Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 19, 2023

1,253 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $217.74/cwt +1.38 vs last sale · ≈ $1,466/hd at 673 lb · 31 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $210.00/cwt +6.15 vs last sale · ≈ $1,516/hd at 722 lb · 22 head

light 4-weight M&L 1 heifers $269.10/cwt -3.56 vs last sale · ≈ $1,128/hd at 419 lb · 21 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,253	3,467	2,774
Feeder cattle	410	3,195	1,749
Slaughter cattle	538	207	735
Replacement cattle	305	65	290

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested today to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to firm undertones were noticed on all feeders on offer. Demand for feeders was mostly very good for light offerings. Quality this sale was plain to average and not as attractive as last weeks feeder special. However, demand remains strong as CME feeder cattle prices continue to creep higher. Package sizes were mostly small with lots of singles on offer. Market activity was mostly active this sale as both ranchers and order-buyers competed over limited offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for moderate offerings. Slaughter cows sold generally steady to firm on breaking cows, boning cows sold generally steady, lean cows sold steady to 2.00 lower. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Weigh up conditions were mixed. Packer buyers opted to send a few set of cows to feed again this week. Feeding cows sold steady. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00-5.00 higher. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on mostly good demand. Buyers showed the best demand for high quality cows which had lost calves. Young offerings sold generally steady.

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
439	439	11	295.00	$295.00	$1,295	-4.20
455–458	457	5	275.00–295.00	$287.03	$1,312	-4.09
513	513	6	272.50	$272.50	$1,398	-6.45
558–583	573	5	257.00–265.00	$260.12	$1,490	-2.87
645	645	1	250.00	$250.00	$1,612	-1.66
670–689	683	13	224.00–242.00	$229.36	$1,567	+0.30
703–718	713	9	215.00–223.00	$218.10	$1,555	+0.91
750–796	774	12	193.00–207.50	$200.18	$1,549	+3.31

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
345	345	1	260.00	$260.00	$897	—
435–449	444	6	270.00–280.00	$273.26	$1,213	-6.74
498	498	2	262.50	$262.50	$1,307	—
510	510	1	265.00	$265.00	$1,352	-1.30
591	591	4	251.00	$251.00	$1,483	+2.40
730	730	1	208.00	$208.00	$1,518	+7.00

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
558	558	3	230.00	$230.00	$1,283	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
480	480	1	240.00	$240.00	$1,152	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
373–390	376	6	255.00–267.50	$257.16	$967	-14.48
403–433	419	21	257.50–275.00	$269.10	$1,128	-3.56
490–491	491	12	255.00–267.50	$266.46	$1,308	+1.29
517–524	522	9	255.00–257.00	$256.34	$1,338	+0.53
563	563	3	241.00	$241.00	$1,357	-6.50
655–696	673	29	215.00–227.00	$220.69	$1,485	+4.33
678	678	2	175.00	$175.00	$1,186	-41.36
722	722	22	210.00	$210.00	$1,516	+6.10
755	755	7	169.00	$169.00	$1,276	-28.51

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
386	386	8	245.00	$245.00	$946	—
413–425	415	5	240.00–252.50	$249.94	$1,037	+0.75
461–463	462	7	230.00–235.00	$232.85	$1,076	-7.32
503	503	2	225.00	$225.00	$1,132	-8.87
553–595	570	5	210.00–229.00	$217.94	$1,242	-14.42
620–646	635	11	207.50–226.00	$219.89	$1,396	—
699	699	4	205.00	$205.00	$1,433	+3.76
767–791	781	7	160.00–163.00	$161.74	$1,263	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
425	425	1	222.50	$222.50	$946	—
495	495	3	205.00	$205.00	$1,015	—
700	700	1	165.00	$165.00	$1,155	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
427	427	3	240.00	$240.00	$1,025	—

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1110	1110	1	139.00	$139.00	$1,543	—
1178	1178	2	139.00	$139.00	$1,637	—
1220–1225	1222	3	131.00–133.50	$131.84	$1,611	—
1252	1252	3	129.50	$129.50	$1,621	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
407–415	409	4	235.00–242.50	$240.60	$984	—
480	480	3	240.00	$240.00	$1,152	-10.36
995	995	1	156.00	$156.00	$1,552	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
760	760	1	196.00	$196.00	$1,490	—
817	817	3	176.00	$176.00	$1,438	—
905	905	1	169.00	$169.00	$1,529	+19.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
533	533	2	215.00	$215.00	$1,146	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105	1105	1	128.00	$128.00	$1,414	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
915–955	937	85-90%	5	74.00–85.00	$78.81	$738	—
955	955	85-90%	2	87.00	$87.00	$831	—
970	970	85-90%	1	73.00	$73.00	$708	—
1015–1315	1148	85-90%	33	76.00–86.50	$83.62	$960	—
1150–1210	1180	85-90%	2	96.00–97.00	$96.49	$1,139	+4.18
1035–1275	1185	85-90%	3	100.00–102.00	$100.72	$1,194	+17.54
1090–1295	1193	85-90%	72	86.50–95.00	$89.17	$1,064	+5.99
900–1318	1203	85-90%	44	85.00–95.00	$89.43	$1,076	-13.01

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1095–1503	1373	80-85%	15	84.00–89.00	$87.23	$1,198	-16.72
1292–1580	1400	80-85%	61	89.00–100.50	$93.31	$1,306	-1.50
1283–1655	1401	80-85%	45	91.00–100.00	$94.19	$1,320	-0.62
1310–1655	1440	80-85%	5	102.00–110.00	$104.72	$1,508	+19.15
1445	1445	80-85%	2	89.50	$89.50	$1,293	+3.93
1459	1459	80-85%	5	103.00	$103.00	$1,503	+12.60

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1385–1650	1577	75-80%	6	96.00–100.50	$98.90	$1,560	—
1525–1733	1615	75-80%	11	101.50–108.00	$103.73	$1,675	-1.31
1463–1790	1648	75-80%	25	94.00–100.50	$97.27	$1,603	+6.19
1636–1735	1656	75-80%	5	93.00–93.50	$93.40	$1,547	—
1680–1799	1753	75-80%	10	87.00–93.50	$90.06	$1,579	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1290–1595	1427	9	109.00–125.00	$116.96	$1,669	—
1265–1748	1439	10	103.00–112.00	$109.15	$1,571	—
1230–2060	1616	7	92.00–111.00	$104.64	$1,691	—
1497–2250	1793	20	111.00–127.00	$116.66	$2,092	+1.27
1610–2300	1919	10	127.00–146.00	$135.65	$2,603	—
2555	2555	1	129.00	$129.00	$3,296	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
768–1455	1004	(<2 yrs)	Open	163	125.00–197.00	$160.75	$1,614
918–1520	1125	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	84	90.00–146.00	$114.36	$1,287

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
805–1200	924	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	93.00–104.00	$99.01	$915
795–1263	1071	(<2 yrs)	Open	6	120.00–151.00	$128.46	$1,376

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
685	685	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	152.50	$152.50	$1,045

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1355	1355	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	3	1,750.00	$1,750.00

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Dairy Heifers

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
679	679	12	167.00	$167.00	$1,134	—
779	779	11	168.50	$168.50	$1,313	—

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Dairy Steers

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
683	683	24	199.00	$199.00	$1,359	—
850	850	20	180.00	$180.00	$1,530	—

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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.