Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, October 27, 2021

2,730 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 $143.83/cwt -0.67 vs last sale · ≈ $699/hd at 486 lb · 41 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $146.00/cwt ≈ $1,045/hd at 716 lb · 24 head

light 3-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $149.35/cwt ≈ $500/hd at 335 lb · 22 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,730	3,437	1,272
Feeder cattle	477	863	203
Slaughter cattle	1,614	1,804	834
Replacement cattle	639	770	235

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder cattle today were of mostly plain to average quality this sale. Most cattle were offered in very small packages or as singles. Trucking remains very tight and most buyers passed on calves, waiting until tomorrow as Billings livestock commission's sale will feature feeder cattle. Light offerings sold on mostly light demand. Market activity was mostly slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on moderate demand for heavy offerings. Todays sale was mostly comprised of weigh up and bred cows. The additional packer seen last week was not at the sale this week. Most cows returned to feed again this week. Feeding cows sold steady to 4.00 lower on all classes. Feeding buyers were more active in purchasing very thin cows this week as these offerings offered lots of compensatory gain and could be turned out on corn stalks for cheap gain. With less buying power seen this week packers were able to purchase cows lower as supplies are heavy. Cows were pushing heavy amounts of fill again this week. Many cows tanked up on fresh, clean water when they hit the yards. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 lower on all classes. Cow quality this week was average to attractive, however quality was not as attractive as last week. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, steady to weak undertones were noticed. Young age cows sold mostly 3.00-4.00 higher. Most of these offerings are being purchased for southern fall breeding programs.

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
376 unweaned	376	21	190.00	$190.00	$714	-11.00
457 unweaned	457	5	175.00	$175.00	$800	—
520–548 unweaned	537	10	155.00–158.00	$156.16	$839	+0.86
550–588 unweaned	586	20	154.00–161.00	$160.67	$942	+11.27
613 unweaned	613	6	144.00	$144.00	$883	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
311–343 unweaned	324	22	167.50–180.00	$172.91	$560	—
355–388 unweaned	372	20	173.00–177.50	$175.15	$652	+0.15
442 unweaned	442	13	149.00	$149.00	$659	-3.00

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
373	373	21	167.50	$167.50	$625	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
414–426 unweaned	422	18	150.00–152.00	$151.35	$639	-14.15
465–491	474	21	141.00–144.50	$143.29	$679	—
493–499 unweaned	498	20	142.00–145.00	$144.40	$719	-0.10
506–517 unweaned	508	19	140.00–142.00	$141.68	$720	+3.75
575–588 unweaned	584	6	129.50–135.00	$131.31	$767	+1.68
716	716	24	146.00	$146.00	$1,045	—
771	771	18	144.50	$144.50	$1,114	—
884	884	5	131.00	$131.00	$1,158	-6.86
957	957	12	128.25	$128.25	$1,227	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
324–341 unweaned	335	22	149.00–150.00	$149.35	$500	—
363 unweaned	363	10	150.00	$150.00	$544	—
374	374	9	147.50	$147.50	$552	—
828	828	4	127.50	$127.50	$1,056	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
361	361	12	141.00	$141.00	$509	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
338	338	8	140.00	$140.00	$473	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
725 unweaned	725	3	120.00–130.00	$123.33	$894	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
845–935	900	85-90%	4	22.00–31.00	$28.15	$253	—
1016–1305	1114	85-90%	14	32.00–38.50	$34.49	$384	-2.41
1010–1400	1123	85-90%	22	31.00–37.00	$34.53	$388	-2.37
1030–1350	1174	85-90%	206	38.00–46.50	$44.00	$517	+11.07
1020–1355	1193	85-90%	53	38.00–45.00	$41.97	$501	-0.84
945–1358	1213	85-90%	182	46.00–55.50	$49.52	$601	-0.34
1230	1230	85-90%	1	62.50	$62.50	$769	+5.00
1050–1475	1272	85-90%	13	46.00–53.00	$48.12	$612	-2.97

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1338–1410	1356	80-85%	4	52.00–57.00	$53.30	$723	-8.64
1345–1520	1372	80-85%	55	64.00–68.50	$64.66	$887	+2.72
1250–1613	1417	80-85%	65	52.00–62.00	$58.29	$826	+10.87
1245–1495	1423	80-85%	22	45.00–52.00	$48.37	$688	+0.95
1343–1540	1443	80-85%	61	42.00–50.00	$45.80	$661	-1.62

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1540–1548	1545	75-80%	3	64.50–66.00	$65.50	$1,012	—
1386–1685	1546	75-80%	19	63.00–68.00	$65.83	$1,018	—
1568	1568	75-80%	2	53.00	$53.00	$831	-15.66
1595–1635	1618	75-80%	5	52.00–62.00	$58.24	$942	—
1667	1667	75-80%	3	71.00	$71.00	$1,184	+11.69
2030	2030	75-80%	1	62.50	$62.50	$1,269	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1623–1765	1680	5	81.00	$81.00	$1,361	—
1565–1873	1734	4	64.00–73.50	$70.54	$1,223	-3.57
1585–2115	1889	11	62.00–78.00	$72.64	$1,372	—
1835–2155	1918	9	82.00–85.00	$83.54	$1,602	+12.82
2040	2040	1	89.00	$89.00	$1,816	-3.00

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
781–1255	913	(<2 yrs)	Open	160	64.00–113.00	$97.08	$886
880–1195 thin fleshed	983	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	13	41.00–58.00	$48.20	$474
983 thin fleshed	983	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	2	44.00	$44.00	$433
845–1315	1014	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	129	52.00–93.00	$77.78	$789
895–1140 thin fleshed	1036	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	12	38.00–45.00	$40.70	$422
1160–1369	1288	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	37	48.00–54.00	$51.25	$660
1391	1391	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	4	46.00	$46.00	$640

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
990 thin fleshed	990	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	47.00	$47.00	$465

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
997–1194	1063	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	35	1,000.00–1,175.00	$1,118.51
1059–1214	1098	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	29	1,025.00–1,200.00	$1,089.67

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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.