Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 28, 2021

1,033 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $144.00/cwt -8.59 vs last sale · ≈ $900/hd at 625 lb · 16 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,033 1,603 708
Feeder cattle 244 877 160
Slaughter cattle 498 448 326
Replacement cattle 291 278 222

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder cattle quality today was mostly plain. Demand was light to moderate for very light offerings. CME feeder cattle positions continue to traded lower as corn and beans have traded higher since last week. The April feeder cattle contract closed at 133.875, the May contract closed at 134.975 and the August at 148.90. Market activity today was slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light to moderate offerings. Slaughter and feeding cows sold generally steady. Packers continue to show good demand for young age high quality cows suitable to feed. Feeding buyers were active again this week but were not willing to push cows higher than last weeks prices. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this week as most offerings were pushing heavy amounts of fill. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 7.00-10.00 lower. The biggest declines were seen for 2 year old cows and heifers to feed as feed cost continue to climb.

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
909 909 7 115.00 $115.00 $1,045 -10.50
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
195 195 1 375.00 $375.00 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
625 625 16 144.00 $144.00 $900 -8.59
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
648 648 2 134.00 $134.00 $868 —

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
966 966 7 105.50 $105.50 $1,019 —
1040 1040 2 103.00 $103.00 $1,071 —
1085–1090 1088 6 100.50–102.50 $101.84 $1,108 -14.16
1121–1138 1128 20 98.00–101.00 $99.30 $1,120 -10.70
1155–1188 1174 12 94.00–100.50 $99.09 $1,163 -10.91
1233 1233 5 93.00 $93.00 $1,147 —
1260 1260 2 91.50 $91.50 $1,153 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
515 515 7 149.00 $149.00 $767 —
721 721 5 119.00 $119.00 $858 —
884 884 8 111.50 $111.50 $986 —
958–987 974 9 108.00–109.00 $108.33 $1,055 -14.67
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
608–625 615 7 129.00–132.00 $130.31 $801 —
663 663 2 127.00 $127.00 $842 —
903 903 2 105.00 $105.00 $948 -12.00
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1103–1131 1121 8 94.00–97.00 $95.11 $1,066 —
1175 1175 1 94.00 $94.00 $1,104 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
100–145 123 2 285.00–310.00 $295.20 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
125 125 1 175.00 $175.00 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
870 870 85-90% 1 53.00 $53.00 $461 —
1150 1150 85-90% 1 72.00 $72.00 $828 +9.52
845–1305 1197 85-90% 46 56.00–64.00 $61.22 $733 -0.26
1100–1393 1204 85-90% 9 64.00–69.50 $66.85 $805 -0.16
1017–1360 1222 85-90% 39 64.00–69.50 $65.69 $803 +14.05
1228 1228 85-90% 3 52.50 $52.50 $645 +0.86
1055–1315 1233 85-90% 35 54.00–63.50 $60.65 $748 +9.01
1143–1315 1252 85-90% 14 70.00–74.00 $71.31 $893 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1385 1385 80-85% 1 54.00 $54.00 $748 —
1240–1485 1393 80-85% 15 65.00–69.00 $66.95 $933 —
1190–1533 1396 80-85% 28 65.00–70.00 $67.97 $949 —
1333–1600 1402 80-85% 29 59.00–64.50 $62.60 $878 -7.40
1300–1640 1417 80-85% 38 56.00–64.50 $61.48 $871 -8.52
1305–1525 1423 80-85% 21 70.00–75.00 $72.13 $1,026 +2.13
1315–1595 1465 80-85% 3 72.00–74.50 $73.42 $1,076 +9.29
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1425 1425 75-80% 1 73.00 $73.00 $1,040 —
1538–1555 1541 75-80% 6 61.00–68.00 $66.82 $1,030 -5.77
1535–1785 1626 75-80% 7 69.00–71.00 $69.67 $1,133 —
1550–1840 1727 75-80% 20 61.50–68.50 $64.35 $1,111 —
1790 1790 75-80% 1 58.00 $58.00 $1,038 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1712 1712 65-75% 9 73.00 $73.00 $1,250 —
2240 2240 65-75% 1 71.00 $71.00 $1,590 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1240–1395 1289 18 85.00–89.50 $88.46 $1,140 —
1305 1305 2 67.00 $67.00 $874 —
1272–1440 1320 11 72.00–84.00 $80.70 $1,065 —
1373–2040 1553 21 75.00–84.50 $80.26 $1,246 +3.60
1455–2220 1830 30 84.50–92.00 $89.19 $1,632 —
1670–2385 2044 10 92.00–101.00 $95.26 $1,947 —
2535–2710 2623 2 85.00–85.50 $85.24 $2,236 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
793 thin fleshed 793 (<2 yrs)Open 2 77.00 $77.00 $611
730–1290 965 (<2 yrs)Open 120 73.00–111.00 $93.65 $904
955–1050 thin fleshed 998 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 63.00–75.00 $68.15 $680
880–1460 1138 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 76 64.00–87.00 $75.29 $857
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
764–960 thin fleshed 829 (<2 yrs)Open 6 59.00–68.00 $62.47 $518
865 865 (<2 yrs)Open 3 85.00 $85.00 $735
915–1015 958 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 7 66.50–74.00 $70.59 $676

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Dairy Heifers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
743 743 23 113.50 $113.50 $843 —
Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
618 618 9 113.00 $113.00 $698 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
825 825 27 111.50 $111.50 $920 —
Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
730 730 8 112.00 $112.00 $818 —

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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.