Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, November 25, 2020

1,809 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $141.42/cwt -6.81 vs last sale · ≈ $656/hd at 464 lb · 47 head

heavy 5-weight S 2 heifers $81.00/cwt ≈ $456/hd at 563 lb · 31 head

light 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $122.00/cwt -3.32 vs last sale · ≈ $1,130/hd at 926 lb · 28 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale
Total receipts	1,809	3,162
Feeder cattle	519	502
Slaughter cattle	1,008	1,988
Replacement cattle	282	672

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling heifers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed; Yearling steers not well compared. Unweaned steer and heifer calves were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend however lower undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mostly plain to average. Limited calf offerings impeded demand this sale as this was the last sale of the week and buyers showed little interest in purchasing calves before the holiday. Demand was mostly light for light offerings. Market activity was slow. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand and offerings. Both packer and feeding buyers both showed stronger demand for cows this week compared to last. Thin fleshed, short term feeding cows sold with the best demand this week as both packers and farmer feeders showed interest in this class of cow. Feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher. Slaughter cows sold generally steady. Packers showed mostly light demand for slaughter cows, however competition between feeding buyers and packer buyers kept this class of cows near steady. Buyers looking for bred cows being sold as weigh ups also helped support the market this sale. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady. A portion of the bull offering continues to go to feed. Two year old to young age cows sold on mostly moderate demand this sale. Quality was average and not as attractive as last week. This class of cows sold sold 5.00-10.00 lower. No load lots were seen this week.

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
403–436 unweaned	428	26	177.00–183.00	$179.01	$766	-9.22
515–517 unweaned	516	11	155.00–157.00	$155.54	$803	-8.46
551 unweaned	551	4	144.00	$144.00	$793	-6.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
376 unweaned	376	7	160.00	$160.00	$602	-22.00
412–427 unweaned	416	17	155.00–171.00	$165.20	$687	+20.20
460–473 unweaned	470	5	154.00–155.00	$154.20	$725	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
324 unweaned	324	7	160.00	$160.00	$518	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
618 unweaned	618	2	132.00	$132.00	$816	—
1052	1052	3	114.00	$114.00	$1,199	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
313	313	3	160.00	$160.00	$501	—
358–396 unweaned	376	20	155.00–159.00	$156.48	$588	—
446 unweaned	446	11	147.00	$147.00	$656	-5.87
451–495 unweaned	464	47	134.00–151.50	$141.42	$656	-6.81
530–548 unweaned	543	14	131.00–134.50	$133.52	$725	-10.18
728–731	729	21	128.00–130.00	$128.86	$939	-10.64
830	830	15	130.00	$130.00	$1,079	-1.89
850–883	876	11	123.00–127.00	$124.81	$1,093	+0.31
926	926	28	122.00	$122.00	$1,130	-3.32

Small 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
563	563	31	81.00	$81.00	$456	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
410–415 unweaned	412	6	140.00–145.00	$141.68	$584	—
795	795	9	125.00	$125.00	$994	+3.00
807	807	3	126.00	$126.00	$1,017	—
899	899	6	121.00	$121.00	$1,088	+1.00
985	985	3	114.00	$114.00	$1,123	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105	1105	7	105.00	$105.00	$1,160	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
321 unweaned	321	5	147.00	$147.00	$472	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
537 unweaned	537	3	125.00	$125.00	$671	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
885–975	932	85-90%	3	32.00–37.00	$34.98	$326	-2.02
1019–1345	1107	85-90%	135	38.75–47.50	$40.41	$447	—
990–1305	1152	85-90%	47	39.00–50.00	$45.75	$527	+12.05
1188	1188	85-90%	3	38.00	$38.00	$451	-4.27
960–1299	1193	85-90%	310	49.50–54.00	$52.78	$630	+10.51
1120–1211	1202	85-90%	13	59.00–63.00	$61.94	$745	—
1093–1315	1234	85-90%	20	47.00–52.00	$49.43	$610	-1.60
1136–1419	1241	85-90%	27	30.00–38.50	$35.35	$439	-15.68

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1280–1305	1297	80-85%	3	44.00–46.00	$44.66	$579	—
1283–1463	1363	80-85%	41	61.00–67.50	$65.78	$897	+12.52
1250–1670	1390	80-85%	28	48.00–53.00	$49.11	$683	-4.15
1258–1688	1393	80-85%	44	49.50–58.50	$52.92	$737	-0.34
1305–1577	1449	80-85%	9	43.00–48.00	$45.71	$662	—
1455	1455	80-85%	1	36.00	$36.00	$524	-8.61

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1439–1605	1486	75-80%	16	64.00–67.50	$65.88	$979	—
1520	1520	75-80%	2	69.50	$69.50	$1,056	—
1840	1840	75-80%	1	57.50	$57.50	$1,058	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1375–1895	1617	9	64.00–72.50	$68.72	$1,111	—
1184–2000	1620	16	76.00–79.50	$77.86	$1,261	—
1370–1768	1669	4	67.00–75.00	$73.36	$1,224	-1.08
1475–2200	1890	10	76.00–81.00	$78.74	$1,488	—
1775–2018	1944	4	81.50–86.00	$84.63	$1,645	+12.28

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
865–905 thin fleshed	887	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	53.00–57.00	$55.30	$491
800–1285	941	(<2 yrs)	Open	151	60.00–88.00	$77.87	$733
768–1086	981	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	61	56.00–80.00	$68.71	$674

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1235	1235	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	13	50.00	$50.00	$618
1336	1336	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	52.00	$52.00	$695

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1064–1138	1094	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	10	1,025.00	$1,025.00

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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.