Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report, Billings, MT

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 6, 2022

658 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $140.50/cwt -7.50 vs last sale · ≈ $1,094/hd at 779 lb · 30 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $192.35/cwt ≈ $1,018/hd at 529 lb · 15 head
heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $154.36/cwt -3.10 vs last sale · ≈ $1,030/hd at 667 lb · 11 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 658 934 786
Feeder cattle 216 190 298
Slaughter cattle 284 439 374
Replacement cattle 158 305 114

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder calves were too lightly tested either this week or last week to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mostly plain. Most offerings were sold in small packages or as singles. Demand for feeders was light to moderate. Market activity was mostly slow to moderate. Weigh up cows comprised most of the sale again this week. Demand for weigh up cows was mostly good. Packers purchased both feeding and slaughter cows this week. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady on boning and breaking cows; lean cows sold steady to weak. Feeding cows sold steady. Packers wanted to buy cows lower this week but strong demand from feeding buyers kept cow prices at or near steady. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this week with many full cows in the offering. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 5.00-10.00 lower. Lighter feeding demand caused prices for heifers and lower quality cows to fall this week. Lower CME fat cattle contracts impacted this weight of cattle the hardest because these offerings require the shortest time on feed. Quality was mostly average to attractive this week.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
348 348 6 195.00 $195.00 $679 —
398 unweaned 398 2 175.00 $175.00 $696 —
400–440 411 5 187.50–201.00 $194.36 $799 —
485 485 2 194.00 $194.00 $941 -2.26
515–530 529 15 185.00–193.00 $192.35 $1,018 —
599 599 7 180.00 $180.00 $1,078 —
646 646 8 170.00 $170.00 $1,098 —
670–683 681 11 154.00–164.00 $158.54 $1,080 +3.54
718 718 3 156.00 $156.00 $1,120 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
598 598 4 164.00 $164.00 $981 —
637 637 5 151.00 $151.00 $962 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
599 599 8 165.00 $165.00 $988 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
405 unweaned 405 7 175.00 $175.00 $709 —
523 523 6 176.00 $176.00 $920 —
560 unweaned 560 10 166.50 $166.50 $932 —
663–668 667 11 154.00–156.00 $154.36 $1,030 -3.10
779 779 30 140.50 $140.50 $1,094 -7.50
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
313 313 5 170.00 $170.00 $532 —
416 416 5 172.50 $172.50 $718 —
489 489 8 171.00 $171.00 $836 -3.00
510 510 9 167.00 $167.00 $852 —
630 630 2 155.00 $155.00 $976 —
838 838 2 132.00 $132.00 $1,106 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
353 353 3 165.00 $165.00 $582 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
740 740 3 125.00 $125.00 $925 —
854 854 7 118.00 $118.00 $1,008 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1250 1250 2 103.50 $103.50 $1,294 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
765 765 2 124.00 $124.00 $949 -18.00

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
820 820 85-90% 1 59.00 $59.00 $484 —
855–994 976 85-90% 10 67.50–69.00 $68.04 $664 -5.96
1095–1138 1127 85-90% 4 54.00–64.00 $61.57 $694 -14.10
1126–1220 1141 85-90% 7 78.00–83.00 $79.19 $904 +3.52
1022–1289 1153 85-90% 39 69.00–76.00 $73.69 $850 —
1078–1366 1253 85-90% 51 77.00–83.50 $78.85 $988 —
1300 1300 85-90% 2 85.50 $85.50 $1,112 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1330–1425 1401 80-85% 11 87.50–89.00 $88.00 $1,233 +11.76
1413 1413 80-85% 2 77.00 $77.00 $1,088 +0.76
1368–1745 1441 80-85% 18 79.00–84.50 $82.39 $1,187 +1.07
1365–1527 1470 80-85% 6 74.00–76.00 $75.52 $1,110 -8.44
1442–1550 1490 80-85% 15 81.00–86.00 $83.63 $1,246 -0.33
1548 1548 80-85% 2 86.00 $86.00 $1,331 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1625 1625 75-80% 1 87.00 $87.00 $1,414 +8.80
1771–1855 1808 75-80% 9 85.50–87.00 $86.32 $1,561 —
1763–1885 1833 75-80% 6 77.00–79.50 $78.45 $1,438 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
758 758 14 55.00 $55.00 $417 —
1210 1210 4 100.00 $100.00 $1,210 —
1265–1390 1334 5 84.00–94.00 $90.67 $1,210 —
1460–1510 1487 8 89.00–99.50 $95.10 $1,414 —
1455–2015 1768 9 100.00–109.00 $104.34 $1,845 —
1695–2405 2045 3 110.00–112.50 $111.31 $2,276 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
875–1240 1051 (<2 yrs)Open 79 98.00–111.00 $106.47 $1,119
821–1290 1079 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 45 79.00–102.00 $91.94 $992
1048–1272 1132 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 8 78.00–79.00 $78.42 $888
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
835 thin fleshed 835 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 70.00 $70.00 $584
865–1115 1023 (<2 yrs)Open 4 85.00–97.00 $90.10 $922
1155 1155 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 76.00 $76.00 $878

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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.