Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, January 12, 2022

1,555 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 $144.76/cwt +2.76 vs last sale · ≈ $889/hd at 614 lb · 16 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $168.50/cwt ≈ $839/hd at 498 lb · 15 head

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 bulls $134.92/cwt -0.08 vs last sale · ≈ $938/hd at 695 lb · 12 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,555	827	1,306
Feeder cattle	190	202	399
Slaughter cattle	688	419	631
Replacement cattle	677	206	276

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested to make any market trend. Quality this week was mostly plain to average. Most calves were offered as singles or small lots. Demand for feeders was mostly light as quality was not as attractive as last week. Market activity was slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand and offerings. Cow quality this week was mostly plain to average with a limited offering of high quality feeding cows on offer. Slaughter cows sold fully steady to weak on all classes. Feeding cows sold generally steady. Many cows were pushing some fill again this week. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested either this week or last to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to lower undertones were noticed. Feeding bull buyers were not as active this week allowing packers to buy bulls lower. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed steady to 5.00 higher. Quality this week was mostly average, however demand for this class of cows was stronger than last week. A moderate offering of bred cows was seen this sale. Demand for bred stock was mostly moderate. Quality this week was mostly average for bred cows which limited demand.

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
498	498	6	203.00	$203.00	$1,011	—
600	600	2	176.00	$176.00	$1,056	+8.67
753	753	6	152.00	$152.00	$1,145	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
498	498	15	168.50	$168.50	$839	—
523	523	3	163.00	$163.00	$852	—
603–633	614	16	142.00–146.50	$144.76	$889	+2.76
697	697	6	143.00	$143.00	$997	+1.00
758	758	2	139.00	$139.00	$1,054	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
635	635	3	141.00	$141.00	$895	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
688–697	695	12	122.50–139.00	$134.92	$938	-0.08

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1185	1185	3	103.00	$103.00	$1,221	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1220–1635	1398	80-85%	111	54.00–65.00	$59.00	$825	-6.91
1305–1596	1402	80-85%	50	50.00–54.00	$53.15	$745	-6.17
1405	1405	80-85%	1	42.00	$42.00	$590	-17.32
1235–1695	1431	80-85%	38	46.00–54.00	$49.64	$710	-16.86
1470	1470	80-85%	1	67.00	$67.00	$985	—
1325–1585	1484	80-85%	16	54.00–58.00	$55.30	$821	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
885	885	85-90%	1	42.00	$42.00	$372	—
1050–1250	1153	85-90%	14	35.00–43.00	$39.90	$460	—
1000–1360	1198	85-90%	39	44.00–51.00	$47.99	$575	—
1185–1230	1210	85-90%	3	61.00–65.00	$63.31	$766	+8.13
1056–1264	1211	85-90%	77	51.00–58.00	$53.76	$651	-1.42
1105–1280	1215	85-90%	38	52.00–54.50	$53.21	$647	-1.97
1045–1335	1244	85-90%	35	51.00–53.00	$51.70	$643	-9.88

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1634–1745	1656	75-80%	5	48.00–60.50	$57.87	$958	—
1685	1685	75-80%	1	67.50	$67.50	$1,137	+9.63
1470–1704	1686	75-80%	13	54.00–58.50	$58.20	$981	+0.33
1675–1835	1741	75-80%	5	63.00–64.00	$63.38	$1,103	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1545	1545	1	81.50	$81.50	$1,259	—
1640–1960	1853	4	69.00–81.00	$75.59	$1,401	—
1940–2080	2003	9	82.00–84.00	$82.61	$1,655	—
2580	2580	1	70.00	$70.00	$1,806	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
829–1370	1003	(<2 yrs)	Open	115	71.00–103.00	$88.00	$883
895–1260	1034	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	46	56.00–78.00	$65.85	$681

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
853	853	(<2 yrs)	Open	3	65.00	$65.00	$554
928	928	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	61.00	$61.00	$566

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
988–1141	1049	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	10	1,150.00	$1,150.00
981–1318	1136	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	16	800.00–950.00	$885.84
1138 thin fleshed	1138	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	7	635.00	$635.00
1057–1291	1198	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	64	1,375.00–1,650.00	$1,523.94
1234	1234	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	12	800.00	$800.00
1110–1303	1238	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	36	1,275.00–1,550.00	$1,470.09
1012–1356	1266	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	15	1,200.00–1,250.00	$1,232.56
1088–1416	1313	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	109	800.00–1,275.00	$1,084.05
1264–1433	1332	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	20	1,000.00–1,100.00	$1,056.95
1246–1443	1346	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	104	800.00–1,000.00	$906.27
1498	1498	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	1,175.00	$1,175.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
926	926	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	8	1,100.00	$1,100.00
1379	1379	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	7	850.00	$850.00

Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1498	1498	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	875.00	$875.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1065–1246	1125	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	21	1,385.00–1,500.00	$1,457.56

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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.