Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, February 22, 2023

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

light 7-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $168.00/cwt ≈ $1,255/hd at 747 lb · 10 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	296	303	203
Feeder cattle	33	177	25
Slaughter cattle	214	70	138
Replacement cattle	49	56	40

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Receipts were light again today due to cold weather and snowy conditions. Temperatures are, and will remain below 0 for much of today and tomorrow. Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality this sale was mostly plain. Most calves were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand for feeder cattle remains good, but quality hampered demand again this week. Market activity was slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly very good demand for light offerings. Packer buyers showed very good demand for all cows on offer. The best demand seen this week was for lean grinding materials, both lean cows and bulls. Breaking cows sold mostly 8.00-9.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Boning cows sold 9.00-12.00 higher, lean cows sold sharply higher with most sale 10.00-15.00 higher. Cow quality was mostly plain to average. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, sharply higher undertones were noticed. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Heifers that lost calves have started to come to market. These offering sold at a discount open heifers and lowered the price of <2 year old stock cows.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
687	687	3	191.00	$191.00	$1,312	+4.59

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
747	747	10	168.00	$168.00	$1,255	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
523	523	3	202.50	$202.50	$1,059	+27.50

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1015	1015	1	134.00	$134.00	$1,360	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
773–958	905	85-90%	13	73.00–90.00	$84.78	$767	—
1020–1198	1109	85-90%	4	62.00–65.00	$63.38	$703	—
1010–1250	1162	85-90%	10	83.00–89.00	$85.75	$996	+2.99
1110–1280	1210	85-90%	8	99.00–100.00	$99.52	$1,204	—
1110–1326	1260	85-90%	35	88.50–99.00	$92.72	$1,168	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1442–1604	1565	75-80%	32	97.50–98.00	$97.60	$1,527	—
1692	1692	75-80%	7	98.50	$98.50	$1,667	—
1520–1797	1785	75-80%	24	96.00–96.50	$96.48	$1,722	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1283–1475	1355	80-85%	19	89.00–98.00	$94.06	$1,275	—
1345–1405	1375	80-85%	2	81.00–85.00	$82.96	$1,141	-4.26
1370–1460	1415	80-85%	13	99.00–100.50	$99.72	$1,411	+24.01

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1095	1095	1	95.50	$95.50	$1,046	—
1134	1134	6	118.00	$118.00	$1,338	—
1080–1255	1168	2	99.00–111.00	$104.55	$1,221	—
1330–2000	1781	10	91.00–111.00	$103.41	$1,842	—
1650–2490	2070	2	113.00–114.00	$113.60	$2,352	—
1960–2260	2110	2	120.00–124.00	$122.14	$2,577	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
802–1405	1042	(<2 yrs)	Open	19	119.50–143.00	$133.23	$1,388
835–1240	1053	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	14	88.00–114.00	$102.57	$1,080

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
900–940	920	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	97.50–109.00	$103.13	$949
755–1145	950	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	119.00–122.50	$120.39	$1,144

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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.