 $1,409 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
505 unweaned 505 3 220.00 $220.00 $1,111 —
600 unweaned 600 4 235.00 $235.00 $1,410 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
736 736 4 209.00 $209.00 $1,538 —

↑ Back to top

Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
399 unweaned 399 14 295.00 $295.00 $1,177 —
494 unweaned 494 12 267.00 $267.00 $1,319 —
720 unweaned 720 6 217.00 $217.00 $1,562 —
792 792 6 230.00 $230.00 $1,822 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
504 unweaned 504 10 250.00 $250.00 $1,260 —

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1260–1435 1308 80-85% 8 97.00–108.00 $104.23 $1,363 —
1313–1435 1354 80-85% 3 86.00–95.00 $91.82 $1,243 —
1400 1400 80-85% 1 114.00 $114.00 $1,596 +19.02
1305–1530 1407 80-85% 9 87.50–95.00 $90.94 $1,280 -4.04
1278–1530 1439 80-85% 6 98.00–102.00 $98.84 $1,422 +3.86
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1522–1550 1529 75-80% 9 108.00–111.00 $109.01 $1,667 —
1552 1552 75-80% 13 99.00 $99.00 $1,536 —
1818 1818 75-80% 2 104.50 $104.50 $1,900 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
865 865 85-90% 1 70.00 $70.00 $606 —
895 895 85-90% 1 82.00 $82.00 $734 —
1050 1050 85-90% 2 92.00 $92.00 $966 —
1115–1210 1188 85-90% 9 82.50–93.00 $86.52 $1,028 —
1236 1236 85-90% 7 101.00 $101.00 $1,248 —

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1815 1815 1 107.00 $107.00 $1,942 —
1960–1980 1970 2 108.00–118.00 $113.03 $2,227 —

↑ Back to top

Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1030–1258 1197 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 22 117.00–138.00 $121.81 $1,458

↑ Back to top

Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1062–1265 1096 Young (2-4 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 6 1,500.00–1,550.00 $1,509.62
1265 1265 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 5 1,150.00 $1,150.00
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1445 1445 Aged (>8 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 5 90.00 $90.00 $1,300

↑ Back to top

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.