Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, March 24, 2021

823 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $131.43/cwt -2.25 vs last sale · ≈ $991/hd at 754 lb · 50 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $143.90/cwt -3.10 vs last sale · ≈ $904/hd at 628 lb · 45 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 steers $143.99/cwt ≈ $1,030/hd at 715 lb · 29 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	823	676	911
Feeder cattle	446	304	165
Slaughter cattle	254	252	303
Replacement cattle	123	120	443

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested both this week and last to develop an accurate market trend, however steers and heifers sold with steady to weak undertones. Quality this week was mostly plain to average and overall not as attractive as last week. Demand was light to moderate for light offerings. Limited offerings caused limited demand as some buyers were not willing to start loads as this is the last sale in Billings for the week. CME positions traded higher today as packers paid higher money for fat cattle. Market activity was slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand. Feeding buyers were aggressive as they bid against packers over offerings. Packers showed good demand for both slaughter and feeding cows this week. Muddy conditions and some flooding have been reported in locations that saw heavy snow last week. This continues to keep cow supplies tight. Slaughter cows sold 1.00-2.00 higher on breaking and boning cows lean cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher on all classes. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold steady firm. Quality was mostly average 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
410–446	442	12	190.00–195.00	$191.43	$846	+2.43
480–483	482	3	178.00–179.00	$178.33	$860	-0.27
511–532	519	27	174.00–176.00	$174.65	$906	-1.35
560–568	567	7	163.00–165.00	$164.72	$934	-9.03
620–630	621	15	162.00–162.50	$162.07	$1,006	—
670–695	680	3	148.00	$148.00	$1,006	-8.01
700–725	715	29	142.50–146.00	$143.99	$1,030	—
830	830	5	131.00	$131.00	$1,087	—
883	883	4	132.00	$132.00	$1,166	—
928	928	2	128.00	$128.00	$1,188	+0.77

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
451–488	472	28	168.00–175.00	$172.11	$812	+2.61
530–543	532	12	169.00–173.00	$172.32	$917	+15.63
560	560	1	157.00	$157.00	$879	+3.00
645	645	5	149.00	$149.00	$961	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1104	1104	4	120.00	$120.00	$1,325	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
495	495	3	174.00	$174.00	$861	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
388	388	4	167.50	$167.50	$650	—
450–495	479	22	163.00–168.00	$166.02	$795	+4.02
505–528	517	18	157.00–167.00	$163.15	$843	+5.88
575–581	580	6	146.50–149.00	$146.91	$852	-9.59
601–634	628	45	139.00–147.00	$143.90	$904	-3.10
656–695	660	9	136.00–139.00	$138.65	$915	-1.10
706	706	7	132.50	$132.50	$935	-3.00
752–795	754	50	129.00–131.50	$131.43	$991	-2.25

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
420–428	427	19	155.00–161.00	$157.20	$671	-0.40
457	457	5	155.00	$155.00	$708	—
635	635	2	136.00	$136.00	$864	—
674–695	679	8	128.00–129.00	$128.26	$871	-0.74

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
473	473	11	155.00	$155.00	$733	—
556	556	6	141.00	$141.00	$784	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
369	369	5	195.00	$195.00	$720	—
445	445	1	177.50	$177.50	$790	—
612–622	617	6	143.00–147.00	$144.98	$895	—
685	685	1	138.00	$138.00	$945	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1054	1054	4	108.00	$108.00	$1,138	—
1140	1140	3	95.00	$95.00	$1,083	—
1150	1150	1	95.00	$95.00	$1,092	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
373	373	4	135.00	$135.00	$504	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1355	1355	80-85%	2	68.50	$68.50	$928	+6.06
1332–1419	1382	80-85%	14	60.00–62.50	$61.36	$848	-1.08
1280–1443	1384	80-85%	16	63.50–66.50	$64.48	$892	+2.04
1290–1525	1399	80-85%	26	63.00–66.25	$64.49	$902	+2.05
1380–1557	1500	80-85%	22	55.00–62.50	$60.96	$914	—
1570	1570	80-85%	1	67.00	$67.00	$1,052	-5.00

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
970	970	85-90%	1	45.00	$45.00	$436	-11.51
990	990	85-90%	1	55.00	$55.00	$544	-1.51
998	998	85-90%	2	65.00	$65.00	$649	+8.49
1020–1055	1038	85-90%	2	51.00–52.00	$51.49	$534	—
955–1308	1155	85-90%	19	53.00–63.00	$60.95	$704	+4.55
1065–1290	1178	85-90%	2	68.00–69.50	$68.68	$809	+12.28
1167–1352	1220	85-90%	29	63.00–66.00	$63.68	$777	+15.68
1145–1318	1248	85-90%	11	63.50–65.00	$64.46	$804	+16.46
1150–1465	1256	85-90%	11	54.00–62.00	$57.12	$717	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1429–1553	1479	75-80%	7	63.00–65.00	$63.75	$943	—
1560–1590	1575	75-80%	2	59.00–61.00	$60.01	$945	-0.90
1501–1813	1605	75-80%	6	64.50–65.00	$64.69	$1,038	+5.89
1555–1870	1721	75-80%	6	57.00–62.00	$60.31	$1,038	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1285	1285	1	70.00	$70.00	$900	—
1370	1370	1	83.00	$83.00	$1,137	—
1415–2165	1799	5	72.00–78.00	$75.65	$1,361	-1.05
1520–2290	1894	18	82.00–88.50	$85.21	$1,614	+3.21
1895–2200	2059	7	89.00–96.00	$91.81	$1,890	—
2525	2525	1	92.50	$92.50	$2,336	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
745–1214	1026	(<2 yrs)	Open	35	80.00–110.00	$91.28	$937
915–1515	1128	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	21	62.00–84.00	$73.05	$824
1172	1172	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	6	71.00	$71.00	$832

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
928–1099	1061	(<2 yrs)	Open	9	78.00–84.00	$82.83	$879

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1133	1133	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	4	1,250.00	$1,250.00
1195	1195	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,100.00	$1,100.00
1322–1462	1396	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	21	1,200.00–1,275.00	$1,228.22
1430	1430	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	975.00	$975.00

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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.