Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 20, 2022

2,774 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 9-weight M&L 1 steers $143.24/cwt ≈ $1,372/hd at 958 lb · 171 head

light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $151.41/cwt -0.20 vs last sale · ≈ $1,257/hd at 830 lb · 109 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $173.11/cwt -2.63 vs last sale · ≈ $1,066/hd at 616 lb · 101 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,774	3,881	1,603
Feeder cattle	1,749	3,445	877
Slaughter cattle	735	126	448
Replacement cattle	290	310	278

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers sold mostly steady on all weights. Feeder heifers sold mostly steady to 4.00 higher on all heifers under 800 lbs, heifers over 800 lbs not well compared. Quality this week was mixed from plain to very attractive and similar to last weeks offering. Several load lots and multiple load lots were seen this sale. Demand was mostly good this week. The best demand continues to be for cattle suitable to run as yearlings. Buyers purchased cattle up to 750 lbs to run on grass. Flesh conditions were mostly light to moderate today, with very few fleshy offerings seen. Demand for replacement quality heifers was good to very good. Last weeks snow storm coupled with a rain forecast for this weekend gave ranchers some optimism as they bid on high quality replacement cattle. Market activity was mostly active with a good crowd of order buyers in the stands today actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Feeding and slaughter cows were lightly tested last week, thus all comparisons are narrow. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 1.00 lower. Feeding cows sold generally steady to weak. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average this week, however weigh conditions were better in places than last week. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 3.00 lower. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady this week. Quality was average to attractive.

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
420–449	432	19	212.00–225.00	$219.31	$947	-2.44
464	464	11	219.00	$219.00	$1,016	+13.00
473 thin fleshed	473	15	231.00	$231.00	$1,093	+0.50
523–547	537	63	209.50–213.00	$211.48	$1,136	+3.37
555–596	588	31	189.00–209.00	$192.48	$1,132	-3.72
612–648	645	41	183.50–184.00	$183.97	$1,187	+7.97
659–697	682	38	182.00–184.00	$182.46	$1,244	+4.75
748	748	6	163.00	$163.00	$1,219	—
759	759	22	164.50	$164.50	$1,249	—
817–832	830	109	147.00–153.00	$151.41	$1,257	-0.20
856 fancy	856	10	155.00	$155.00	$1,327	—
856	856	4	147.00	$147.00	$1,258	—
918	918	4	149.50	$149.50	$1,372	+6.00
951–958	958	171	143.00–143.25	$143.24	$1,372	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
508–511	510	8	184.00–191.00	$185.74	$947	-5.26
573	573	5	183.50	$183.50	$1,051	+4.06
615	615	3	176.00	$176.00	$1,082	+1.00
655–695	677	19	156.00–168.00	$161.30	$1,092	-9.70
779	779	15	157.00	$157.00	$1,223	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
390	390	4	192.50	$192.50	$751	+6.00
473 unweaned	473	3	181.00	$181.00	$856	—
470–489	476	30	182.00–191.50	$188.46	$897	-2.08
503 unweaned	503	12	174.00	$174.00	$875	—
505–525	524	57	184.00–189.50	$189.38	$992	+4.53
558–581	565	56	179.00–184.00	$180.59	$1,020	+18.59
607–622	616	101	168.00–174.00	$173.11	$1,066	+1.16
663–694	680	54	158.00–163.00	$161.20	$1,096	-5.70
704–735	709	65	151.00–162.00	$158.61	$1,125	+4.51
751–786	757	86	143.00–154.00	$151.77	$1,149	+4.37
862–880	863	17	137.00–141.00	$140.76	$1,215	+3.76
884–898	888	13	129.00–133.50	$132.03	$1,172	-6.97

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
773–785	778	163	1,185.00–1,260.00	$1,246.30	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
368–370	369	8	165.00–174.50	$170.95	$631	-8.05
413–445	429	9	170.00–177.00	$172.45	$740	—
456–486	473	33	170.00–180.00	$177.45	$839	—
523–549	540	11	168.00–176.00	$170.82	$922	-0.77
596	596	8	167.00	$167.00	$995	+2.00
624–638	627	23	159.00–160.00	$159.22	$998	-6.16
664	664	7	139.00	$139.00	$923	-14.74

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
505	505	4	136.00	$136.00	$687	—
597	597	3	131.00	$131.00	$782	-19.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
753	753	6	138.00	$138.00	$1,039	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
554	554	11	185.00	$185.00	$1,025	—
658–698	689	18	153.00–165.00	$155.55	$1,072	—
827	827	15	132.00	$132.00	$1,092	—
873	873	3	125.00	$125.00	$1,091	—
923	923	2	118.00	$118.00	$1,089	-4.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1005–1035	1008	11	112.00–118.00	$117.44	$1,184	-4.56
1058–1090	1066	4	109.00–113.00	$111.98	$1,194	—
1166	1166	4	106.00	$106.00	$1,236	—
1233–1245	1236	4	102.00–104.00	$102.50	$1,267	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1308–1670	1425	80-85%	27	70.50–78.00	$75.76	$1,080	-4.74
1310–1710	1441	80-85%	80	77.50–85.00	$82.19	$1,184	+1.69
1330–1650	1450	80-85%	34	73.00–77.00	$75.74	$1,098	—
1305–1645	1451	80-85%	39	77.50–84.50	$79.29	$1,150	—
1510	1510	80-85%	2	87.50	$87.50	$1,321	—
1565	1565	80-85%	1	85.00	$85.00	$1,330	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
920–940	930	85-90%	2	58.00–64.00	$61.03	$568	-9.07
985	985	85-90%	2	75.00	$75.00	$739	—
1030–1265	1180	85-90%	15	59.00–66.00	$64.43	$760	-9.48
965–1283	1182	85-90%	33	67.00–78.00	$73.12	$864	-0.79
980–1290	1213	85-90%	29	66.50–77.00	$72.83	$883	-6.11
1110–1270	1242	85-90%	18	77.00–82.00	$78.05	$969	-0.89
1155–1355	1249	85-90%	22	77.00–82.50	$78.72	$983	—
1290	1290	85-90%	1	84.00	$84.00	$1,084	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1513–1640	1554	75-80%	5	84.50–87.00	$85.58	$1,330	—
1600–1725	1694	75-80%	4	85.00	$85.00	$1,440	—
1618–1985	1758	75-80%	12	71.00–83.00	$76.24	$1,340	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1240–1312	1286	6	78.00–91.00	$82.85	$1,065	—
1270–1410	1340	2	100.00–101.00	$100.47	$1,346	—
1420–1670	1523	6	80.00–95.00	$89.24	$1,359	—
1535–2320	1858	25	97.00–106.00	$101.88	$1,893	—
1735–2365	2004	9	107.50–116.00	$111.36	$2,232	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
800–1258	1035	(<2 yrs)	Open	117	90.00–120.50	$104.53	$1,082
840–1215 thin fleshed	1159	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	8	75.50–80.00	$75.97	$880
865–1515	1180	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	60	75.00–99.00	$85.38	$1,007

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1205	1205	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	77.00	$77.00	$928

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1360–1482	1465	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	7	73.00–76.00	$73.40	$1,075

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1300	1300	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	1,300.00	$1,300.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1417	1417	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	1,150.00	$1,150.00	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
666	666	4	129.00	$129.00	$859	—
810	810	17	123.00	$123.00	$996	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
721	721	9	138.00	$138.00	$995	—
858	858	20	137.00	$137.00	$1,175	—

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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.