Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 15, 2021

2,863 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $156.92/cwt +5.35 vs last sale · ≈ $832/hd at 530 lb · 80 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $183.92/cwt -5.08 vs last sale · ≈ $961/hd at 523 lb · 61 head
light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $158.16/cwt -0.84 vs last sale · ≈ $692/hd at 437 lb · 49 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,863 2,251 1,936
Feeder cattle 1,243 575 859
Slaughter cattle 1,111 1,002 853
Replacement cattle 509 674 224

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to two weeks ago: Last week Public auction yards held their annual blue ribbon sale so all comparisons are to two weeks ago. Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested two weeks ago to make an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Quality this week was plain to average and most calves were offered in small packages or as singles. Buyers showed mostly light demand for singles and small consignments, which unfortunately comprised most of the sale. Many sets of calves were weaned this sale. Demand for calves was light to moderate. Market activity was mostly slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for heavy offerings. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher on lean cows, breaking and boning cows sold steady to 3.00 higher. Feeding cows sold steady to 3.00 higher. Demand for feeding cows was mostly good with a large buyer pool buying cows to feed. Packers were more aggressive in buying cows to feed to premium white this week which helped improve the price of boning and breaking flesh cows. Slaughter bulls sold steady to firm in a narrow comparison. Young age cows suitable to feed to feed or rebreed saw improved demand this week with more buyers in the market looking for this class of cows. Young age cows sold steady to firm.

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
278 278 3 215.00 $215.00 $598 —
310–340 331 4 210.00–215.00 $211.26 $699 —
350 350 14 215.00 $215.00 $752 —
419 419 14 191.50 $191.50 $802 —
465–494 489 33 190.00–197.00 $193.06 $944 —
504–523 516 16 188.00–191.00 $189.04 $975 —
502–545 unweaned 525 45 177.00–188.00 $182.10 $956 -6.90
550–570 565 12 161.00–170.00 $164.06 $927 —
567–590 unweaned 576 10 161.00–168.00 $165.13 $951 -8.87
619–630 623 36 157.50–160.00 $159.03 $991 —
656 unweaned 656 5 155.00 $155.00 $1,017 -4.00
650–693 687 40 154.00–160.00 $159.17 $1,093 —
719–732 726 15 148.00–157.50 $152.39 $1,106 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
422–443 429 16 175.00–190.00 $181.68 $779 —
479–491 485 19 171.00–188.00 $178.71 $867 —
550–595 582 25 148.00–163.00 $155.36 $904 —
610 610 2 151.00 $151.00 $921 —
638 unweaned 638 4 157.00 $157.00 $1,002 —
657 unweaned 657 6 148.00 $148.00 $972 —
711 711 5 147.00 $147.00 $1,045 —
Small 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
358 358 15 28.00 $28.00 $100 —
564 564 48 34.00 $34.00 $192 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
367 367 7 190.00 $190.00 $697 —
408 408 4 195.00 $195.00 $796 —
450 450 1 185.00 $185.00 $832 +2.00
571 571 7 164.00 $164.00 $936 —
634 634 5 152.00 $152.00 $964 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
420 420 2 150.00 $150.00 $630 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
366 366 14 168.00 $168.00 $615 —
417–448 435 9 168.00–169.00 $168.11 $731 —
455–494 463 25 156.00–163.00 $157.81 $731 —
503–547 530 80 153.50–159.00 $156.92 $832 —
562–599 580 31 148.00–155.50 $152.22 $883 —
605–624 615 12 140.00–156.00 $150.39 $925 —
658 658 2 135.00 $135.00 $888 —
729 729 9 148.00 $148.00 $1,079 —
758 758 6 148.00 $148.00 $1,122 —
803 803 3 145.00 $145.00 $1,164 —
900–915 908 2 142.00–144.00 $142.99 $1,298 +6.49
998 998 3 136.00 $136.00 $1,357 -4.15
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
364 unweaned 364 10 160.00 $160.00 $582 —
407–440 424 18 156.00–164.00 $160.17 $679 —
445 unweaned 445 31 157.00 $157.00 $699 -2.00
488 488 7 144.00–154.00 $146.86 $717 —
513–543 522 33 141.00–154.00 $148.15 $773 —
550–557 554 11 134.00–146.00 $141.55 $784 —
659 659 5 140.00 $140.00 $923 —
820 820 6 140.00 $140.00 $1,148 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
394 394 7 151.00 $151.00 $595 —
434–445 438 12 156.00–160.00 $157.36 $689 —
481 481 7 153.00 $153.00 $736 —
643 643 11 133.00 $133.00 $855 —
Small 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
343 343 32 29.50 $29.50 $101 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
544 544 6 145.00 $145.00 $789 —
1085 1085 2 136.00 $136.00 $1,476 +17.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
297 297 6 230.00 $230.00 $683 —
451–493 465 25 165.00–178.00 $174.44 $811 —
532 532 13 164.00 $164.00 $872 —
575–588 582 6 158.00–162.50 $160.28 $933 —
886 886 4 127.50 $127.50 $1,130 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
578 578 6 140.00 $140.00 $809 —
955 955 5 107.50 $107.50 $1,027 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
925–940 933 85-90% 2 40.50–41.00 $40.75 $380 +2.10
955 955 85-90% 1 35.00 $35.00 $334 —
1054–1175 1074 85-90% 29 36.00–40.00 $39.24 $421 —
1101 1101 85-90% 23 67.50 $67.50 $743 —
1150 1150 85-90% 1 65.00 $65.00 $748 —
1050–1228 1175 85-90% 10 40.00–45.00 $41.86 $492 —
1018–1300 1182 85-90% 117 37.00–46.00 $44.71 $528 —
1010–1303 1242 85-90% 139 47.00–56.00 $50.65 $629 +1.13
1090–1285 1242 85-90% 16 47.00–53.00 $49.02 $609 -0.50
1498 1498 85-90% 2 36.00 $36.00 $539 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
975 975 80-85% 1 42.00 $42.00 $410 —
1142–1550 1289 80-85% 149 53.00–64.00 $57.12 $736 —
1298–1633 1337 80-85% 33 47.00–53.50 $51.25 $685 —
1388–1605 1431 80-85% 22 64.00–68.00 $67.27 $963 +20.78
1330–1545 1439 80-85% 10 45.00–51.00 $48.17 $693 +1.68
1435–1635 1502 80-85% 3 53.00–58.00 $54.81 $823 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1620 1620 75-80% 1 78.00 $78.00 $1,264 +21.82
1548–1790 1629 75-80% 3 55.00–57.00 $55.73 $908 -0.45
1700 1700 75-80% 1 59.50 $59.50 $1,012 —
1700–1713 1709 75-80% 3 67.00–69.00 $67.66 $1,156 —
1717 1717 75-80% 11 72.50 $72.50 $1,245 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1375 1375 1 76.00 $76.00 $1,045 —
1439–2065 1543 6 77.00–80.00 $79.33 $1,224 —
1350–2085 1595 8 82.50–87.00 $84.72 $1,351 —
1895 1895 2 89.00 $89.00 $1,687 —
1570–2385 1897 17 80.00–87.50 $85.07 $1,614 —
1675–2285 1951 4 72.00–77.00 $74.99 $1,463 —
2230 2230 1 96.00 $96.00 $2,141 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
952 thin fleshed 952 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 44.50 $44.50 $424
817–1250 999 (<2 yrs)Open 106 65.00–104.00 $90.11 $900
850–1305 1074 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 64 48.00–88.00 $64.65 $694
1123–1353 1230 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)Open 18 40.00–47.00 $43.20 $531
1125–1468 1299 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 5 46.00–46.50 $46.09 $599
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
855–1208 1002 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 6 44.00–67.00 $54.33 $544
1050–1068 1060 (<2 yrs)Open 7 68.00–70.00 $69.15 $733
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
752 752 (<2 yrs)Open 8 86.00 $86.00 $647

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1120 1120 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 8 1,275.00 $1,275.00 $14,280
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1048 1048 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 2 1,160.00 $1,160.00
1063 1063 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 5 835.00 $835.00
Medium 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
938 938 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo) 6 1,050.00 $1,050.00

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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.