Cattle Market Pulse

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

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, January 18, 2023

3,534 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 steers $217.09/cwt ≈ $1,265/hd at 582 lb · 376 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $198.00/cwt ≈ $1,044/hd at 528 lb · 273 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $180.27/cwt +5.27 vs last sale · ≈ $1,124/hd at 623 lb · 220 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 3,534 2,534 677
Feeder cattle 2,978 180 305
Slaughter cattle 368 534 190
Replacement cattle 188 1,820 182

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Public auction yards had back to back feeder specials last friday and again today. Compairsons are to last fridays feeder special. Feeder steers under 600 lbs sold steady to firm, steers over 600 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower. Feeder heifers under 650 lbs sold generally steady, heifers over 650 lbs sold mostly 2.00 lower. Feeder cattle quality was mixed from plain to very attractive. Several large load lots of reputation feeders were seen this sale. Demand remains good for both sexes of feeders suitable to develop into yearlings. Demand for heavy weight feeders was slightly lighter this sale as many roads and interstates to the plains and corn belt are closed after recieving heavy amounts of snow and wind. Several buyers remarked they were out of the market as a result. Market activity was mostly active again this sale and a large crowd was on hand for todays sale which pushed late into the evening. Demand remained constant as most buyers stayed the length of the sale. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light to moderate offerings. Eastern packer buyers showed slightly stronger demand for slaughter cows this sale as they pushed western packer buyers over offerings. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-2.00 higher on boning and lean cow offerings; breaking cows sold 3.00-5.00 higher in a narrow compairson, as feeding buyers looking for fat cows helped push all breaking cow offerings higher. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00-3.00 higher. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady in a narrow compaison.

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
345 345 11 300.00 $300.00 $1,035 —
350–398 387 18 272.50–299.00 $282.89 $1,095 —
420–436 426 34 253.00–273.50 $267.86 $1,141 —
470 unweaned 470 2 256.00 $256.00 $1,203 —
452–493 474 88 235.00–262.00 $250.91 $1,189 —
505 unweaned 505 7 236.00 $236.00 $1,192 —
500–548 525 97 224.00–236.50 $232.55 $1,221 —
564 unweaned 564 10 218.00 $218.00 $1,230 —
550–592 583 366 202.50–224.50 $217.06 $1,265 —
614–643 627 103 190.00–205.00 $198.39 $1,244 —
650 unweaned 650 12 187.50 $187.50 $1,219 —
652–673 656 148 183.00–200.00 $196.65 $1,290 —
715–742 725 22 168.00–180.75 $179.79 $1,303 —
719–739 unweaned 734 24 168.00–172.00 $171.02 $1,255 —
847 847 20 171.00 $171.00 $1,448 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
596 596 60 188.00 $188.00 $1,120 —
623 623 7 177.00 $177.00 $1,103 —
664 664 14 181.00 $181.00 $1,202 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
405–440 422 8 225.00–252.50 $228.54 $964 —
483–488 485 6 225.00–237.00 $232.97 $1,130 —
505–541 527 27 200.00–219.00 $216.14 $1,139 +4.14
594 594 6 196.00 $196.00 $1,164 —
613–638 628 5 182.00–189.00 $186.27 $1,170 +3.27
663 663 2 179.50 $179.50 $1,190 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
443 443 4 219.00 $219.00 $970 —
456–496 480 168 199.00–218.00 $206.06 $989 —
484 unweaned 484 4 201.00 $201.00 $973 —
503–544 526 250 189.00–212.00 $199.18 $1,048 —
542–549 unweaned 544 23 179.00–188.50 $185.17 $1,007 —
552–580 568 125 181.50–195.00 $188.99 $1,073 +7.99
605–622 615 133 177.00–186.50 $184.30 $1,133 +9.30
621–637 unweaned 636 87 170.00–174.50 $174.10 $1,107 —
652–697 674 52 165.50–175.00 $170.16 $1,147 —
715–735 731 44 161.00–167.00 $165.93 $1,213 +5.93
768 768 2 155.00 $155.00 $1,190 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
307 307 7 180.00 $180.00 $553 —
366–397 387 49 188.50–200.00 $192.05 $743 —
406–415 410 28 175.00 $175.00 $718 —
482 482 57 171.00 $171.00 $824 —
598 598 4 165.00 $165.00 $987 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
381–388 383 11 190.00–192.00 $191.45 $733 —
403–449 433 23 185.00–201.00 $192.61 $834 —
455–475 466 27 182.00–197.00 $186.56 $869 +10.56
520–549 546 14 175.00–187.00 $178.38 $974 —
552–595 569 5 160.00–177.00 $167.11 $951 -1.32
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
510 510 7 188.50 $188.50 $961 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
698 698 2 153.00 $153.00 $1,068 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
472 unweaned 472 5 212.50 $212.50 $1,003 —
502 502 16 203.00 $203.00 $1,019 —
570–584 581 19 177.00–199.00 $194.46 $1,130 —
591 unweaned 591 5 182.00 $182.00 $1,076 —
620 620 1 171.00 $171.00 $1,060 —
659–691 688 46 148.00–177.50 $175.04 $1,204 —
700 unweaned 700 34 165.50 $165.50 $1,158 —
769 unweaned 769 5 150.00 $150.00 $1,154 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
525–536 532 8 160.00–185.00 $175.75 $935 —
578 578 5 153.00 $153.00 $884 -20.00
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
487 487 9 150.00 $150.00 $730 —
510 510 3 152.50 $152.50 $778 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1293–1466 1358 80-85% 79 68.00–76.50 $72.24 $981 +3.21
1278–1563 1385 80-85% 11 62.00–67.50 $65.35 $905 -3.68
1300–1625 1405 80-85% 24 55.00–67.50 $61.96 $871 -2.70
1260–1640 1425 80-85% 13 67.50–74.50 $68.71 $979 +4.05
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
860–940 900 85-90% 2 55.00–59.00 $56.91 $512 +3.30
940–980 969 85-90% 4 52.00–59.00 $55.54 $538 -3.46
990 990 85-90% 1 60.00 $60.00 $594 +1.00
1005–1130 1068 85-90% 2 37.00–48.00 $42.82 $457 —
950–1180 1151 85-90% 8 72.00–75.50 $75.14 $865 +18.93
1018–1305 1151 85-90% 32 50.00–61.00 $59.57 $686 +3.36
900–1270 1174 85-90% 21 67.00–69.00 $68.60 $805 +5.09
1045–1325 1183 85-90% 47 62.00–68.50 $63.89 $756 +0.38
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1395 1395 75-80% 3 78.00 $78.00 $1,088 —
1555 1555 75-80% 1 83.00 $83.00 $1,291 —
1608 1608 75-80% 2 72.00 $72.00 $1,158 -3.50
1580–1690 1635 75-80% 2 67.00–69.00 $67.97 $1,111 -7.53
1570–1805 1739 75-80% 5 84.00–93.50 $91.09 $1,584 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1245 1245 1 65.00 $65.00 $809 —
1235–1295 1265 2 78.00–86.00 $81.91 $1,036 -9.09
1300–1320 1315 4 92.00–99.00 $97.27 $1,279 —
1410–2280 1848 9 63.00–93.00 $84.66 $1,565 —
1565–2300 1935 12 95.00–98.50 $97.09 $1,879 +1.11
1770–2240 2073 3 104.00–106.00 $105.00 $2,177 —
YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1830 1830 1 81.00 $81.00 $1,482 —
2095–2345 2227 5 98.00–101.00 $99.17 $2,209 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
850–1249 1004 (<2 yrs)Open 30 81.00–152.00 $136.63 $1,372
860–1360 1078 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 100 62.00–109.00 $85.05 $917
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
853 853 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 92.00 $92.00 $785

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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.