Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 7, 2021

786 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $175.87/cwt ≈ $749/hd at 426 lb · 39 head

light 4-weight M&L 1 steers $214.00/cwt +22.00 vs last sale · ≈ $901/hd at 421 lb · 35 head

light 3-weight M&L 1 heifers $180.00/cwt ≈ $598/hd at 332 lb · 23 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	786	835	403
Feeder cattle	298	217	175
Slaughter cattle	374	402	45
Replacement cattle	114	216	183

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 undertones. Quality this week was mostly plain to average and lower than last week. Demand was mostly moderate for light offerings. Light supplies limited demand this week as buyers were hesitant on starting loads with such light offerings. CME positions moved higher today as cattle started to trade in the country. CME Feeder cattle futures traded up 1.15 on the April contract to settle at 147.625. The May closed at 152.675, 0.90 higher. Market activity was mostly moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good to very good demand again this week. Packers continue to be very aggressive as they push to obtain the majority of the market share. Slaughter cows sold mostly 2.00-3.00 higher on breaking and boning cows, while lean cows showed the greatest advance selling 3.00-5.00 higher. Feeding buyers showed good demand for cows as well. Feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher. Cow weigh conditions were mixed this sale. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00 higher. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady. Demand was good for cows to feed or rebreed again this week. Quality was mostly average 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
372–385 thin fleshed	374	19	211.00–215.50	$214.77	$803	—
421 thin fleshed	421	35	214.00	$214.00	$901	—
465 unweaned	465	2	180.00	$180.00	$837	—
515–517	517	9	179.00–187.00	$180.77	$935	-1.23
565–587	582	15	166.00–169.00	$168.61	$981	-6.97
748	748	2	140.00	$140.00	$1,047	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
313	313	22	205.00	$205.00	$642	—
355	355	2	192.50	$192.50	$683	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
332 thin fleshed	332	23	180.00	$180.00	$598	—
401–429 thin fleshed	426	39	175.75–177.00	$175.87	$749	—
460	460	9	166.00–168.00	$167.56	$771	—
517–523	519	5	160.00–167.00	$164.18	$852	+1.62
575–585	580	4	154.00	$154.00	$893	-0.49
607	607	18	150.50	$150.50	$914	—
685	685	3	139.00	$139.00	$952	-4.57
715	715	3	136.00	$136.00	$972	—
795–797	797	12	127.50–128.00	$127.54	$1,016	+0.04

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
473	473	4	157.00	$157.00	$743	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
805	805	2	120.00	$120.00	$966	—
1128	1128	8	114.00	$114.00	$1,286	-3.00
1155	1155	3	108.00	$108.00	$1,247	-1.30

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
843	843	3	121.00	$121.00	$1,020	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1365	1365	80-85%	1	73.00	$73.00	$996	+5.28
1375	1375	80-85%	1	72.00	$72.00	$990	+6.03
1315–1530	1418	80-85%	13	61.00–68.50	$65.94	$935	-5.31
1353–1510	1424	80-85%	31	68.00–71.00	$69.61	$991	-1.64
1360–1510	1437	80-85%	14	64.00–67.00	$65.89	$947	+3.06
1350–1568	1441	80-85%	31	68.00–71.00	$69.03	$995	+6.20

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
920–955	938	85-90%	2	57.00–58.00	$57.49	$539	—
935–1370	1124	85-90%	16	63.00–68.00	$66.04	$742	+4.50
1085–1285	1138	85-90%	5	72.00–75.00	$73.75	$839	+12.21
1030–1320	1147	85-90%	20	68.00–71.00	$68.85	$790	+7.31
1145–1228	1200	85-90%	3	55.00–57.00	$56.36	$676	-4.95
1035–1335	1207	85-90%	18	68.00–71.00	$69.34	$837	+8.03
1245–1250	1248	85-90%	2	71.00–74.00	$72.50	$905	+11.19
1140–1460	1272	85-90%	7	62.50–66.00	$64.65	$822	-1.34

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1480	1480	75-80%	1	66.00	$66.00	$977	—
1488–1505	1489	75-80%	51	73.00–73.50	$73.04	$1,088	—
1599–1785	1664	75-80%	8	64.00–68.50	$65.54	$1,091	-2.46
1515–1825	1682	75-80%	10	69.00–72.50	$70.32	$1,183	+2.32

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1380	1380	65-75%	1	71.00	$71.00	$980	—
1358–1618	1553	65-75%	60	72.00–73.50	$72.51	$1,126	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1170–1255	1213	2	88.50–89.00	$88.74	$1,076	+2.31
1235–1320	1273	3	82.00–86.00	$83.29	$1,060	—
1288–1758	1569	10	74.00–85.00	$77.72	$1,219	—
1650–2290	1989	14	86.00–94.00	$90.87	$1,807	+2.01
1765–2360	2141	8	95.00–97.00	$96.34	$2,063	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1825	1825	1	80.00	$80.00	$1,460	—

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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	90.00	$90.00	$688
840–1315	1066	(<2 yrs)	Open	82	83.50–111.50	$98.30	$1,048
898–1555	1186	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	12	65.50–95.00	$75.92	$900

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1095	1095	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	87.00	$87.00	$953

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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.