Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, October 19, 2022

2,870 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $162.48/cwt -6.85 vs last sale · ≈ $933/hd at 574 lb · 23 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $199.05/cwt +1.76 vs last sale · ≈ $1,021/hd at 513 lb · 23 head

light 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $194.32/cwt +7.90 vs last sale · ≈ $828/hd at 426 lb · 21 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,870	1,559	3,437
Feeder cattle	685	487	863
Slaughter cattle	1,175	791	1,804
Replacement cattle	1,010	281	770

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Steer and heifer calves were too lightly tested either this sale or last sale to develop any market trend. Quality today was mostly plain. Most calves were cutbacks off the summer videos with very few fresh calves on offer. Demand was mostly light for light offerings. Most feeders were offered in small package sizes, with many singles in the offering. Market activity was mostly slow today. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand and heavy offerings. Slaughter cows sold 1.00-3.00 lower on all offerings. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 lower. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady to 1.00 lower. Cow quality this week was mixed from plain to very attractive. Todays sale featured bred cows and many sets were out of dry country. Several sets of cows were very thin as a result. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this sale. Feeding cow buyers showed moderate demand for feeding cows this sale as they purchased some of the solid and broken bred cow offering to put on feed. Bred cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand this sale. A large crowd was on hand for todays sale however demand was mostly light to moderate as feed costs remain high and the entire winter feed bill still needs to be considered. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on mostly good demand. These offerings sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher.

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
282 unweaned	282	8	250.00	$250.00	$705	—
315–330 unweaned	323	6	237.50	$237.50	$767	+10.85
479 unweaned	479	5	207.50	$207.50	$994	+1.56
503–535 unweaned	513	23	191.00–212.00	$199.05	$1,021	+1.76
550–593 unweaned	578	19	176.00–188.00	$183.85	$1,063	-3.79
630 unweaned	630	18	175.00	$175.00	$1,102	-3.56

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
736–747	742	17	163.00–168.00	$165.96	$1,231	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
476–495 unweaned	484	15	180.00–200.00	$192.83	$933	+6.80
695 unweaned	695	1	165.00	$165.00	$1,147	-2.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
598 unweaned	598	3	173.00	$173.00	$1,035	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
277 unweaned	277	10	210.00	$210.00	$582	—
348 unweaned	348	3	212.00	$212.00	$738	—
409–444 unweaned	426	21	192.50–196.00	$194.32	$828	+7.90
460 unweaned	460	3	191.00	$191.00	$879	+11.57
517–544 unweaned	536	16	171.00	$171.00	$917	-1.10
565–581 unweaned	574	23	162.00–163.00	$162.48	$933	-6.85
635 unweaned	635	6	147.00	$147.00	$933	—
691 unweaned	691	4	144.00	$144.00	$995	-16.00
946	946	10	159.50	$159.50	$1,509	—
983–991	989	13	154.00–155.50	$155.04	$1,533	-5.44

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
368 unweaned	368	3	185.00	$185.00	$681	—
423 unweaned	423	4	180.00	$180.00	$761	+1.55
485 unweaned	485	1	161.00	$161.00	$781	+0.20
505	505	6	132.50	$132.50	$669	—
514–540 unweaned	525	12	161.00–163.00	$161.86	$850	+6.86
574–581 unweaned	577	12	145.00–157.00	$151.96	$877	-10.85
769	769	17	160.50	$160.50	$1,234	—
877	877	9	152.00	$152.00	$1,333	+5.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
415 unweaned	415	2	170.00	$170.00	$706	—
507–529 unweaned	514	19	155.00–156.00	$155.67	$800	—
729	729	4	164.50	$164.50	$1,199	—
898	898	3	149.00	$149.00	$1,338	—
1025	1025	1	150.00	$150.00	$1,538	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
502 unweaned	502	5	150.00	$150.00	$753	—
709	709	17	161.00	$161.00	$1,141	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
448 unweaned	448	4	175.00	$175.00	$784	—
536 unweaned	536	4	142.50	$142.50	$764	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
820–995	908	85-90%	2	52.00–54.00	$53.10	$482	—
1022–1202	1096	85-90%	16	40.00–49.00	$43.99	$482	—
838–1330	1102	85-90%	132	54.00–64.00	$56.88	$627	—
1170	1170	85-90%	1	77.50	$77.50	$907	+29.50
1045–1329	1183	85-90%	117	50.00–62.50	$56.02	$663	+8.02
1020–1460	1224	85-90%	88	62.00–72.50	$64.60	$791	+7.62
938–1375	1250	85-90%	120	63.00–75.00	$66.77	$835	-2.53

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1348–1465	1380	80-85%	13	59.00–66.00	$64.49	$890	-3.09
1252–1560	1382	80-85%	194	68.00–78.00	$73.39	$1,014	+5.81
1300–1680	1460	80-85%	47	78.00–81.00	$79.19	$1,156	-1.33
1325–1670	1496	80-85%	21	69.00–75.00	$70.05	$1,048	-10.47
1370–1715	1572	80-85%	14	58.00–66.00	$64.11	$1,008	—
1225–1795	1583	80-85%	6	79.50–87.00	$82.98	$1,314	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1405–1538	1461	75-80%	7	83.00–84.00	$83.30	$1,217	—
1444–1715	1510	75-80%	24	78.00–81.50	$80.60	$1,217	-0.15
1545	1545	75-80%	1	81.00	$81.00	$1,251	+0.25
1545–1765	1662	75-80%	22	72.50–75.00	$74.22	$1,234	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
339 unweaned	339	21	239.00	$239.00	$810	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1408–2070	1618	6	72.00–88.00	$81.25	$1,315	-1.42
1265–1846	1730	11	92.00–95.00	$93.57	$1,619	—
1740–2030	1921	8	73.00–89.00	$83.61	$1,606	-11.27
1725–2190	1979	13	90.00–95.00	$93.23	$1,845	—
2200	2200	1	98.00	$98.00	$2,156	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
705–845 thin fleshed	729	(<2 yrs)	Open	10	96.00–110.00	$103.88	$757
102–1155	845	(<2 yrs)	Open	158	104.00–126.50	$115.81	$979
837–1305	964	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	99	75.00–108.00	$95.39	$920

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
735–903	859	(<2 yrs)	Open	4	95.00–111.00	$105.47	$906

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
916–1204	1004	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	130	1,300.00–1,585.00	$1,442.30
926–1190	1053	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	24	1,250.00–1,385.00	$1,354.86
1198–1246	1228	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	8	1,050.00–1,075.00	$1,065.85
1252	1252	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	900.00	$900.00
1267–1273	1269	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	20	1,400.00–1,425.00	$1,414.97
1204–1385	1281	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	137	960.00–1,160.00	$1,051.93
1193–1498	1282	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	39	1,085.00–1,200.00	$1,127.17
1313	1313	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	28	985.00	$985.00
1262–1440	1368	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	74	1,025.00–1,260.00	$1,156.80
1380	1380	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	1,310.00	$1,310.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
1363–1458	1385	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	34	66.00–74.25	$72.21	$1,000
1310–1420	1396	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	18	78.00–80.00	$79.58	$1,111

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1149–1180	1152	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	15	1,075.00–1,285.00	$1,184.70

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
955–1095	1048	(<2 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	1,450.00–1,550.00	$1,519.63
956–1253	1057	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	81	1,525.00–1,900.00	$1,820.56

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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
1389	1389	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	19	1,600.00	$1,600.00	—

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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.