Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, May 19, 2021

903 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 $144.61/cwt -6.45 vs last sale · ≈ $898/hd at 621 lb · 12 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $188.00/cwt +7.00 vs last sale · ≈ $968/hd at 515 lb · 11 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 903 3,066 700
Feeder cattle 171 2,256 225
Slaughter cattle 568 322 155
Replacement cattle 164 488 320

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on steers and generally steady undertones were noticed on heifers. Feeder cattle quality was mostly plain to average today. Demand was mostly light for light offerings. Lower CME contract prices for corn, beans and other feedstuffs has provided some support to the feeder cattle market. CME feeder cattle contract prices have seen a strong up tick in price since last week. Market activity was mostly slow to moderate today. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light demand for moderate offerings. Packers were much more reserved this week as they bid on cows. Drought areas in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota continue to cull cows and packers backed off prices this week due to heavier cow supplies. Slaughter cows sold steady to weak on breaking cows, while boning and lean cows sold 2.00-3.00 lower. Packers passed on several loads of thin cows this week as feeding buyers showed stronger demand for these offerings than packers. Feeding cows sold 1.00-3.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 1.00-2.00 lower. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this week with many full and thin cows on offer. Cow and bull quality were not as attractive as last week. Young age cows were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed on a lower quality offering.

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
385 385 1 200.00 $200.00 $770 —
515 515 11 188.00 $188.00 $968 +7.00
550 550 2 179.00 $179.00 $984 +1.74
615–629 626 5 161.00–166.00 $165.02 $1,033 -5.91
703–705 704 4 147.00–150.00 $149.25 $1,051 +6.32
758 758 2 138.00 $138.00 $1,046 +3.00
800–833 822 3 126.00–136.00 $132.76 $1,091 +1.88
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
338 338 3 185.00 $185.00 $625 —
545 545 2 174.00 $174.00 $948 +14.10
787 787 3 129.00 $129.00 $1,015 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
581 581 4 131.00 $131.00 $761 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
535 535 2 157.50 $157.50 $843 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
493 493 4 153.00 $153.00 $754 —
503–518 508 6 150.00–152.00 $151.32 $769 -1.29
563–593 578 6 147.00–157.00 $151.87 $878 -5.12
608–646 621 12 142.00–146.00 $144.61 $898 -2.95
750–765 758 2 120.00–121.00 $120.50 $913 +1.39
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
324 324 4 150.00 $150.00 $486 —
398 398 5 154.00 $154.00 $613 +4.00
465 465 2 147.00 $147.00 $684 -1.49
570–580 575 2 142.00–144.00 $142.99 $822 -0.40
719 719 4 120.00 $120.00 $863 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
431 431 9 135.00 $135.00 $582 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1016 1016 4 105.00 $105.00 $1,067 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
200 200 1 350.00 $350.00 —

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1093 1093 6 98.00 $98.00 $1,071 —
1118 1118 9 96.00 $96.00 $1,073 —
1205 1205 6 94.00 $94.00 $1,133 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
988 988 2 105.00 $105.00 $1,037 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
840 840 85-90% 1 42.50 $42.50 $357 —
905 905 85-90% 1 59.00 $59.00 $534 —
913–985 963 85-90% 5 52.00–58.50 $55.96 $539 —
990–1280 1153 85-90% 63 52.00–60.00 $57.77 $666 -0.57
1020–1375 1166 85-90% 92 51.00–59.00 $55.81 $651 -2.06
1000–1380 1212 85-90% 66 59.75–63.50 $60.95 $739 -3.02
1085–1278 1223 85-90% 90 60.00–63.50 $60.74 $743 -8.76
1275 1275 85-90% 3 68.00 $68.00 $867 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1223–1440 1347 80-85% 15 69.00–76.00 $70.77 $953 —
1243–1498 1372 80-85% 26 51.00–61.00 $58.21 $799 -2.51
1336–1555 1405 80-85% 16 53.00–59.50 $58.12 $817 -2.45
1295–1610 1417 80-85% 41 60.00–68.00 $63.26 $896 +2.69
1365–1625 1454 80-85% 13 61.00–62.00 $61.43 $893 -11.07
1455–1555 1522 80-85% 3 72.00–73.00 $72.68 $1,106 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1527 1527 75-80% 3 58.50 $58.50 $893 —
1560 1560 75-80% 2 70.00 $70.00 $1,092 —
1510–1705 1608 75-80% 2 68.00–69.50 $68.70 $1,105 +2.80
1588–1655 1610 75-80% 3 62.00–63.50 $62.99 $1,014 -2.91
1510–1740 1661 75-80% 6 71.00–73.50 $71.55 $1,188 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1445–1570 1508 2 72.00–83.00 $77.73 $1,172 —
1155–1873 1753 6 72.00–74.50 $74.23 $1,301 —
1665–2305 1918 15 84.00–92.00 $88.28 $1,693 —
1790–2243 2055 12 93.00–100.00 $97.35 $2,001 -0.15
2550 2550 1 82.00 $82.00 $2,091 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
975–1035 thin fleshed 1005 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 2 57.00–68.00 $62.34 $627
850–1448 1014 (<2 yrs)Open 88 69.00–105.00 $90.16 $914
765–1450 1156 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 41 55.00–84.00 $68.05 $787
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
790 thin fleshed 790 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 52.00 $52.00 $411
877 877 (<2 yrs)Open 3 72.00 $72.00 $631

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1355 1355 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 2 61.00 $61.00 $827

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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.