Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, November 11, 2020

2,544 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 3-weight M&L 1 heifers $151.00/cwt +6.00 vs last sale · ≈ $551/hd at 365 lb · 48 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $149.86/cwt +5.98 vs last sale · ≈ $798/hd at 533 lb · 37 head

heavy 3-weight M&L 1 steers $181.00/cwt +8.35 vs last sale · ≈ $681/hd at 376 lb · 28 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,544	3,651	2,953
Feeder cattle	569	989	868
Slaughter cattle	1,553	1,617	525
Replacement cattle	422	1,045	1,560

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested last sale to develop any market trend. Demand for yearlings was mostly moderate to good, and stronger than recent weeks. Unweaned steer calves sold mostly 4.00-8.00 higher. Unweaned heifer calves sold mostly 3.00-6.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Demand for calves was mostly moderate for light offerings. Quality this week was mostly average. Calves were offered in small packages this week. A good crowd was on hand this week. Market activity was moderate. Weigh up cows comprised the majority of the sale this week. Demand for cows was moderate for heavy offerings. Packers continue to purchase cows for the upcoming holidays. Most of these cows were purchased at the same money as slaughter cows this week. Quality today was average to attractive. A heavy offering of exposed cows was seen today and over the last few sales. Many sets are tested in the country and not retested at the yards and are just sold as weigh ups. Packers and feeding buyers both showed good demand for these cows. Some will get calved out while on feed. While others will be slaughter before calving just depending on the packer or feeder program. Slaughter cows sold 1.00-3.00 higher. Feeding cows sold steady to 2.00 higher. Slaughter bulls sold steady on both feeding and slaughter bulls. Young age 2-3 year olds sold generally steady. Quality was mixed from plain to attractive.

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
307–315 unweaned	310	14	179.00–181.00	$179.87	$558	—
376 unweaned	376	28	181.00	$181.00	$681	+8.35
420–437 unweaned	428	27	166.00–168.00	$166.69	$713	+1.79
524–534	531	16	152.50	$152.50	$810	—
516–543 unweaned	534	21	147.00–153.00	$147.85	$790	+3.97
553–580 unweaned	560	8	144.00–146.50	$145.85	$817	+5.43
615–638 unweaned	630	3	137.00–138.00	$137.33	$865	+1.56
655	655	3	139.00	$139.00	$910	—
650–664 unweaned	660	18	134.00–137.50	$136.64	$902	—
855	855	7	137.50	$137.50	$1,176	—
950	950	3	126.00	$126.00	$1,197	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
438 unweaned	438	3	163.00	$163.00	$714	—
695 unweaned	695	3	134.00	$134.00	$931	—
821	821	6	136.50	$136.50	$1,121	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1028	1028	4	118.00	$118.00	$1,213	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
285–290 unweaned	288	11	155.00–161.00	$158.84	$457	—
364–375 unweaned	365	48	151.00	$151.00	$551	+6.00
403–445 unweaned	420	14	144.00–145.50	$144.86	$608	+2.87
497 unweaned	497	10	139.00	$139.00	$691	-1.55
510 unweaned	510	2	135.00	$135.00	$688	+6.25
562–584 unweaned	570	17	132.00–135.00	$133.87	$763	+3.58
812	812	11	130.00	$130.00	$1,056	—
968–977	971	23	119.50–123.00	$121.78	$1,182	+3.86

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
420 unweaned	420	2	143.00	$143.00	$601	+7.68
501–533 unweaned	515	14	130.50–132.00	$131.68	$678	—
843	843	2	119.00	$119.00	$1,003	—
872	872	3	122.00	$122.00	$1,064	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1005–1008	1007	3	115.50–116.00	$115.67	$1,165	-2.83
1045	1045	4	113.00	$113.00	$1,181	-5.50
1073–1075	1074	3	110.50–114.50	$111.83	$1,201	-2.67
1168	1168	2	107.50	$107.50	$1,256	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
479 unweaned	479	16	121.00	$121.00	$580	—
523 unweaned	523	2	128.00	$128.00	$669	-2.85

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1078	1078	7	91.50	$91.50	$986	—
1121	1121	8	91.00	$91.00	$1,020	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
631 unweaned	631	4	134.00	$134.00	$846	+7.00
666 unweaned	666	5	132.00	$132.00	$879	—
766	766	5	123.00	$123.00	$942	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
990	990	85-90%	1	34.50	$34.50	$342	-5.50
1021–1330	1137	85-90%	62	39.00–46.00	$43.03	$489	+4.20
1048–1305	1144	85-90%	27	28.50–37.00	$32.38	$370	-2.01
970–1390	1153	85-90%	124	40.50–48.00	$44.84	$517	—
1100–1235	1187	85-90%	14	57.00–64.00	$58.88	$699	+14.69
970–1348	1225	85-90%	222	47.00–56.00	$50.68	$621	+2.68
1135–1345	1281	85-90%	15	47.00–50.50	$49.20	$630	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1088–1779	1330	80-85%	38	43.00–50.00	$47.61	$633	—
1279–1468	1371	80-85%	70	60.00–64.25	$61.42	$842	+15.97
1235–1605	1377	80-85%	29	49.00–55.00	$50.80	$700	+5.35
1350–1660	1410	80-85%	47	41.00–47.00	$45.15	$637	-7.56
1225–1765	1414	80-85%	199	50.00–60.00	$54.68	$773	+1.97

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1485–1745	1520	75-80%	19	61.00–63.00	$62.49	$950	—
1522	1522	75-80%	3	51.00	$51.00	$776	—
1505–1675	1639	75-80%	5	66.25–67.00	$66.76	$1,094	+3.90
1515–1737	1678	75-80%	5	55.00–57.00	$55.67	$934	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1370–1725	1595	3	72.00	$72.00	$1,148	—
1440–2010	1627	5	64.00–73.00	$69.97	$1,138	-5.56
1555–1980	1841	10	75.50–82.50	$79.33	$1,460	—
1920–2130	1963	5	75.00–81.00	$77.37	$1,519	+3.37
1950–2055	2003	2	83.50–84.00	$83.74	$1,677	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
765 thin fleshed	765	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	62.50	$62.50	$478
715–1385	997	(<2 yrs)	Open	105	64.00–85.50	$76.63	$764
820–1292	1082	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	62	55.00–75.00	$64.40	$697
995–1170 thin fleshed	1101	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	51.00–55.00	$53.00	$584

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1050–1455	1106	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	26	1,000.00–1,110.00	$1,059.05
1206	1206	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	900.00	$900.00
1138–1321	1210	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	40	650.00–685.00	$656.69
1220–1365	1317	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	935.00–1,010.00	$958.16
1335	1335	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	885.00	$885.00
1393	1393	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	735.00	$735.00

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Dairy Steers

Large 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
645	645	8	42.00	$42.00	$271	—

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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.